Bielema: 'I don't plan on going backwards, only forward'

By foxsports
Published

Expectations are clearly on the rise in Fayetteville, as the Arkansas Razorbacks are being picked by many as an SEC dark horse and find themselves ranked 20th in the nation by the Amway Coaches Preseason Poll. 

When asked how he feels about the hype around the program, Brett Bielema came off as confident as ever. 

"I don't plan on going backwards, only forward," Bielema told 247Sports.

As the foundation Bielema has laid at Arkansas is beginning to pay off for the team, the coach knew the only way to correctly build up the Razorbacks was by putting in the work the right way the first time.

"I'm not going to skip a step to get somewhere that I'm going to have to come back and fix," Bielema said. "I would much rather build it the right way the first time so once we're there maybe we can, like Coach (Steve) Spurrier said, enjoy vacation four or five days before you all go home. It's one of those things where you get comfortable with your program and then you let it kind of run itself."

After facing a 17-game SEC losing streak just months ago, the Hogs have completely turned around their fortunes in the nation's toughest conference and look to shift from the hunted to the hunter in 2015. 

If Arkansas can survive a difficult schedule, which does not feature a home conference game until Oct. 24, they truly will find themselves on the right side of their current rebuilding project. 

(h/t 247Sports)