Razorbackers
Fansided

Legal Troubles a Rarity for Bielema, Hogs

By Cory Thone

facebooktwitterreddit

For only the third time in his tenure at Arkansas, Bret Bielema has a player facing legal trouble.

Freshman tight end CJ O’Grady was arrested and has been charged with a DWI, minor in possession of alcohol, no taillight, and no proof of insurance early Friday morning according to the Fayetteville Flyer.

The 4 star freshman was ranked as one of the top 3 tight ends in the country coming out of high school, and was an All-American. Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema has previously said that O’Grady will likely redshirt due to the depth on the roster at the tight end position.

Sep 6, 2014; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema reacts after a score in the fourth quarter against the Nicholls State Colonels at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Arkansas defeated Nicholls State 73-7. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Everybody makes mistakes, especially college freshmen. I don’t want this website to be a place where I just report some news and move on. I didn’t write this to publicly scold O’Grady. (I have a feeling that Coach Bielema, who is very unique in his punishment methods, can do a much better job of that than I can.) The reason this story about O’Grady caught my attention this morning is because of how out of place it’s become for Arkansas football players to be in trouble since Bielema got here.

Earlier this week, Pete Thamel published a story about the change in football culture that has happened since Bielema got to the hill by way of Wisconsin. In it, Thamel sites the fallout at both Lousiville and Arkansas after Bobby Petrino left the schools. 21 players were cleared out of Lousiville after Petrino left, and after he left Arkansas there were 8 arrests and 10 players failing out of school. Former Arkansas defensive coordinator Chris Ash called it a “culture of worrying about being eligible.”

Those days seem so long ago.

Since Coach Bielema took over at Arkansas, there have been only 3 arrests. Shortly after taking over, Austin Flynn was arrested and charged with a DWI. He transferred about a month later, and it’s speculated that it was not Flynn’s decision to leave. It would be 740 days until the next bit of trouble for Arkansas, when DE Teavin Beanum was charged with a DWI in March. How did Bielema choose to respond? By talking with Beanum’s mother, and they both decided to basically ground him from his car. Unique punishments indeed.

It’s not just legal issues that have dwindled under Bielema. Upon his arrival, he and his staff were horrified to see the academic woes that had become the norm under Petrino. In 2013, 18 players on the Razorbacks roster had sub-2.0 GPAs. After this most recent summer session, the Hogs entire roster averaged just below a 3.0, and all 105 players had above a 2.0 GPA.

More from Razorbackers

The mentality has changed all around. Students don’t get in trouble, they go to class, and they don’t just want to win, they EXPECT to win. Despite some controversy when he was hired, Bret Bielema has shown that he was the perfect man for the rebuilding job at Arkansas. And the rebuild is happening faster than many people expected, with the Hogs starting the season ranked in the top 20, and a dark horse favorite to win the conference.

I don’t know what Bielema has in store for O’Grady, but I’m sure it will be creative, effective, and get the point across to not just CJ, but the whole team.

And if I may give a general PSA to all people of Fayetteville…you have UBER. Take advantage of it.

Next: 5 Star DE has Hogs in Top 4

Update at 2:21 PM 8/29/2015

On the heels of a fantastic SI Campus Rush article about the culture change at Arkansas, a second Razorback has been arrested on an alcohol related charge. After going nearly 2 years with only 1 arrest, the Hogs have now had 2 cuffed players in as many days.

A safe bet that coach Bielema will be having a meeting with his team this weekend.

Home/Football