Former Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema filed suit against the school’s athletic foundation on Friday, seeking more than $7 million he alleges he is owed from a negotiated buyout.
Bielema coached the Razorbacks to a 29-34 record from 2013-17 before he was fired in November 2017.
He reportedly agreed to a $12 million buyout of his contract in January 2018 and received more than $4 million of that amount before the Razorback Foundation stopped paying him in January 2019, alleging a breach of contract.
Razorback Foundation lawyer Marshall Ney told Sportico that Bielema’s suit was a reaction to the fact that the foundation was about to sue him.
“What I can share at this point before digesting the entire document is that the foundation previously demanded that Bret Bielema return the $4,555,833.29 that had been paid to him prior to the Foundation’s discovery of his multiple material breaches of the agreement,” Ney said.
The Foundation alleges that Bielema purposely pursued low-paying jobs after exiting Arkansas, as any money he made from another job would offset the amount of money the Razorbacks owed him.
He served as a consultant to the New England Patriots in 2018 before becoming the team’s defensive line coach last year. In January, he took a new job as the New York Giants’ outside linebackers coach.
According to USA Today, Bielema signed deals with the Patriots and Giants that included clauses allowing him to exit for a Division I college head-coaching role.
Bielema, 50, was the head coach at Wisconsin from 2006-12, guiding the team to bowl games each season and finishing with a 68-24 record. The Badgers finished in the AP Top 10 three times during his tenure.
None of his Arkansas teams finished ranked in the AP Top 25.