In college football coaching circles, a few programs have opted to “run it back.” UCF rehired former Knights head coach Scott Frost last offseason, and West Virginia did the same with Rich Rodriguez.
Arkansas is another program taking a similar approach. In November 2023, the Razorbacks brought back Bobby Petrino as their offensive coordinator. Petrino, who was fired from Arkansas in 2012 after a motorcycle accident revealed he was having an affair with a female staffer, is now serving as the Razorbacks’ interim head coach.
The move came shortly after Arkansas fired head coach Sam Pittman midseason. Here’s a closer look at the decision to bring Petrino back.
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Why is Bobby Petrino at Arkansas?
Petrino was hired by Pittman as the Razorbacks' new offensive coordinator in Nov. 2023. Although Pittman and Petrino had not coached together previously, Pittman coached against Petrino's Missouri State team in 2022. Arkansas trailed until the fourth quarter and won 38-27.
In 2023, Arkansas finished 4-8, which was a shock considering Pittman's 9-4 finish in 2021 and 7-6 mark in 2022. The Razorbacks also finished 1-7 in the SEC. As for why Pittman chose to hire Petrino, whose tenure at Arkansas ended disastrously in a neck brace, there were a few reasons.
"I want to win. I don't care about all the rest of it," Pittman told ESPN in July of 2024. "This has never ever, ever been about me. I'm grateful to be the head coach at Arkansas, and I'm trying to make the people of the state of Arkansas, the team and the staff proud to be a part of the program."
Petrino was once regarded as one of the top offensive minds in college football. While he was in Fayetteville from 2008–2011, he posted a pair of double-digit win seasons in 2010 and 2011, including top-15 finishes. He spent the 2023 season as the Texas A&M Aggies offensive coordinator, during which TAMU averaged 33.3 points per game, good for 25th nationally.
"You got his passion, that he wanted to come back," Pittman continued to ESPN. "We were very similar about how I thought we could win, and he thought we could. There was also the NIL, the alumni, a lot of things go into that. We needed help at Arkansas financially, and there were things where Bobby knew some people that could help us as well. So there was a lot of different things, and he could help me because he was a head coach at these different teams."
Arkansas finished 7-6 in Petrino's first season in Fayetteville in 2024, capped off with a 39-26 Liberty Bowl victory over Texas Tech. The Razorbacks went from 69th (26.6 PPG) in scoring offense to 43rd (30.9) nationally. Perhaps most impressive was the Razorbacks' improvement on the ground, averaging 139 rushing yards per game in 2023 to 184 in 2024, good for 34th nationally.
Arkansas started the 2025 season 2-0 with big wins over Alabama A&M and Arkansas State. But after three straight losses to Ole Miss, Memphis, and a 56-13 blowout home loss to Notre Dame, Arkansas fired Pittman after six seasons. Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek named Petrino the interim head coach.
"As we move forward in the process of finding our next head coach, I am certain we will be able to provide the necessary resources to our staff and team to reach our goals. We will begin a national search for our next head coach immediately and that search will include Coach Petrino, who has expressed his desire to be a candidate for the full-time job," Yurachek said in a statement.
So far, Arkansas is 0-1 with Petrino as the interim, losing 34-31 at No. 12 Tennessee on Oct. 11. The Razorbacks have another huge test upcoming, hosting No. 4 Texas A&M at home.
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Why did Arkansas fire Petrino?
Arkansas fired Bobby Petrino in April 2012. The move came after the head coach was involved in a motorcycle accident. On Arkansas' Highway 16, Petrino was involved in a motorcycle crash, riding with former All-SEC Arkansas volleyball player Jessica Dorrell on April 1. Petrino was 51 at the time, Dorrell being 25.
Initially, reports surrounding Petrino's accident only indicated that the head coach was involved. But Petrino was tipped off by a state trooper that a police report scheduled for release on April 6 would list Dorrell as a passenger.
Just minutes before the report was set to become public, Petrino admitted to Arkansas AD Jeff Long that he had been with Dorrell and that he was also having an affair with her. Petrino was married at the time.
Petrino was not forthcoming with Arkansas about Dorrell, which ultimately led to his firing for cause.
“The extramarital affair is not the reason he was terminated … it was not actionable,” Long said in a 2022 piece in The Athletic . “The dishonesty on multiple occasions and levels was something we could take action for.”
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Bobby Petrino coaching record
Petrino has been a head coach at Louisville, Arkansas, and Western Kentucky in college. Overall as a head coach, he has a 119-57 record, including a 5-6 mark in 11 bowl game appearances. At Arkansas, he finished with a 34-18 record.
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