Bret Bielema: Kirby Smart wanted to talk to OC Dan Enos about UGA
Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said new Georgia coach Kirby Smart asked him if he could talk to Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos about a position on the Georgia coaching staff.
Enos came to Arkansas before the 2015 season after he was the head coach at Central Michigan. Bielema said he told Smart there was a clause in Enos’ contract that prevented him from moving to another SEC school.
“First, he wanted to talk to my offensive coordinator and try to take Dan Enos, and I said, ‘I appreciate it, but there’s a thing called the SEC clause, you can’t have it him,'” Bielema said Wednesday at SEC Media Days. “Kind of stuck my tongue out, wiggled my nose and felt good about it.
“One of the first things I didn’t do in the first half was I didn’t put an SEC clause on [offensive line coach Sam] Pittman. When I first took over he had an opportunity to leave for Alabama. I was able to do some things financially with the athletic department to make that not happen, and I didn’t put an SEC clause on him. And everything ends up happening for a reason. So when they got Sam, obviously, it’s something that they wanted.”
Pittman was hired by Georgia to the same position and received a raise of over $100,000 per year on a three-year deal. The Bulldogs did find someone with recent Arkansas ties to be the team’s offensive coordinator too. Smart hired Jim Chaney, who served as the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014 before Enos. Chaney was at Pitt in 2015.
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Bielema wasn’t low on quotable moments throughout his media availability on Wednesday. Here are a few more comments from the gregarious coach.
• On the cancellation of the Michigan-Arkansas series in 2018 and 2019:
“I understand how the SEC – I’m sorry, the Michigan-Notre Dame thing sounds sexy to everybody else, but I think Michigan and Arkansas sounds sexy. I was very excited about Big Ten versus SEC. I made a comment in the spring I’d love to see an SEC challenge at the front end. My commish gave me a josh back, said that’s called a bowl game.”
• On his players’ behavior:
“You don’t have to worry whether or not if I’m going suspend anybody for the first game. It doesn’t come up in our program.”
• About his team’s offense:
“At Arkansas we’re not built very sexy, we’re just kind of a work in progress. We need a lot of time in the bathroom to get ready and come out and look great. But when we do, we’ll stop time. And at some point we’ll get to where we want to be. And when we get there, it just means a little bit more.”
• His interaction with Texas A&M coach (and good friend) Kevin Sumlin after the Aggies beat Arkansas 28-21 in overtime.
“Summy, last year, when we got done with the game and we’re walking across to shake hands, and he said, ‘I don’t know what to say.’ I said, ‘Don’t say anything, I might punch you.'”
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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