Quotes from Bret Bielema

I can tell you this: we at the Big Ten don't want to be like the SEC - in any way, shape or form.

Hard work pays off.

I am a big believer in life in this fact: Scars are a very beautiful thing.

I grew up on a pig farm, about 2,500 pigs - we had way more pigs than people.

I have scars on my knee from an ACL surgery. I have a scar on my ankle from ankle surgery. I have a scar on my left hand from hand surgery.

I'd never been on a plane until I went to the Peach Bowl my freshman year at Iowa.

There's so much in the world that has already been done, but there are plenty of things left for people who want to go get it.

There's a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of great fans everywhere you go in college football.

I'm not a comedian.

I love to compete - don't get me wrong.

Don't confuse confidence with cockiness. I really believe that.

Consistency is a beautiful word.

You know, my wife is a south Florida girl. She was born and raised in Tampa so she's traditionally lived in the South.

Anytime you're a defensive player and your eyes aren't on your key, you're going to have an issue.

You can't tap somebody in the helmet and say, 'Go be physical.' If you're not physical, you can't play physical, and that's a big part of what we believe in.

I don't mind Twitter. But when a kid makes a decision based on how many Twitter followers he gets, that's when I'm about ready to tap out.

You can't skip a step and assume you're going to get to where you want to be.

In the Big Ten, we disliked the SEC because of the success they had.

As much as I disliked it, my brothers used to whoop me every day, but I have a feeling that I'm probably a stronger man today because of it.

You want your assistants to move up. But you want it to be a hard decision. You want them to only be willing to leave if they're walking into a dream situation. You don't want money to ever be a factor.

I thought as a young coach, there were times when my head coach might have prohibited me from moving forward. I always said if I am ever in that position, I'll do anything I can to make our guys move forward.

I was on a farm basically from the age of 3 until I left for college - really thought that was all I was ever going to do.

Any time you see something out there floating around that's not really reality, it's better to just cease it and stop it.

If you say you're a football coach, especially with a dude, they're always all over you.