Arkansas football deserves all the misery it may have with Bobby Petrino
Bobby Petrino is back with the Arkansas football program, and they probably deserve each other at this point.
How can the most notoriously crusty, unethical, and disloyal football coach of the modern era continue to get jobs? That’s the question many people are — or should be — asking about Bobby Petrino after being hired…again…by Arkansas.
While the Razorback brass didn’t take the reins away from head coach Sam Pittman and hand them to Petrino, he is their new offensive coordinator, a move that is seemingly made as a dual PR-and-sink-Pittman move in one fell swoop.
If Petrino was at the height of his craft and making defensive coordinators shake in their boots at the thought of facing his offense, it might be a (somewhat) understandable hire. Many schools will overlook warts in the name of nearly guaranteed success.
But this isn’t that Petrino. This isn’t even Louisville Petrino 2.0. It’s dying fish Petrino, flopping around on the muddy shortline gasping for air and hoping someone kicks him back into the water.
Congrats, Arkansas. You just saved a herring that will likely turn into a putrid can of surströmming.
And Arkansas fans seem not only unfazed by this hiring, but some of them are actually celebrating it, not realizing it’s just a distraction to keep the “Fire Pittman” mob at bay.
Bobby Petrino has a history that Arkansas is simply ignoring
How could the suits and boosters at Arkansas expect a good outcome from this hire? This is a “coach” who embarrassed their school while simultaneously deep-sixing their football program. Had he not been fired for his inappropriate behavior and mistress-nepotism, he likely would have turned his back on the Razorbacks when he saw greener pastures like he’s done so many times before.
Seriously, look at the timeline. The facts are there practically written in blood for everyone to plainly see.
2004: After one season in his first stint as Louisville’s head coach, Petrino was part of the shady plot to possibly replace Tommy Tuberville (his former boss) at Auburn.
2006: Petrino signs a 10-year deal with Louisville, only to walk out six months later to take the head coach job with the Atlanta Falcons.
2007: Just 13 weeks into his first season with the Falcons, Petrino guaranteed owner Arthur Blank he was staying in Atlanta despite the team’s struggles. 24 hours later he resigned to take the head coach job at Arkansas, notifying his team via a laminated note left at each player’s locker.
2012: The infamous “motorcycle incident”, an accident involving Petrino and former Arkansas volleyball player Jessica Dorrell, the person he had hired as student-athlete development coordinator for the football program, and later admitted to having an adulterous affair with, leading to his dismissal.
2013: Petrino is hired as the head coach at Western Kentucky on a four-year contract that stipulated he would be required to pay the university $1.2 million if he left before the contract was up.
2014: Petrino leaves Western Kentucky after just one season to take over the Louisville football program…again…on a 7-year, $24.5 million contract with a buyout of $10 million. Louisville fired Petrino in 2018, agreeing to buy out the remaining $14.1 million of his contract after a series of serious locker room issues and an overall decline in the program’s success.
2020: Unable to catch on at any FBS programs, Petrino agrees to the head coach position at FCS school Missouri State, where he lasted just three seasons.
2022: Petrino takes the offensive coordinator job at UNLV, working under former Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom, who had planned a complete rebuild of the program with Petrino’s help in 2023.
2023: Before the 2023 season at UNLV even begins, Petrino agrees to take the offensive coordinator job at Texas A&M.
Ultimately, when Texas A&M fired head coach Jimbo Fisher and hired replacement Mike Elko, Petrino was not retained.
At this point, you have to wonder what’s more likely to happen first — Sam Pittman being fired, or Bobby Petrino walking out of Razorback Stadium in the middle of the game to take a “better” job offer.
You know what you’re getting, Arkansas. The opportunities for clichés are countless — “a leopard can’t change its spots”, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, “the frog and the scorpion”…
Oh yeah, my personal favorite…
“Bobby Petrino is a terrible human being and should never be allowed to mold and influence young people again.”
Have fun with this one, Hog Nation.
