Why is Bobby Petrino back in Arkansas football?

The American writer Thomas Wolfe titled one of his most famous books “You Can't Go Home Again”.

It told the story of an author who wrote a book that referenced his hometown, which caused the people in his hometown, dissatisfied with its portrayal, to send him threatening letters.

With all due respect to the late Mr. Wolfe, he didn't know much about college football because, as it turns out, you can go back home. Then you've come to the right place with Bobby Petrino, who has suddenly made it his career to return to the places where he once worked.

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Ten years after returning to Louisville, where he previously served as head coach from 2003 to 2006, Petrino achieved a similar feat in a more unlikely place. In November 2023, Petrino was hired as Arkansas' offensive coordinator, returning to a school where he was head coach from 2008 to 2011.

If Tennessee fans happen to see Petrino wearing a Razorbacks hat on Saturday when the Vols travel to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas, your eyes aren't deceiving you.

How did one of the most unlikely reunions in modern college football history come about? And how is the experiment going so far?

Here's what you need to know about Petrino's return to Arkansas and how the Razorbacks are faring under his watch so far:

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Why was Bobby Petrino fired from Arkansas?

The thought of Petrino ever returning to Arkansas would have once been unimaginable – and for understandable reasons.

Like so much with Petrino, the drama wasn't due to a lack of coaching acumen.

After leaving the Atlanta Falcons after 13 games in his first season there, Petrino made Arkansas a force not only in the SEC, but nationally as well. During that time, he posted a 34-17 record, including a 21-5 record in his final two seasons. The Razorbacks played in the six New Year's bowl games in each of his final two seasons, losing the Sugar Bowl in 2010 and winning the Cotton Bowl in 2011. His 21 wins in his final two seasons are the most wins ever over one Two-year period in the program's history.

The following offseason, the vision of a successful future for Arkansas with Petrino at the helm was literally shaken.

In April 2012, about three months after the Cotton Bowl victory, Petrino broke four ribs, fractured a vertebra in his neck and suffered numerous facial abrasions as a result of a motorcycle accident that, according to Arkansas at the time, “no other persons were involved.” . ”

This account of events quickly unraveled.

A state police report said he was on the motorcycle with Jessica Dorrell, a former Arkansas volleyball player who had hired Petrino the previous month as the Razorbacks' player development coordinator. It was later revealed that Petrino had had an extramarital relationship with Dorrell for a “significant” period of time, according to then-athletic director Jeff Long.

Not only had Petrino given his mistress a job with 159 applicants, but he had also only been transparent with Long about the circumstances of the crash in the minutes before the police report was released.

After being placed on paid leave, Petrino was fired following a review of the incident on April 10, nine days after the accident.

“He made a conscious decision on Tuesday to mislead the public, thereby negatively impacting the reputation of the University of Arkansas and our football program,” Long said at the time. “In short, Coach Petrino demonstrated a pattern of misleading and manipulative behavior before and after the motorcycle accident that was intended to deceive me and members of the athletic staff.”

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Why is Bobby Petrino back in Arkansas?

A man whose last public appearance as head coach at Arkansas came in a neck brace is now back with the Razorbacks.

How?

On the one hand, time heals even the most painful and gaping wounds. As Arkansas struggled in the years following Petrino's firing – winning more than seven games only twice in the 12 seasons following Petrino's unceremonious departure – memories of the success he brought to the Razorbacks remained with the school's fan and donor base the bigger. It also didn't hurt that Long, the athletic director who fired him, was himself fired in 2017.

The Arkansas program also needed a spark. After going 9-4 in 2021, the Razorbacks are weak. They finished a disappointing 2022 season, in which they began as a top-20 team, at 7-6 before falling further the following season, with a 4-8 record in 2023, a 1-7 record in SEC games included.

During the 2023 election campaign, their offensive stalled. After averaging at least 30 points per game each of the last three seasons, Arkansas saw its scoring average drop to 26.6 points per game, ranking it 10th among 14 SEC teams and 69th among 134 FBS programs.

Despite all of his past misdeeds, Petrino is widely regarded as having an outstanding offensive mind. In his final assignment before returning to Arkansas, he helped Texas A&M's offense improve by more than 10 points per game in his only season as the program's offensive coordinator. The Aggies averaged 33.3 points per game last season, up from 22.8 in 2022.

“I interviewed several people, five people, for the job,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said last November. “(Petrino) was very excited about returning to Arkansas. And then when I found out that he was interested in us again, it was really a given at that point.”

Petrino was brought on board on a three-year deal that ESPN reported will pay him $1.3 million in his first year.

For his part, he harbored no ill will toward his former employer.

“There was no anger at all,” Petrino said in a news conference last November. “I’ve always been a Hogs fan, man. People asked me, 'Are you going to watch the game? Will you watch them play?' ?' I watched as many games as possible, I cheered them on, I rooted for them.”

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Bobby Petrino Offensive Rankings

For much of his career, Petrino has been the mastermind behind a number of high-profile offenses, whether as head coach or offensive coordinator.

While his offenses weren't quite as productive as when he was making waves with Ryan Mallett at Arkansas or Lamar Jackson and (before that) Brian Brohm at Louisville, they were still productive.

This season with the Razorbacks was further evidence of that offensive prowess. After averaging just 26.6 points per game last season, Arkansas is averaging 35.8 points per game through its first five games in 2024. However, that mark is somewhat inflated by the 70 points the Razorbacks scored against FCS Arkansas Pine Bluff in their season opener. Arkansas is averaging 27.3 points per game in four meetings against FBS opponents. Last season, an average of 23.9 points per game was scored in such contests.

Here's a look at how Petrino's FBS offenses have performed since the start of his first tenure at Arkansas and where they ranked among FBS programs:

Arkansas, head coach

2008: 21.9 points per game (49th)
2009: 36 ppg (9th)
2010: 36.5 ppg (17th)
2011: 36.8 ppg (19th)

Western Kentucky, head coach

Louisville, head coach

2014: 31.2 ppg (53rd)
2015: 28.7 ppg (65th)
2016: 42.5 ppg (T-6th)
2017: 38.1 ppg (11th)
2018: 19.8 ppg (T-122.)

Texas A&M, offensive coordinator

Arkansas, offensive coordinator

* Through five games

On October 6, 2024 By John Fenwick

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Why is Bobby Petrino back in Arkansas football?

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Why is Bobby Petrino back in Arkansas?