Bret Bielema Bret Arnold Bielema ( ; born January 13 , 1970 ) is an American college football coach and current head coach at Arkansas . His hiring was announced on December 4 , 2012 . Bielema previously served as head football coach at Wisconsin , a position he held from 2006 to 2012 , achieving a 68 – 24 record . His 2011 salary of $ 2 . 5 million made him the 17th highest paid coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision . Coaching career . Assistant coach . Bielema played college football as a defensive lineman at Iowa under legendary coach Hayden Fry from 1989 to 1992 , serving as team captain his senior season . After receiving a scholarship his sophomore year , he got a tattoo of Iowa ' s Tiger Hawk logo on his left calf , which he still has today . Bielema graduated from Iowa with a bachelor ' s degree in marketing . He went on to play for the Milwaukee Mustangs , a team in the Arena Football League . Bielema then returned to the University of Iowa , serving as an assistant coach from 1993 to 2001 . He then became the co - defensive coordinator for Kansas State University from 2002 to 2003 . He took the same position at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2004 . Barry Alvarez , in his capacity as Wisconsin ' s athletic director , selected Bielema to succeed him as head coach when he announced his retirement from coaching in 2005 . Wisconsin . In his first season as head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers in 2006 , Bielema ' s team ended the regular season 11 – 1 ( 7 – 1 in Big Ten Conference play ) . With the 35 – 3 defeat of the University at Buffalo on November 18 , 2006 , Bielema became the first coach in UW history to win 11 games in the regular season . After a 17 – 14 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Capital One Bowl on January 1 , 2007 , he became the third coach in NCAA history to win 12 games in his rookie season , finishing 12 – 1 . With a 14 – 0 victory over the San Diego State on September 16 , 2006 , Bielema became the third Wisconsin head coach to win the first three games of his career . Later , with a 24 – 3 win over Purdue on October 21 , Bielema tied the record for most wins by a first - year coach at UW with seven . The other two coaches to complete this feat were Philip King in 1896 and William Juneau in 1912 . A 30 – 24 victory over the Fighting Illini on October 28 , Bielema became the first coach in Wisconsin history to win eight games in his first season . He then extended the record with his ninth victory on November 4 , defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions , 13 – 3 . With a 24 – 21 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 11 , Bielema became the first head coach in Big Ten history to win ten games in his first season . Bielema coached Wisconsin to victories in 17 of his first 18 games . That represents the second - best start to a head coaching career in Big Ten history . Only Michigan ' s Fielding H . Yost , who went 55 – 0 – 1 from 1901 – 1905 , had a better beginning to a career . On October 16 , 2010 , Bielema ' s Badgers defeated # 1 - ranked Ohio State , 31 – 18 , in Madison . It was Wisconsin ' s first victory over a # 1 - ranked team since 1981 when the Badgers upset Michigan . The victory against the Buckeyes would be his only one as Brett Bielema was 1 - 5 against Ohio State . Bielema has been named a finalist for the Bear Bryant Award which is given to college football ' s Coach of the Year . The other finalists are Chris Ault of Nevada , Gene Chizik of Auburn , Mark Dantonio of Michigan State , Jim Harbaugh of Stanford , Chip Kelly of Oregon , Gary Patterson of TCU , Bobby Petrino of Arkansas and Mike Sherman of Texas A & M . Bielema is fond of red windbreakers and wears the same one superstitiously every Saturday . Arkansas . On Tuesday , December 4 , 2012 , it was announced that Bielema was leaving Wisconsin to become the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks . Personal life . Bielema announced on April 1 , 2011 that he was engaged to his girlfriend , Jen Hielsberg . They were married March 11 , 2012 in Madison .