Bret Bielema Bit Quotations

I got on him a little bit because he got a bruise on the forearm and he wanted to sit out. That's the difference. You have to have durability in the Big Ten.

He's a big body that can run. I would like him to have a little bit more ability to flip his hips and run in certain situations. But I think he can really be a good football player.

Hodge and a couple other guys are kind of in a holding pattern. I'm going to sit down and have a discussion with Elijah. I think he's been a little bit hampered by the groin injury. Now, you're getting in the season, you've got to kind of concentrate on the guys you're going to play.

I think Elijah was trying to show up a little bit for him, That's another thing you lied to me about in recruiting - you told me there were no tornadoes (in Iowa City).

Sometimes, for young players, the hardest adjustment they have to make is just being accountable for everything they do. They want to make the big play, they want to just get to the ending point rather than working themselves through it. You'll see that a little bit with our new offensive guys. They don't know how hard it is to be a good football player. People just think it happens. It's hard...and it's a process.

It was different. I was sure to notice when Coach Alvarez used to come and sit in on my meeting or when he was in my drills, so I was trying to be a little bit conscientious of that, especially the first two days, trying to let coaches establish how they go about their business. I was just trying to stay at a distance, look around and watch for the first few days.

It was something that if we practiced well the first couple days down here we knew this was going to be a day (off). We met a little bit but it was an opportunity to let the kids get their legs back.