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INPIYLTI: Former Hawkeyes Bret Bielema And Bobby Diaco And The Coaching Carousel

Former Hawkeyes are making headlines changing jobs and earning honors.

By PlannedSickDays

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WHOA. That was the reaction yesterday when the news broke that former Hawkeye Bret Bielema opted to leave Wisconsin and take his windbreakers to Arkansas.

Bielema was Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez's hand-picked successor following the 2005 season. He has a (68-24) record as Wisconsin's head coach, (37-19) in the Big Ten. He's won the only two Big Ten Championship games in history and earned his team to three consecutive Rose Bowls. It was stated yesterday that he would like to coach this team against Stanford in the Rose Bowl. But, it appears now that he'll head to his new home and perhaps Barry Alvarez will coach the team.

It's likely about the money (or is it?). Bielema agreed to a six year contract worth $3.2 million a year. His previous contract with Wisconsin was slated to pay him $2.6 million per year. Several names have floated for the Wisconsin job. Paul Cryst has already stated he will remain at Pitt. Chryst, a Madison native and former coach, left last season to become Pitt's head coach after Todd Graham left after one season. SBNation reports that Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggart has interviewed for the job.

ANOTHER POSSIBLE CANDIDATE? How about Bobby Diaco, current Notre Dame defensive coordinator and assistant head coach? Diaco, a former Hawkeye linebacker, won the Broyles Award yesterday which is given to the nation's top assistant. Diaco's name had been linked to the Boston College coaching search but yesterday, B.C. hired Temple's Steve Addazio. Expect Diaco's name to surface in the Wisconsin search.

OMHR FOUND A COACH YESTERDAY TOO. Purdue hired Kent State's Darrell Hazell. Hazell was head coach at Kent State for just two seasons. There, he had a (16-9) record including an (8-0) conference mark this season. Hazell is familiar with the Big Ten. He was Jim Tressel's wide receiver coach at Ohio State from 2004 to 2010.

IOWA WRESTLING MOVES UP IN THE RANKINGS. According to the WIN rankings, Iowa moves to the #2 tournament team. They remain ranked #4 as a dual team. Iowa sits behind conference foe Penn State and in front of Oklahoma State and Minnesota. Iowa State, fresh off the destruction in Carver-Hawkeye, is ranked 41st.

HAWKEYE MEN'S HOOPS GETS ANOTHER WIN. The Hawkeyes will take on Iowa State Friday night, but first, one more cupcake in South Dakota. Vint has the recap on this site so here's a couple quick links to Fran McCaffery's post game transcript and video.

FOOTBALL RECRUITING. It's a big weekend coming up for football recruiting. Kirk Ferentz and company will host several committed prospects Thursday through Sunday in Iowa City. Iowa still have a few openings for the 2013 class. Here's a breakdown of which prospects the Hawkeyes are pursuing and what to expect as signing day approaches.

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