Better The Devil You Know
December 13, 2007 by TipsterHog
As a Razorback fan, you would have to be living under a rock to not hear or read about some of the national media debate going over the last 36 hours on the professional character of Bobby Petrino.
In fact, if you didn’t know better, you might think some of the media actually believe he is the devil incarnate.
As for us here at RBN, we’re excited about the hiring of Coach Petrino and the potential he brings to the program. Unfortunately, however, we also think some of the criticisms leveled against him are completely justified. Petrino’s ‘drifter’ antics with Auburn, Louisville and now Atlanta have been especially well documented.
But let’s take a step back for a moment…
Ten years ago this month, the University of Arkansas hired what seemed like the perfect man for the job. A young head coach who had gone to school on The Hill, played for the Razorbacks and ‘loved that helmet.’
When Houston Nutt was hired in 1997, few national columnists even cared. But the local media, as per usual, pretty much lined up behind the move. (With the primary exception being Orville Henry…whose “furious” column has been quoted often over the years.)
Nutt got the fans excited, too, with comments like ‘working daylight to exhaustion’ and ‘building a wall around the state’ to keep local talent at home. The ‘98 and ‘99 seasons were certainly a rollercoaster of big wins and tough losses.
But underneath all the praise and excitement, there was something about the man that no one could put into words…until a few years later:
“‘I do respect the guy, but he is a used car salesman,’ said Boise State defensive tackle Brad Phillips about Houston Nutt in the Idaho Statesman Thursday morning.” — September, 2000
In 2000, that comment still seemed like sour grapes. Just a few years later, Phillips’ words resonated like Nostradamus. Unfortunately, the realization by most fans that Nutt really was a used car salesman took several more years. And it was a painful one for many followers to believe. For some, it still hasn’t been accepted.
And that’s the difference between today and 1997. With Petrino, we’ve been completely informed about all the flaws before the marriage. With Nutt, it was like the cold morning of marital reality after the honeymoon was inevitably over.
Stewart Mandel of SI.com wants us to know what we’re “getting into” with Bobby Petrino. But the fact that we know anything at all about him beforehand is a welcome change.
Even if hearing about some of it makes us a little wary about the future.
Comments
67 Responses to “Better The Devil You Know”
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I could not agree more. After I read all the negative coverage about our new coach it made me wonder if we had the right guy. I finally came to this conclusion, even if he is only here for 3 to 5 years we are still in better shape had he not come. You may not like the man but you can not argue with his success. I have already heard some say, ” I would rather have some one who loves the razorbacks like Nutt than some on who is using us until he finds a better job.” For me I would rather have a proven winner weather or not he ever comes to Magnolia or anyother small town and tries to be our buddy.
I often wondered if we would ever be able to compete year in and year out for the SEC Title. Now I feel like we can. I even feel like now that we can actually be a national power year in and year out. Call me stupid, but you can’t argue with his success.
I would also like to thank HBN for doing such a good job and for giving us (The Fans) a voice.
HBN has proven to be the voice of reason. I couldn’t agree more. I now feel like we have finally shed the inferiority complex that allowed USC to hang 70 on us. I do thank Nutt for rejuvenating the program, but when he was intimidated, his team played intimidated.
I don’t see anyone in the media calling Lou Holtz a quitter for leaving the Jets with a game left, or Nutt for that matter. Hell, Nutt had the job lined up at Ole Miss prior to resigning*.
I want to thank the national media for making close to impossible for our new coach to move on any time soon.
*speculation on my part
This is all standard procedure in the coaching profession when changing jobs. You can’t say anything until you leave because your team is still playing or preparing for a bowl or whatever. It is just part of it. It has been for awhile now.
You can’t say Petrino hasn’t been anxious to move to the top of his profession. But, with his record and his skills he has been the toast of college football, the flavor of the month for quite a while now. He was only listening to people who called to talked to him about a better job and more money. How big a crime is that? Which of you guys is so secure and principled that you would say, “If you don’t find someone else, call me back next month?” I don’t think so. Is he perfect? Is he a saint? Not that we know of. We do know for certain that he is a college football coach taking a lot of heat for getting out of a bad situation and into a good one.
The other side of the story says that the boy in Atlanta has been a pretty good business man for a while, knew about Vick before he hired Petrino, and has been doing some lieing about these negotiations all along.
But we shall see. We shall also see some big time football. That is not the be all and end all. I want a sound, clean program we can all be proud of. But, give the guy a chance, a few days at least.
Good point Stout:
That is, about making it harder for Petrino to get other offers. Why, am I thinking tho that if Petrino pulls off an improbable 7-5 season, a bowl win and an excellent recruiting year that all those other schools won’t show an interest? All those institutions who are desperate for some semblence of success. Schools whose “integrity” is checked at the door of winning (Like Nebraska and Washington). I get a laugh our of journalists, sports or otherwise, talking about ethics and morality when they are the least of the practitioners of honest behavior in our society. Petrino may only last 1,2 or 3 years, but I hope its long enough to give us a balanced attack. One quote in the Demo-Zette illustrated this perfectly. It referred to Arkansas being only one dimensional with McFadden and Jones. Now if the national media writers knew this …..
HBN you are a bit harsh with the used car salesmen bit. After all, some used car salesmen are very successful at what they do. In fact one of the most successful used car salesmen of our era was an ex-President. But carrying the analogy a bit further, many buyers of used cars get lemons and were unhappy, But in the case of many Nutt supporters in the hog nation they seemed to have loved their lemon. I may be wrong about my own judgements of Nutt, but Ole Miss could be an eye opener. If Nutt opens the Reb offense, i might conclude that it was Broyles not Nutt calling the shots at UA. After all it was Broyles who said his “experts” said that the spread wouldn’t work in college. Sure worked with LSU. Maybe Nutt will be the provebial blind hog who has found his acorn, thanks in part to Gus Malzahn.
It’s just the “scandal du jour.” The pundits will milk it for all it’s worth. Next week it will be old news.
Once he gets us through the brutal schedule the next couple of years and has his players in place and we win a national championship, no one will remember any of this.
Let me get the reasoning straight. We don’t like the guy because we found out he was a used car salesman, so we hire a known flim-flam man. According to your reasoning (better the devil you know), you’ve traded one devil for another.
It seems that Razorback fans would be more sensitive to the fact that Nutt went out with a deeply divided fan base, and the worst thing in the world is to bring in someone to carry on the tradition.
Jamaal Anderson and DeAngelo Hall have already weighed in on Petrino’s move. Don’t think their opinions don’t have weight among many of the Razorback faithful.
I only see the petty arguments among the Nation continuing under Petrino. The only way he can stay above the fray is to put together a superb record in his first year. Sure, it’s a rebuilding year, but Razorback fans weren’t happy with Nutt’s pretty good W-L record, why should we think they will be satisfied with Petrino’s. A couple of losses will start the rumor mill to grinding about how long it will be before Petrino ditches Arkansas for a better offer. And a superb record should (rightfully) create concern that he might bolt for a “big time team” like LSU
He can’t leave for LSU- we got smart and put it in the contract- anyway my take is- ‘ great hire!! But it is all conjecture at this point- it’s all fun and we have a heart warming feeling- and I do think that we will go bowlin’ next year- and I do predict that he will be here for 5-7 years- but at some point in year three of his tenure- Bobby P will have to do what Nutt didn’t do- which is take responsibility for his team- the character and the performance- I hope that Bobby P can learn from his past mistakes- that’s what he needs to do- the slate is clean and he needs to take advantage of it- Just as Nutt needs to do that at Ole Miss- however if these habits persist- this will not be a good hire. It will be all flash and no substance-
This may work out well for us. Petrino is taking a beating in the National media for his perceived character flaws. Even if he could care less about Arkansas and is only interested in furthering his career, it is in HIS best interest to stay here at least 5 yrs and keep his name out of the coaching carousel for awhile. Call me naive.
Scott W - I missed what Anderson and Hall had to say. Is it in an article somewhere?
I can’t believe that after a year of #$%^ that we are still stuck in a mess after hiring THE BEST available coach in America, maybe a guy who will go down as one of the best ever.
No one knows what the future holds or any of the circumstances of Petrino’s past based on a few news articles.
Let relax and enjoy this. Give the guy a break for a year or two. He is supposed to get a honeymoon.
Yes he is taking a beating in the National Press, hopefully he will stay around for minimum 3 years. All I know is his offensive philosphy is definitely on par with the rest of the nation so we definitely have a chance next year against a brutal schedule.
I agree with you Blindhog. I don’t understand why the media has made this such an earth shattering story. Let’s give the guy a chance if it doesn’t work out it doesn’t work out. The world will not stop turning if it doesn’t.
I do agree with all the negative press it just might give Coach P the insintive to make this his home.
Even after reading everything about him (the good and mostly the bad) I’m still excited and look forward to 2008 even if it is 7-5. How much worse could it have been even if HDN had stayed?
If it’s any consolation I’m here in Central America on a business trip and they don’t have a clue that the UofA has a new coach. But then again there football is really strange.
J. Anderson: “Disloyal”
D. Hall: More of the same only more verbose (threw in some stuff on Petrino’s character etc.) and tossed in a minor hit on Arkansas as well.
FTR: I don’t care what either of them have to say on the subject and Jamaal should really be quiet about loyalty–I know, I know; we’re all supposed to cut him some slack on going for the Big Bucks while he still can, etc. etc. but that was before he sounded off. Chris Houston basically said that since HDN is no longer the coach there’s nothing left in Arkansas for him. Cool. I feel the same way about he and Jamaal. You’re where you wanted to be (a year early) and are happy so allow us and Petrino to do the same.
I’m glad also for the national hue and cry if it gives Petrino more incentive to stay longer. And what about this: just suppose the coach has decided to change his spots and actually try to fulfill ALL his goals at Arkansas? At this point that possibility is as likely as his bolting in 3-5 years so keep your fingers crossed. (And, since I see he’s accepted a university cell phone against my best recommendations, let’s lay off the FOIA requests for the time being…;^/
Two Houston Nutt boys on a 3-10 team that just lost their All Star QB indefinitely and their coach. I would think that objective is really what to expect there.
I wouldn’t buy into this gypsy Petrino image that they are selling. He made a bad move to the NFL when he could find a top 25 D-1 slot in college. Spurrier, Saban, Carroll all did it. Yeah they stayed two years instead of one but they weren’t working for Atlanta. Big Deal.
If Petrino doesn’t stay it won’t be because he is a gypsy. It will be because he thinks he can recruit better somewhere else. Arkansas is a step up from Louisville in many ways, faciliities, recrutiing ground, SEC. HE has jumped from top 40 to top 20. The only jump he has left is Top 10. He will need some pretty good seasons on his resume’ to get a top 10. The only ones possible open in the SEC soon could be LSU and Tenn. But, he will have to succeed here first most likely. I’d say are chance are 50-50. BUT, not because of some puesdo-psychology, just because of the facts on the ground in college football.
We got lucky folks, get used to it.
It’s only been 50 years since our last break. We were due.
The Bobby Petrino record: The Devil We Know
Overall Record: 41-9 (Admittedly Pretty Awesome)
2003: 9-4 (5-3 record in Conference USA)
2004: 11-1 (8-0 record in Conference USA)
2005: 9-3 (5-2 record in the Big East, a Big East now without Miami, VT, or BC)
2006: 11-1 (6-1 record in the Big East). Gets BCS bid by winning the Big East. Gets a BCS victory by beating Wake Forest.
Yes the offensive numbers are impressive however, the defenses those numbers were put up against don’t strike me as intimidating. Time will tell.
Who said he can’t leave for LSU, contracts mean nothing to this man. I wish the fans best, but just wait and see, within one or two years rumurs will run ramp it that Petrino is talking to somebody. I guess my question to him is, what is it that you really want ? Also, my manager is from Arkansas and was an Arkansas fan, and I do mean “was”.
And you thought sure he would stay in Louisville for another 10 years.
Contracts mean what they say, nothing more. Grow up. If he violated his contract he would pay whatever penalty was spelled out. If he finds a better deal he should take it. That is what I intend to do. You should too.
Give me a break.
You try to give a little heads up to a fan base and get get shot between the eyes. OW. By the way is 5 years at $14 or $15 million better than 5 years at $25.5 million.
Paste this in your browser and check for youself the histroy on this guy.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3151061&sportCat=ncf
Good Luck, I’m outta here !!!!
Tell yourself what you need to. We won’t know how this turns out for some while, but to go on here and defend this guy while throwing our former players under the bus is disappointing. Where is Owasso during all of this? I’d like to hear your take on this. (Now there’s something I’ve never said before). I believe your the one who hung his hat on the morality issues with HDN.
“…defend this guy while throwing our former players under the bus…”
Throw them under the bus? Please…Jamaal and Chris chose up sides when they easily could have said ‘no comment’. I feel no loyalty to anyone who feels no loyalty to me. Besides I was very nice and only reported what I’ve heard they said (or, in the case of Chris, actually saw him say). Petrino has earned some time in order to do his thing and for me not to jump to conclusions. Don’t see that I actually ‘defended’ him, however.
Ok, ‘grow up’ was a little strong, sorry.
And, certainly we all measure these things differently. Coaches and players form a bond, they work for a common goal. I’m not sure how much different that is from any other committment or work environment. People come and go in all walks of life. Where is the betrayal? It is a business, contractural relationship. As some one pointed, out why is this different than Jamaal, or Darren for that matter, leaving college with a year of eligibility remaining? Is he betraying his team? No, he is taking advantage of an opportunity that everyone understands.
Yeah, when you sign a new contract with your University everyone comes out and says great things for the press and the recruits (which are given a year to year scholarship) but, it is not marriage. It is his job. If he doesn’t win, guess what, it will be no betrayal when he is shown the door.
Atlanta was a bad, bad deal for everyone. Why take it out on Petrino while wearing a ‘free micheal vick’ t-shirt. I’m not seeing it.
I feel no loyalty to anyone who feels no loyalty to me.
I wasn’t aware that they said anything about you. They said something about a guy that knew personally who screwed them over.
Blind,
He didn’t finish the job. That’s how its different. I can’t believe you guys are calling out players for a guy who has been in town for 2 days.
He is our new coach. Atlanta had already crashed and burned. Do you really believe after the sentencing of Micheal Vick and getting bombed by NO that the team hadn’t already quit? that a 3 win finish was in the cards? that a 6-10 record was going to do anything for anyone? There was nothing there to stay for. Do you think that Jamall should have completed his eligibility?
YOu just miss Dale. Enjoy the turmoil. It won’t last for another day or two but, you’ve earned. I know last year was hard on the Dale supporters.
Excuse me but didn’t HDN talk to other schools about open jobs? I think he did. Ok poor us he didn’t take any of them. If he had we wouldn’t be in this shape. The days of coach’s staying in one place for 10 - 20 years is over. It is the nature of the beast now. I don’t care if he stays 2 years or 20 what matters to me is can he build a program, can he have good citizens, and does h graduate students. If he does that then he will do fine. If not OLA!!!!
The Louisville posters make me laugh. Should anyone in Louisville expect their coach to stay 10 years there? I lived in that fair city for four years, most during the Petrino era. EVERYBODY knew he was going to leave Louisville. I mean EVERYBODY. Louisville is not a big football school. Period. Of course he was going to leave.
Doesn’t mean he’s perfect or shoulda handled things the way he did. But give me a break, Louisville is Louisville. Big East is Big East. SEC is SEC. Arkansas is Arkansas. Can’t blame the man for seeking jobs past Louisville. Or for seeking an SEC job when the NFL gig didn’t work.
FYI - Here is a link to Petrino’s contract. At least it states that he can’t transfer to another SEC West school but I wish it covered the entire SEC.
http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/ajc/pdf/petrinoarkcontract.pdf
And P.S. I didn’t make that comment because I believe he’s going to leave, I think he’ll be here for the foreseeable future (3-5 years). I just want us to be protected should an unforeseeable event occur.
There are no longer any huggers or haters. There is only one HogNation, indivisible, with victories and championships for all.
“There is only one HogNation, indivisible, with victories and championships for all.”
Man, I truly hope so!
If we’re going to play semantic games; Chris didn’t say anything directly personal to me only indirectly. However, just like Jamaal’s statement, it wasn’t difficult to get the meaning.
BTW, I seriously doubt they knew Petrino personally; sounds much more like ‘professionally’ to me. And they can’t have it both ways: either they bought into Petrino’s philosophy or they didn’t. From what I hear in Hotlanta, sounds like none of them bought in ever…so no cryin’ about betrayal and dishonesty. I mean, really, who screwed who over here?
People can say all they want about Bobby Petrino. All I have to say is look at the source. ESPN, SI.com,or any other nationally sindicated sports program, has about as much integrity in thier dialog as a 3 day old chicken dinner. It stinks to high-heaven, and it’s getting worse every day. If you don’t want a coach to do a certain act, put the applicable restrictions in his contract to avoid the potential problems, and go from there. Quit trying to look for someone to blame! Aurther Blank is a fool if he think’s he can rely on partially written contracts, with the rest of the agreement just relying on a good old fashion handshake. This is big business. Multi-million dollar contracts shouldn’t be handled that way. You sleep in the bed you make!
Carolina Hog, thanks for asking… been iced out…. 46 hours without electricity is something that I don’t think I need to experience again… especially at 28-34 degrees! Having said that, I was able to maintain some connectivity (yes, 3 laptop batteries and a PC cell card) kept me informed.
In fact, my sister called me to inform me that we’d hired a new coach and they were holding the news conference right then. I was sorry (not really) to have to break the news to her that I was WATCHING the conference live via streaming video from KATV. Ok… I caught most of it but my audio got messed up so I missed some (seems to be the Q&A)… can’t find that anywhere.
As for Bobby Petrino, most are correct in that the media has decided on throwing Bobby under the bus. I’m not worried about this as this seems to be the norm (i.e. coaches, players, sports announcers). I guess it doesn’t matter to me if he quits in the middle of the season or before the end of his contract… it’s all about the same. Kind of like the players that decided after a short time that they are ready for the Pros (oops, did I say that - was that in reference to a couple of turncoats from Atlanta - YEP!)
Based upon history, Bobby will install the type of plays that fans want to see. He will stir up the excitement and generate a good following. If he has characters flaws, they will come out and just like Houston, his own doings will be his un-doings.
I’m open and somewhat excited about having Bobby come. The first test will be his assistant coaches… any names floating in this area yet? Thoughts on those names?
Isn’t it interesting that Frank is now gone (almost anyway) and we have a new coach that is oriented towards what - the spread offensive! I caught a quick sound bite on KOTV (Tulsa channel 6 CBS) that mention Arkansas’ new coach and it was followed by the mention of Gus. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay much attention when it can back because I missed the main points about Gus but from what I did replay in my brain it wasn’t related to Bobby. I’m not sure that bring back Gus would be a bad thing but it would be interesting.
Finally (I know… starting to sound like DWC), I just wonder what Mitch and crew are thinking right about now. Seems existing recruits are mostly ok but as I mentioned earlier I’ve been running a little low on energy lately!
Bottom line to me is that Coach Petrino (that would be OUR coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks!) could either be coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks or wait out a miserable failure of a season with the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL and then try his luck. What a crock! He had what he perceived as a good opportunity to get back into college ball and he took it. You snooze you lose and it would appear that Coach Petrino is no lose, IMO!
Well the negative fans just keep on being negative. They knew they were wrong on Nutt but did not care about character. There are a lot of character issues rising out of this and it is a fact that those negative Hog fans have no loyalty to the Hogs who are now in the pros. I am NOT surprised.. Those players certainly know more than we do, but instead of listening to these players, they choose to trash the former Hogs. That ladies and gentlement is our society today. What have you done for we today attitude? Tthese same hateful fans would support the devil if he came on the scene with a winning record. Why shouldn’t we expect those who showed no class toward Nutt now show no concern for potential character issues in a new coach.
Denegrating a used car salemen is denegrating yourself. If you went shopping for a used car and bought a bad one, your discernment skills are lacking. Some do not care, as we are certainly now learning from the recent posts. Our hope is now only based upon a person we do NOT know, but the picture does not look good. We knew Nutt and knew that his chracter was beyond reproach, even back to his high school days. These negative fans do not care whether there is healing or not; therefore, I will not join them with body or money. As I have said repeatedly, these folks have no concern for the truth or character issues because negative fans only know one way to be and that is to continue being negative. They base their hope on wins from a coach who coached in an inferior league and only two good victories have been cited by the media…and that is WV and that powerhouse on the East coach with less than 7,000 students, WF. Nutt had many more impressive wins at Arkansas than Petrino ever had in college. The jury has just begun to deliberate!
DWC, you mention truth and character frequently. How much character did Nutt display in his treatment of the Springdale crowd, his denial of knowledge of the Teresa Prewitt emails and his textual relationship with Donna Bragg? And, do you think he told the truth when he denied any knowledge of the emails involving his wife?
All that aside, it is truly time to get on the band wagon again and support the program or go find something else to support.
T-towner,
Do we really have to put away our judgement and blindly jump on board in order to be a Razorback fan. Our stance towards Bobby P. is similar to that many of you had toward HDN and you continously reminded us that you did that out of your love for the program. So when you question a coach its loyalty and for us to do it is disloyalty. That’s interesting. It reminds me of the saying “Its not fascism when we do it.” Its interesting how this has all flipped and we still can’t see the other’s point of view.
Blind, I just miss Dale? Is that all you can come up with. Last year was hard on me as a Razorback fan as it was for many of us and I don’t enjoy our program being the center of turmoil. That’s why I am slow to get on board with this. Houston’s gone and thats OK. I was stoked about Grobe because he is a good coach and a solid man. With Petrino, I am excited about the possibilities on the field, but its football and that doesn’t mean I throw my judgement out the window and all desenters be damned. I love Arkansas sports because I grew up in the state and have family there and I like to be proud of how our teams represent us. That pride goes beyond just wins and losses.
Good for you Carolina! I mean it. It is really about the program.
I have stayed away from Dale since he left and since we hired Petrino. I don’t see any good coming from rehashing all of that. But, to compare Petrino’s ambition and desire to succeed to Dale’s bald faced dishonesty and hypocrisy is truly in the eye of the beholder. We don’t know all that went on with Frank, Gus, Mitch, Teresa, Donna, and Diana, not to mention the pro passing attack. We know it was a very ugly mess. We know that they covered it up and lied about it rather than take an honest approach to reasonable fan concerns. But, the soap opera just muddied the water. For more and more of us Dale had just worn out his welcome. He had peaked. Many had tired of Frank/Kenny/Houston ball. We see college football on TV every Saturday. It was time we get to watch our team play too.
(He had the best player in America three years running and managed 22-15 with one SEC championship loss. That is the same success Danny Ford had with Barry Lunney.)
There is no talking to DWC. He is still angry for his pal. He needs to believe that Dale was an honest, mature family man and a great football coach. And, that is who he was to DWC. We feel your pain. I’m glad Dale has such good friends to support him. I hope he learns to talk in complete sentences and that there is not substitute for the truth. He can still have a wonderful career at Ole Miss. If he would hire some assistants and let them coach there is no telling how far he might go.
None of that is Petrino’s fault. If he had been the coach at Minnesota instead of Home Depot, big time advertiser of college football, and he had taken the job at Michigan or LSU instead of Arkansas, we wouldn’t be hearing all of this ^*$@ right now. Judge for yourself. He is a straight talker with high expectations for himself and his team. It is just who he is. The rest is just selling toilet paper, or in this case, building supplies.
Guys, bottomline is that the stadium will be packed next year. Anybody have statistics available for the last 10 years? I know for a fact that attendance was down last year. I’d say for two reasons: visiting teams (biggest) and the “soap” opera. However, the attendance totals will not show the “real” attendance since the in-person was down much more this year (again probably mostly from the visiting teams). However, my understanding is that we will have a more exciting schedule next year plus the thrill of a new coach.
DISCLAIMER: There was no NUTT bashing contained in this e-mail!
On that note,
The schedule for the next couple of years is crazy hard. This year its Texas, Fla. and the usual suspects but the following year is A+M, Texas, Georgia, Fla. and the usual suspects. Holly crap!
Blind, excellent restatement of my views on this thing. I was a major supporter of Nutt until this past year and my disaffection had everything to do with my perception of a lack of character and honesty.
I do believe that our public figures can and should be held to a high standard and they should be accountable for same. I do not wish to be the founder and chairman of the Bobby Petrino Huggers Club, but my sources tell me he had to jump ship and be the Head Hog pronto, or the job was going to Muschamp. I do not see what he has done wrong other than piss off some folks in Atlanta. Hey, it happens! He may do the same thing to us some day and then we can be pissed as well. As of today, Go Hogs, Go Bobby!
Petrino takes over good talent. Let us see what he can do with it, along with the recruits that come in. Nutt had a very good recruiting class ready to sign. From what I have seen out of Louisville’s information, Nutt’s in coming class is far better than Petrino’s was at Louisville. There are several in the incoming class who can contribute very soon. Petro arrives at a very opportune time. In an inferior conference one can get by with inferior talent that is laced with a few good ones. If he is the coach that some believe that he is, I expect nine wins. Interestingly, he told a recruit and his family that people view his offense as a passing offense but that it is actually a running offense. He has good runners already on board. It better be a running offense if he is to excell in the SEC. Arkansas now has a seasoned QB for next fall which is something Arkansas has not had for a long time. Many teams have found out that a seasoned QB is a necessity after they lost their starter. Additionally, Nathan and Youngblood should blossom into being very special. And the young guy from south Texas should be very good. They probably will recruit at least one additional QB other than Youngblood.
I do think we have some talent on board and on the way, maybe not 9 win talent with this schedule but, I doubt that Petrino will lose any he is supposed to win and I expect at least 2 wins above that. It is a little early to put a number on that, especially if Felix is considering staying. We need to know who the Defensive Coord. is and who is playing in the secondary.
You might be right though. 9 seems about as high as you can go. That is everyone but Florida, Texas, and LSU, pretty tall order. It will be interesting to see how he and the players handle the new high expectations. I know the players are ready to have the focus back on football.
I am very pleased that Casey settled in at the end of the year. He looked very good. I am not sure that is settled yet, though.
Lots and lots and lots of questions. By 2010 this bunch of freshman and sophomores should be very well seasoned for a run at the top 10.
Whenever I hear NFL folk making critical statements of a coach, i.e. he’s too much of a disciplinarian, he’s tough on us players, he doesn’t treat us like adults, blah blah blah, I automatically like that coach…..it is almost laughable to hear these ‘prima donnas’ talk about what is honorable, ethical, right/wrong, on and on….when you watch their antics on and off the field. Then, good old unbiased ESPN trashes him….typical.
Go Bobby Go….prove ‘em wrong and shut ‘em up!
I agree BlindHog. There’s way too many questions that still need to be answered, to put a number on anything yet. Right now, Recruiting and the Cotton Bowl are the only 2 things of importence, reguarding the football program. Some recruits won’t give a verbal commit until the very last days of recruiting. Some will keep us guessing, right up until signing day. That’s why the Cotton Bowl is such an important game. National exsposure, especially in Texas. After we (Hopefully) put together a great recruiting effort, attention will swing to Spring practice. By then, we’ll have a lot better look at where the program is heading in it’s first year of Petrino football.
Paul Petrino as OC? I thought Bobby called his own plays?
You must have heard something I wasn’t aware of Hawgfan. I thought Paul Petrino was a possibility as QB coach.
Prior to joining the Falcons, Paul Petrino worked the four previous years as offensive coordinator and receivers coach at Louisville.
Looks like we upgrade Houston to Bobby and maybe Danny to Paul!
The article is up on the Headlines, Gonzo. Provides some good stats info on Petrino’s offense at L’ville as well.
Anyone interested in Bobby Petrino’s situation in Atlanta, need’s to click on “More Network Headlines”, and go to the story “Bobby Petrino’s Agent fires back at Atlanta Falcons”. If it’s fair to hold judgement against the man, according to what the “yo-yos” on ESPN had to say, then it should also be fair to hold judgement for him, according to what his agent had to say.
Totally agree Gonzo. Here’s the direct link:
Bobby Petrino’s agent fires back at Atlanta Falcons
Wow, Gonz and Tips….
Thanks for the heads up on Petrino’s agent.
Again, typical NFL stuff….
We just finished having one soap opera and now the media is trying to create a new one for us. I read the article with interest to see what coach’s agent had to say. It was very interesting to see the other side of the story. Can we as Arkansas fans just let all of this die and let’s judge the man on his actons as the new coach and not on what the pundents tell us.
On a side note I do hope the Coach P will consider keeping Coach Horton. He seems to have been able to hold everything together over the last two weeks. Just my thought.
Agree across the board with MiM’s comments, especially on letting Petrino show us something before judging him and on Coach Horton. I’d also like to see Reggie stay but that seems more and more unlikely. No hard feelings if he goes but I think he’d be very difficult to replace.
cant believe listening to the ESPN crew for 5 minutes rail on Petrino then get directly at Arkansas.
-Berman…..”apparently they deserve each other”
-Keyshawn (that rocket scientist)….”what recruiting can he do in 3 days”….apparently he forgot that Nutt has a chip on his shoulder and cell numbers of out top prospects
- ditka, jackson….”trust issues”….give me a break….look at there types switching for bucks and opportunity just like the rest of the real world.
Clear this is some sort of “kick’em” campaign.
The biggest sigh of relief upon the hiring of Petrino was heard from…Wally Hall. Wally apparently was getting tons of grieve from fans who were holding him personally responsible for Nutt’s leaving. Wally tried to dampen this by the usual tactic of scapegoating, If you’re a scapegoat then find a bigger and better scapegoat.to shift the mob’s ire and attention to. Wally found his target by subscribing to the conspiracy theory held by many fans that ESPN had somehow fixed the Heisman voting and screwed McFadden. Good move Wally. Then ESPN dumped on Arkansas and Petrino and Wally was almost out of the woods, White, Wally, Long, Broyles have all taken their hits having been targets for fans who quite frankly (can I use that term) didn’t know diddly squat about the machinations of all this coaching musical chairs. Apparently ESPN commenttors didn’t do thier homework either.. A thanks to Tipster for revealing Arthur Blank’s’ “loyalty.” (it also appeared in the Demo-Zette’s Voices Page). As I said before in a previous post, Blank is a very rich business man and I’m sure that his decisions were made strictly on the basis of what would make him more money.
What has fascinated me in all this back and forth was the fanaticism and reverence dispayed toward Houston Nutt by posters and letter writers. I am reminded ot something called the cult of personality regarding dictators. where the leader becomes more important than that what he leads. Here’s is a definition from Wikipedia; make of it what you wiil, but consider the last sentence.
“A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country’s leader uses mass media to create a larger-than-life public image through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships but can be found in some democracies as well.
A cult of personality is similar to general hero worship except that it is specifically built around political leaders. However, the term may be applied by analogy to refer to adulation of non-political leaders.”
I wonder if all this junk is a way for Blank to divert the Vick pulicity to something else?
Seems as though people are talking about Petrino much more than Vick these days.
Just my two cents.
For a blog that dislikes Nutt so much you guys sure like to write about him A LOT. There is so much to be excited about with the upcoming Cotton Bowl and the Petrino era. Let us all move on!
jc…I guess we haven’t “moved on” as fast as you have. But thanks for the editorial advice.
Who needs ESPN when we have Kane Webb of the Demo-Zette writing a stupid and silly (even for him) column about Pertino’s job hopping. Webb left the Demo-Zette for a short time and then to my horror has returned to the paper. So he relates his situation with Petrino’s? Maybe I’m wrong but this looked like an attempt by Webb to score points with major media types at the expense of Petrino. Maybe even get the attention of ESPN as well as Atlanta and Louisville sportswriters. Wally Hall is still deflecting anger from himself toward ESPN,** but his comment about Salisbury and his negative statements having an effect on recruiting was odd. Do any of these recruits even know who Salisury is? Or if they do, Do they really care? Guess what, I tuned into ESPN the other night and didn’t hear a word about Petrino. (Baseball and steroids is now the headliner). Keep in mind that journalists don’t like anyone that makes more money than they do, so they really get mean when the opportunity presents itself. Which, if anyone is rermotely interested, was part of Webb’s cliches and corny philosophical meanderings - that is, money in itself doesn’t bring happiness, to which I would add; but it sure does fend off a lot of unhappiness.
Hoggster: I don’t think that Blank’s attitude was based on Vick’s.situation. That was out of his control. But Petrino’s leaving makes Blank look like an incompetant regarding the direction of his football team. Besides bruising his ego, it puts him on the spot. It will be interesting to see who the next Falcons coach will be and how much Blank is willing to pay him. Blank, more than Petrino, is now on the hot seat in Atlanta.
**The TV broadcast on ESPN2 of the OU-UA game was held up for about 6 minutes in order to finish the Division II football championship (Which turned out to be more exciting than the finish of the the basketall game). I wonder if Wally will use that delay as more proof of disrespect for Arkansas by ESPN?
I could be wrong, but I think from a recruiting standpoint, the back-lashing that Petrino’s been enduring over the past week won’t affect the in-state recruiting as much as the out of state recruiting. If I were a prospect, it would concern me more about coming to the UofA, from out of state, than it would if I were a home-state kid. I wouldn’t want to travel 700 to a 1000 miles if I thought the coach wouldn’t be around any longer than a couple of years. For some reason, Florida seems like a stretch to me. (as Wally Hall mentioned) Personally, Eastern Texas and Northern Louisiana seem to be much more realistic, especially since Petrino is pushed for time with the local UA verbal commits he already has. There’s still plenty of uncommited talent in this region.
We need to run Home Depot out of Arkansas. They won’t mind. Hog fans need to buy at Lowe’s or National Home Centers, or your local hardware or lumber store.
Boycott Home Depot!!!!!!!!
We need bumper stickers and T-shirts with Hogs on them.
Kane Webb is an idiot, always has been. How that guy ever got of the People page is beyond me.
Good news from my home town of Greenwood. Tyler Wilson commited to the Hogs today. He was offered scholorships earlier in the year by LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Arizona. California also showed some interest before Wilson finally commited to Todd Graham and Gus Malzahn of Tulsa. Evidently he de-comitted from Tulsa today, and re-commited to the Hogs. Greenwood runs the same type of offense Tulsa does, while at the same time, Gus and Greenwood coach Rick Jones are good friends. This, plus the fact Wilson didn’t care much for the offense Houston Nutt ran at Arkansas, probably had a lot to do with his origional decision. Bobby Petrino is already making a big difference with our in-state recruits. It would be real nice to see him do this with Joe Adams too. GO HOGS GO and GO COACH PETRINO!!!!!
Wilson is a little bit under-sized at ‘6-3″, 185 lbs., but has a very gifted arm. I’ve watched him lead his team now to consecutive 5-A State Championships. He can throw a dart or a lobb pass to the corner with very good accuracy. He threw for over 4000 yds, and 50 TDs his Jr. season. I think he had similar stats this year as well, so I’ll have to check and make sure.
Gonzo…thanks for bringing your local insight to the blog. (And thanks again for being a regular commenter, too.)
Wow…as they would say in the advertising biz…that’s a big “get” landing Wilson…and after just a few days on the job, as well.
What’s your take on whether Wilson will go pro in baseball?
I’m not real sure about that one Tipter. I do know he’s a pretty good pitcher, as is Jim Youngblood. Daniel Stegall was the QB at Greenwood before Wilson, and went to the NY Mets in the 7th round, but Baseball was alway’s Daniel’s first love, so it’s really hard to say if Wilson will follow in his footsteps. They’re 2 different kinds of players too. Stegall was probably the better overall athlete. He had a football scholorship to Miami, before signing with the Mets, but was not as highly recruited as he could have been, playing in the shadows of Mitch Mustain. Football-wise, Wilson doesn’t have the speed stegall had, but can make almost any kind of throw. I hope he stay’s with football. This kid will make a great addition to the Hogs, after losing Kale Pick.
Wow, I’m actually agreeing with some of the bloggers here.
Blindhog. I have traveled the country extensively and Webb is worst editorial writer I have ever read. I have asked Paul Greenberg if Webb is related to the owner of the paper, otherwise, there is no other obvious explantanion for his column. I have never received an answer to this
Gonzo:
I agree that if the media backlash has any effect on recruiting it will be with out-of-staters. However, (anybody can correct me on this) I think that it may have a positive unexpected effect. Whether Nutt fans like it or not, I think that Bobby Petrino has had a much bigger national reputation in the media than than Houston. Given the reputation of Petrino’s offensive strategies this would seem appealing to many skill players. Or to put it simply, would you travel 700-1000 miles to play for Nutt or Petrino? .