It was over a decade ago that Bobby Petrino saw his tenure as the Arkansas Razorbacks’ head coach come to an abrupt end after he was involved in a scandal that rocked the college football world.
With new people calling the shots for the Razorbacks, a return to Fayetteville could very well be in the cards.
According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, the powers that be at Arkansas are vetting Petrino to become their next offensive coordinator under embattled head coach Sam Pittman. The report indicates that Petrino, 62, has told people that he’s in the mix for an coordinator job in the SEC.
If we thought that Jon Gruden potentially making his way to the Big 10 was a shocking story, get a load of this one.
Petrino was fired by Arkansas back in 2012 after being involved in a motorcycle accident. The then-Razorbacks head coach initially told authorities he was alone on the motorcycle at the time of the accident.
It turns out that former Arkansas volleyball player Jessica Dorrell was actually at the scene of the accident. Then a student-athlete development coordinator for the football program, Dorrell was having an affair with Petrino
Then-athletic director Jeff Long initially placed Petrino on administrative leave before firing him days after the accident. Per several reports at the time, Petrino’s relationship with Dorrell included providing her gifts worth thousands of dollars and preferential treatment within the football program. He had also apparently bypassed the university affirmative action guidelines in hiring Dorrell in the first place.
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A Bobby Petrino return to Arkansas would be all sorts of crazy
Petrino most recently served as the offensive coordinator for Texas A&M. Prior to that, he was the Missouri State head coach from 2020-22. In addition to Arkansas, Petrino’s head-coaching experience includes Louisville (2003-06, 2014-18) and Western Kentucky (2013). He also served as the Atlanta Falcons head coach for a mere 13 games during the 2007 season.
Fresh off a 2023 season in which they posted a 4-8 record, the Razorbacks are in search of a new identity on offense. Firmly on the hot seat himself, the aforementioned Pittman fired offensive coordinator Dan Enos after a loss to Mississippi State back in October.
Whether bringing in Bobby Petrino would be a good move from a football perspective remains to be seen. What we do know is that it would come with a ton of scrutiny for a football program that has earned all of two bowl appearances since the 2016 season.