Petrino Is Fired and Chaos Will Reign!

Arkansas did something that I thought they wouldn't have the guts to do and that is fire Bobby Petrino. There was no way that Arkansas could not fire him after he A) Lied to his bosses about the wreck B)  Tried to cover up the circumstances around the wreck and C) Hired his mistress to be a direct subordinate. If Arkansas would have left him in charge it would have severely compromised the program's integrity and opened them up to even more scrutiny. Arkansas will now have to deal with an employee who could file sexual harassment charges against the university if she wants to get money out of them. Luckily they should be able to invoke the morals clause in Petrino's contract and get out of buying him out.


Where will Arkansas go from here? The popular names for Petrino's replacement are Guz Malzahn, Butch Davis and Garrick McGee. Jerry Jones is said to be pushing hard for Butch Davis to become the head coach but would Arkansas really want all the baggage he would bring? I think it is more likely that Garrick McGee will be the head coach because he is familiar with the system and wouldn't have to make too many changes to the program. 


I went through a coaching staff change after spring training while I was at Bama. It was rough. Pretty much all of you are aware of the Mike Price scandal in the spring of 2003. The only real consistency we had after the firing was on the defensive side of the ball and the strength and conditioning staff. The offense and special teams were overhauled and needed a lot of work before fall camp. We worked a lot on pass skeleton and special teams formations and terminology to try and catch up. But putting in a new offense without any practices led by coaches was a tall order.


If Arkansas decides to use a current coordinator as an interim coach much like Ohio State did this past season, I wouldn't blame them. But Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long is going to have a very difficult decision to make these next few days that will not only affect the program but his career as well.