Kliff Kingsbury's comments after Texas Tech's 35-24 win over Arkansas on Saturday:
"At the Texas high school coaches convention this summer [Bret Bielema] stood up and said, 'if you don't play with a fullback we'll kick your ass. If you throw it 70 times a game, we'll kick your ass.' He just got his ass kicked twice in a row, and probably next week by A&M, as well. So, that did feel good."
"At the Texas high school coaches convention this summer [Bret Bielema] stood up and said, 'if you don't play with a fullback we'll kick your ass. If you throw it 70 times a game, we'll kick your ass.' He just got his ass kicked twice in a row, and probably next week by A&M, as well. So, that did feel good."
- On Monday Bret Bielema said the following:
Shocked to hear those comments from Kingsbury?
"We weren't talking before, and we probably won't talk now. Was I shocked? Yeah. Just because in this profession you handle certain things in a certain way. I've never really had that before. The idea about the clinic. I've been doing clinics for 20 years, so if you want to look at everybody's clinic history, you go in and you talk about your philosophy, you talk about what you believe in, you talk about what we do, and in that particular one, the high school coaches association invited me into really speak about anything So I'd chosen kind of how we lay out our program but also similar to how we did when I spoke at the coaches convention. I spoke primarily about program layout, goals, etc., and then I had a half hour segment on defensive philosophy. And we did a tackling circuit, and we just opened it up for questions. I don't know what part he was referencing to. I do remember talking about how when we play on defense, if we can play against someone that's completely opposite of us, we've got to feel that's an advantage. And that's all. I didn't reference Texas Tech. I don't know if he or someone was in the crowd. Obviously struck a nerve. If we start digging into what people say at coaches clinics and trying to use that as motivation, it's going to be a very, very weird world."
What was said at the coaches convention?
"I'm going to have to go back and...I might have...if I said the A-double-S word, I did, but again it wasn't any reference to anything in particular. I go back to our game a year ago. You just played a game and you get done and you move on. There's things that happen in recruiting and all that stuff that get really personal, but if that makes him feel better then God bless him. I'm all the world happier for him."
How is his relationship with high school coaches in Texas?
"They were the ones that invited me in. I don't worry about that. We've got great relationships with high school coaches. Obviously there's people that are probably Texas Tech fans, there's people that are Razorback fans and people that are Texas fans. My history in recruiting with anybody that's been involved with me in the past is going to, I think, know what I stand for and what I represent, especially when we have their student-athlete, so I'm not the least bit concerned about that. My relationship with Texas Tech is obviously one that can be debated for a long time."
Kingsbury takes a look at Arkansas' schedule & predicts A&M loss
- Isn't that what got everyone in an uproar about Bielema and Ohio State?
"Oh yeah, it's just...I mean, he was there. He threw Toledo into the category, too. It's a perfect storm. I realize we haven't won in two weeks. It's an opportunity to jump on and have some fun with it. If that was an ass kicking, I'd love to see what last year was, but obviously it's all about what you've done for me lately (Arkansas 49, Texas Tech 28 in 2014). Move on from it. I'm happy he got to vent, and hopefully he feels a lot better. As a coach that's been in it for 10 years, I know better than to worry about somebody that's been around for a couple that are .500, so we'll just go forward."
How was the postgame handshake?
"Very quick [squeak]."
Should he stop being who he is after he loses regarding how he speaks his mind?
"No, and Bo what I find extremely ironic is I think both of them are - the Ohio State deal and this one - are both complete innocent. Believe me, I've gone into scenarios where I've been like 'okay, I'm going to stir the pot a little bit,' but I don't ever watch [college] games [on Monday night] - there's never a Monday night college football game - and I just happened to watch Ohio State, and I happened to see the thing [on their schedule], and that's what I was talking about. You asked the question I think (points to Bob Holt of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)."
[Bielema discusses what is done at high school coaching conventions again.]
"It's just classic. I think it is just another great example of today's world with media. Like all the people that comment about these, I doubt they very much read the text or the content of when any of this was said. Not just the media with the first one, but with Kliff. I don't know if he read all of my notes or what, but it was just like, 'C'mon brother, don't be so sensitive.' We're talking about football here, we're not talking about you in particular or what you believe in."
