Bret Bielema named Arkansas head football coach
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KTHV) -- Head Razorback football coach Bret Bielema, by his own admission is superstitious. So much, that it even affects what he wears on game day.
"I have a huge superstition of wearing a windbreaker on game day. I'll never get away from that. I tried to but I couldn't," said Bielema.
And that's just the beginning of coach's superstition.
"Unfortunately, Dawn, it has to do with everything," explained the coach. "I wish it pertained to game, pre-game or anything."
Instead, it follows him everywhere. And his wife, Jen, is superstitious, too.
"I know I was before I met her," he said. "And I think I've corrupted her"
Married just under a year, Jen and Bret both live thinking wins and losses are somehow tied to what you wear, the direction you walk, and even what you eat.
"If we do win a game," Bielema explained, "we'll eat the same food the next three weeks, next - I don't care how many weeks in a row, the night before for sure, wear the same tie."
Coach never eats on game day. He also never spends Friday night with his wife during football season. Their date night is Thursday, and they are constantly on watch.
"There are also things like the way you enter a door," Bielema said. "She's really crazy. Completely whacked. If she dropped me off, if I was supposed to go around - whether she was supposed to drive or I was supposed to drive. One time she forgot to close the door, so I have to go close it everytime because she thought it was best of luck." Bielema smiled and said, "Hey - happy wife, happy life!"
But Coach Bielema said all of it comes down to this: a desire to win. Not just the superstition, but even the routine he follows leading up to kickoff.
"Usually from the 18 minute mark down to about the 8 minute mark," Coach Bielema said, "I've got 10 minutes where I'll remove myself from everybody. Write down personal thoughts on what I want to say to the team. What they need to do to have success. We invest a lot of time into 12 weekends and for me not to have that mind as sharp as possible for that moment is gonna be no one else's fault but my own."
Coach Bielema went on to say that he just wants to win.
"I wanna give the people of Arkansas a championship. I do want that. Sounds silly because life's not about that but in a culture like this, those things mean a lot," Bielema explained.
"When I hear people talk about a 1964 championship and it's 2013 and they talk about it like it's yesterday, you know it's important to 'em."