I was skeptical, I have to admit. And I still am to some degree. He showed some notable deficiencies in clock management and game decisions at Wisconsin and some of those close loses at Arkansas were plagued with stupid decisions on and off the field. That said, I think his bacon has been saved by his defensive coordinator hire of Robb Smith. That guy took one of the worst defenses around and turned it into one of the best in the SEC and the country. The improvement on the back of that defense has been unlike anything I've ever seen. It has turned into a dominant unit over the course of one season.
If you can play defense like that, it doesn't matter what kind of offense you run. Robb Smith deserves a million dollars a year or more if that is what it takes to keep him at Arkansas until he gets his shot as a head coach.
All that said, I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a change at the OC at the end of the year. Chaney and Bielema have at times, seemed to not fit together that well and Chaney needs only a few more years in the NFL for a pension. I wouldn't be surprised to see him jump out there and get an NFL position coach job just to get that pension out of the way.
