Even critics can’t knock Petrino’s record
Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008
As is often the case these days, Bobby Petrino's reputation preceded him at Arkansas.
We're not talking about Petrino's status as a coach, either. Any dummy can look at Petrino's track record and understand he's not just another guy with a headset.
What was impossible to ignore about Petrino was the notoriety he brought not just as a coach, but as a person. In the few hours between the announcement of his hiring and his late-night introduction to the Razorbacks faithful alone, Petrino was pigeonholed as cold and calculating... and those were some of the nicer descriptions.
The following day, of course, brought Petrino an even more overwrought cascade of criticism. He took media fire from all sides, perhaps most notably from ESPN's Pat Forde, one of the best writers in the business and someone whose path had crossed Petrino's at Louisville.
Forde labeled Petrino a "disingenuous drifter"among other things. Others were even nastier in their assessments.
Most Arkansas fans didn't really care about the Bobby bashing. They were too busy being jazzed about the upgrade at the head coach position.
Even Forde, after all, recognized Petrino's expertise on the sidelines. Even the man who labeled him a "disingenuous drifter"also gave Petrino his due as "for my money, the best offensive game-planner and tactician since Steve Spurrier's heyday at Florida."
Really, it's what Petrino does as a coach at Arkansas that matters the most, anyway. He's not here to win a popularity contest or Mr. Congeniality award.
And judging by what we've heard from Petrino so far - he's had two interview sessions with the media since his hiring - Arkansas fans shouldn't be anything but excited about the future. The man clearly has a plan.
From here, the most interesting parts of that plan have been Petrino's declaration that he wants to be able to both run and pass "when we want to and when we have to,"and the revelation via linebackers coach Reggie Johnson that his boss "believes in working a lot of good on good."
Working "good on good"means that starters often go against starters in practice, the idea being that players get better by going against the best. It's a fresh idea at Arkansas, where things had grown stale to say the least.
"One thing we are going to try and do is not worry what was done here in the past in any phase,"Petrino said in one of his most candid and refreshing comments to date.
It was oddly energizing, too, to interact with Petrino's staff when it was made available to the media for the first time last week. There was a palpable sense of purpose in the air.
What also was apparent was that this is a group of guys who just happen to be football coaches. Yes, they appear more businesslike than their predecessors, but they are not an army of robots.
Petrino isn't a robot, either, but a living, breathing man. Maybe surprisingly to those who believed him to be little more than a football-coaching machine, Petrino has smiled, cracked a joke or two, and exchanged pleasantries with media members.
Will Petrino ever show up on amateur night and deliver a stand-up comedy routine ? Doubtful.
Will he ever be buddy-buddy with the media ? Probably not.
But the guess here is that Petrino will warm up to Arkansas. Maybe it will take seeing the rabid interest the Razorbacks faithful takes in spring practice, or maybe it will take Petrino getting out and meeting Joe Hog Fan at Razorback Club meetings and other similar functions.
Maybe that's all wrong, and maybe Forde was right, but for my money, Petrino and Arkansas are going to be good for each other.
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