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Razorback Foundation court case against former Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema pushed to 2022

The trial had originally been scheduled for this June. It will not take place at the beginning of 2022.
Credit: AP
FILE - In this Friday, Nov. 24, 2017 file photo, Arkansas coach Bret Bielema gets choked up as the senior players are introduced before the start of an NCAA college football game in Fayetteville, Ark. It's going on 40 days since Bret Bielema was announced as Illinois' football coach, and since then he's assembled a staff, met returning players, recruited new ones, convinced a top player to pull his name out of the transfer portal and made the rounds getting to know administrators and alumni. (AP Photo/Michael Woods, File)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The court case between former Razorback football coach Bret Bielema and The Razorback Foundation has been rescheduled for January 10, 2022. The trial had originally been scheduled for this June. 

The Razorback Foundation, an organization that helps fund the University of Arkansas's athletic programs, and Bret Bielema have been battling in court over the last half-year. The lawsuit centers around the terms of Bret Bielema's firing as the head football coach at the University of Arkansas and his compensation. 

Bielema was the head coach for the University of Arkansas football team from 2012 to 2017. By the end of his coaching stint at the university, Bielema was the highest-paid state employee in Arkansas, with a salary reported at $4,200,000.   

Bielema was fired as head coach at Arkansas and had a $12 million buyout as part of his contract. The contract stated that he was required to seek high-paying employment that would reduce the amount of backpay the University of Arkansas owed him. 

Bill Belichick hired Bielema as a defensive consultant for the Patriots in 2018. Bielema's compensation under the Patriots was $125,000, which was not high enough to reduce Arkansas's buyout payments. 

The Razorback Foundation claims in its lawsuit against Beleima that he, Belichick, and their agent (Neil Cornrich) intentionally didn't pay Beliema a high enough pay that would lower the University of Arkansas' buyout payment.

The Razorback Foundation has admitted that Belichick could have been oblivious to the deal his agent, Neil Cornrich, made with Bielema to join the Patriots' staff.    

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