Social media reacts to reports of Arkansas hiring former coach Bobby Petrino as coordinator
Editor's note: This story has been updated with news that Arkansas has reportedly finalized a deal to hire Bobby Petrino.
Arkansas football and coach Sam Pittman are reportedly hiring Bobby Petrino, the former Razorbacks coach who spent the 2023 college football season as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator, to fill the same position in Fayeteville.
ESPN's Pete Thamel initially reported that the Razorbacks were "vetting" Petrino, who has made it clear to recruiters that he is interested in another SEC coordinator role. ESPN's Chris Low later reported that a deal "is being finalized" for Petrino to return to the Razorbacks program.
REQUIRED READING: Arkansas football transfer portal tracker 2023: Who is joining, leaving the Razorbacks
Sources: Arkansas is vetting hiring former head coach Bobby Petrino as the school's next offensive coordinator. Petrino has indicated in the recruiting space that he's in the mix for an SEC coordinator job.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 28, 2023
Bobby Petrino has agreed to return to @RazorbackFB as offensive coordinator and a deal is being finalized, sources tell ESPN. Petrino won 10 games in 2010 and 11 in 2011 as the Hogs’ head coach, but was fired following the motorcycle accident scandal.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) November 28, 2023
Petrino coached the Razorbacks from 2008 to 2011, a four-year tenure that included two double digit-win seasons. In 2010, Arkansas finished with a 10-3 record and a berth in the Sugar Bowl, its first there since 1979. In 2011, Petrino led the Razorbacks to their third 11-win season in program history, losing only to BCS championship game contenders Alabama and LSU before defeating Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl. Arkansas also finished fifth in both major polls, its first top-ten finish in 30 years.
Despite his success on the football field, Petrino's time in Fayeteville ended in disaster: He was fired with cause by the university in April 2012 after it was discovered he had not only lied about being alone on a motorcycle crash that occurred on April 1, but also that the person on the vehicle with him was Jessica Dorrell, then a 25-year-old student-athlete development coordinator with whom he was having an affair.
News of Arkansas' potential reunion with Petrino naturally led to numerous reactions on social media. Here is a sampling of some of the more notable reactions to Tuesday's report from Thamel and Low:
Social media reacts to potential Arkansas-Bobby Petrino reunion
Live look at Razorback stadium during the first game of next season. Bobby Petrino leads the team out on his Harley.
pic.twitter.com/QV6OSWEgqo— Josh Teeter (@joshteeter01) November 28, 2023
Bobby Petrino has always said he wished he could have handled things differently at Arkansas.
Welp. Just come in, be the OC, and make this offense go next season & a lot of fans will be forgiving.— John Nabors (@BuzzJohnNabors) November 28, 2023
Bobby Petrino has been the best coach at Arkansas since I’ve been alive. Would love him back personally
— Josh Teeter (@joshteeter01) November 28, 2023
Texas A&M's offensive stats last season with Bobby Petrino as OC:
Total offense: 53rd (403.8)
Rushing offense: 87th (141.4)
Passing offense: 41st (262.3)
Scoring offense: 25th (34.2)
3rd down conversion %: 32nd (43.9%)— Riley McFerran (@RileyMcFerran) November 28, 2023
There were many boos this season when the team literally never tried to score to end a first half.
Bobby Petrino always had enough time pic.twitter.com/6EUrdA97VA— JC Hoops (@JacksonCollier) November 28, 2023
I'm not very good at Photoshop but here is an image of what Bobby Petrino at Arkansas might look like pic.twitter.com/YXnHJ4lNvZ
— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) November 28, 2023
You want NIL money to flood in.......go get BMFP (Bobby My Friend Petrino) and bring him in as the OC.
— Trey Schaap (@trey1037TheBuzz) November 28, 2023
Watch Bobby Petrino come in and save Sam Pittman's Arkansas program from its darkest moment pic.twitter.com/kjMfkDtSR2
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) November 28, 2023
Petrino is the smartest X's and O's guy I've ever listened to talk football. And it would feel like poetic justice for Petrino to have worked his way all the way back into the good graces of Arkansas sideline after his firing.
He would likely take over for Pittman after a year https://t.co/iHpgqGgn2g— charlie 🌋 (@bbqchucken) November 28, 2023
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Arkansas reportedly hiring Bobby Petrino as OC: Social media reacts
