What Bobby Petrino said at his Arkansas introductory press conference
Bobby Petrino took questions for almost 30 minutes Thursday. They were different than the ones he took the last time he represented the University of Arkansas.
Petrino was introduced as the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator for the 2024 season by coach Sam Pittman at a press conference Thursday afternoon. Questions were about his return, what has changed and the kind he probably likes most, football.
And while the game itself is probably top of his and Pittman’s minds, the hire remains controversial, regardless of what Arkansas fans think about it.
Petrino knows that, saying he isn’t the same person he was almost 12 years ago. He wants to get on the field and support the man who gave him a second chance.
Here is some of what he had to say at the presser.
How did this come about?
Actually my agent is Christina Phillips. She didn’t tell me about that. I just learned that today. But I appreciate her. She reached out to me when I was at Missouri State and say ‘Hey, let’s get you back in the game.’ … She convinced me, OK, let’s work at it and see if we can get back in the game. It’s been a process, but a lot of credit to her.
Thoughts on roster?
I haven’t been able to get into enough, just because, also looking at recruits, anticipating portals. I’ve been able to watch some of the individual players and I’ve had guys come in and talk to me. … It’s a process. Did have a good meeting yesterday with the offensive group as a whole. That was fun. I enjoyed it.
Goals?
I want to win. I want to see us, I came back here to support coach Pittman in winning. I appreciate him a lot. When he did send that message, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I was like ‘That’s going to happen? Really?’ We talked for a short amount of time, he said he had an interest and we set up a time…. I talked to my family and stuff that it could possibly work. We had a great talk, great conversation. I think it was over an hour or something. Maybe longer than that. … Maybe I need to do a better job of interviewing again. He was going through and taking his time. I was just anxious to talk to him again.
Reflection on time at A&M
When I took the job at A&M, Jimbo wanted to keep the same terminology and call things the same way they did. It was hard. Hard on me. I was staying up all night. I can remember the first scrimmage, I woke up at 2 a.m. in the morning … It was different. It was not only calling the plays different, but the way they call the formation is probably different than anybody else I’ve ever been around. … I worked hard at it. I thought we had a pretty good year. We went through a couple of quarterbacks, which was hard. I really enjoyed it. When Jimbo lost his job, I thought, I want to still coach just because how much I enjoyed being in the classroom with the quarterbacks, spending time with the offense, coaching football, teaching. … I started getting into this profession as a teacher so it was really fun to get back and do that.
Ever angry at university?
No. There never was any anger at all. I was always a Hogs fan. People would ask me ‘Are you going to watch the game?’ I watched as many games as I could. I cheered for them. I rooted for them.
The quarterback situation
I’ve had a chance to watch their video, some of their practice video, some of their game video. Like the talent. Arm strength, mobility, different things they can do. … The rules are such now that we have time to meet with them when we come back from Christmas. It’ll be fun to see how much they understand about the game of football.
Ovation at basketball game
It was exciting. I felt good about it. I got to say it’s a credit to Sam to be able to bring me there and allow that to go on. I think it’s just a credit to him. You can see the confidence he has himself as a man and how much he loves the university… It’s a real credit to him.
How are you different now?
Everybody’s different. You know that. You’re different than you were back then. Hopefully I’ve grown as a coach, a teacher, as a husband, as a father. I believe totally that I have. Hopefully I’m better tomorrow than I am today.
The plan at Arkansas
We talked about how I was be able to come in, put the offense in. One of the things I’ve learned throughout my career is you utilize everybody and try to get everybody’s input. I want to see the assistant coaches have their input. … There’s a reason he’s known as the best offensive line coach in America. If he has certain thoughts of what he wants to do on short-yardage and the goal line, I communicated to him when I was calling plays at Arizona State, Bruce Snyder ran short-yardage and goal-line. If coach wants us to do something on short-yardage and goal-line and third down, we’re definitely going to work on doing it. I think that’s how it has to work. He’s the head coach. We’re going to do as much as we can to keep him happy. … That’s one of my goals. Let’s make sure he’s not chewing me out every day.
What's changed?
I got a lot to learn. I can’t even find my way around. It’s changed. It’s really changed. The roads are a little bit different. The way you get to places are a little bit different. … The first thing I’ve got to do is find out where I’m at.
What's changed with his offense since then?
I honestly don’t think a lot has changed because I don’t think it’s about plays. I don’t think it’s about what you do. It’s about how you use the players that you have. … What I love to do is utilize players and then be really good at the situations of the game. Players really understand what we’re going to see in third-and-short, fourth-and-short, what we’re going to see in the red zone. … I work on situations and players.
What kind of quarterback do you want?
Ryan was pretty perfect because Ryan was as smart as you could possibly be. He understood the game. He understood his players around him. He understood when you made a call what you were thinking. … Lamar was the same way. Lamar was a guy that really studied the gameplan, knew what he wanted to do, what we wanted to do as a staff. Both of them could get you out of a bad play. … you can be really, really aggressive when your quarterback … can change the play or protection for you. That’s what those guys allowed you to do. … The freedom they gave you as play-callers really helps.
To those who disapprove
I’m kind of on the, not really sure what words to use on it, but my beliefs are it’s OK for people to disagree. Have different thoughts, different opinions. I grew up where this is the United States of America. Everybody can have their own thoughts, their own religion and you know what, that’s OK. … I think that’s just one of the greatest things about a football team. Guys come from everywhere. … I don’t have any ill feelings toward anybody that disagrees. I just wish it was that for everybody.
