Report: Bielema's outspokenness nothing new, says former Iowa St coach

By foxsports
Published

Bret Bielema is fast becoming known more for what he says than what his teams actually do on the field. According to one rival coach, Bielema's history of trash talk goes all the way back to his playing days at Iowa.

Former Iowa State head coach Jim Walden recently spoke to ESPN about an incident involving Bielema during his senior season at Iowa: 

"I was saying congrats or some little chit-chat with Coach Fry,” Walden said. “Then Bielema comes up and says, ‘You’ve been a big ass. It’s been a pleasure kicking your ass the last four years.’

“The media was all standing there. I was flabbergasted. In my 17 years as a head coach, I never had one opposing player say one word to me after a game -- except Bielema.”

“He feels like he was out of line, but Bret is strung to a different wire,” Walden said. “I had no reason to hold it against him. I was well known for saying what I thought. Maybe that’s why he thought he could say it to me.

Could this be another case of someone piling on Bielema now that he's down? Possibly. Whatever Walden's motivations for coming forward, it appears several people are quickly growing tired of Bielema's bravado off the field. 

Until the Razorback coach does something to shut up his naysayers, the uproar of support against him is only going to continue to get louder. 

(h/t ESPN)