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Bielema ready for rugged SEC at Arkansas

Published: December 7, 2012 Comment on this article

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long first met Bret Bielema while in Miami attending an end-of-season awards ceremony surrounding the 2005 national championship game.

photo - Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema, left, speaks to the media as his wife, Jen, rear right, looks on during a news conference to announce Bielema's hire in Fayetteville, Ark., Wednesday, Dec 5, 2012. Bielema, who left Wisconsin for Arkansas, will be paid $3.2 million annually for six years. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)

Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema, left, speaks to the media as his wife, Jen, rear right, looks on during a news conference to announce Bielema's hire in Fayetteville, Ark., Wednesday, Dec 5, 2012. Bielema, who left Wisconsin for Arkansas, will be paid $3.2 million annually for six years. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)

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Bielema was an up-and-coming assistant coach at Wisconsin, and Long was the athletic director at Pittsburgh, still a few years away from leaving to take over the Razorbacks program.

Little did Long know that he would one day hire Bielema to coach Arkansas, helping end what had been a spiraling eight months for the Razorbacks following the scandal-ridden exit of Bobby Petrino.

The end of a secretive search came to an end Tuesday when the former Wisconsin coach agreed to take over the Razorbacks. The 43-year-old was introduced at a news conference the next day, giving Arkansas hope it can return to the upper echelon of the Southeastern Conference.