Bobby Petrino has agreed to turn out to be the subsequent offensive coordinator of Arkansasand each side are finalizing the deal, sources advised ESPN on Tuesday.
The previous Razorbacks head coach is predicted to be on campus in Fayetteville on Wednesday.
Petrino spent this season as Texas A&M offensive coordinator, however was not retained by new coach Mike Elko after Jimbo Fisher was fired earlier this month. The Aggies defeated the Razorbacks 34-22 on September 30.
Petrino’s return would mark a dramatic circle, as he left Arkansas in 2012 after being fired following a scandal that noticed him rent his lover and mislead his bosses about their relationship. All of it got here to gentle after a bike accident, and the story shook the faculty sports activities world and ended Petrino’s profession at Arkansas after going 21-5 over the earlier two seasons.
Petrino’s hiring is predicted to require presidential approval, as he was fired for trigger throughout his final tenure there. Within the faculty’s termination coverage, it states that “an worker who has been terminated for trigger or who has been designated by his or her campus or division as ineligible for rehire is not going to be eligible for reemployment inside one of many College of Arkansas techniques. campuses, items or divisions.
Petrino was head coach at FCS Missouri State earlier than accepting the Texas A&M job, and Missouri State almost beat the Razorbacks through the 2022 season in Fayetteville. Arkansas rallied within the fourth quarter for a 38-27 victory.
Petrino, 62, had been critically thought-about by faculty officers earlier than his hiring, and sources advised ESPN that he had indicated within the recruiting house that he was within the working for a coordinator place DRY.
Earlier this month, Arkansas opted to deliver again head coach Sam Pittman amid a 4-7 season that ended with a loss to Missouri final week.
Over the previous 20 years, Petrino has developed a twin status as one of many sport’s most gifted level guards and somebody who has sparked controversy at nearly each step. Since his dismissal at Arkansas, and along with Missouri State, he has labored in Western Kentucky and Louisville.
Petrino’s stick with the Aggies proved benign, as sources mentioned he averted personnel conflicts and the Texas A&M offense performed nicely, ending twenty fifth nationally in scoring.
Arkansas fired offensive coordinator Dan Enos in October throughout a complicated season through which Pittman’s title continued to seem on coaches’ scorching seat lists.
The college reportedly owed Pittman greater than $16 million, and athletic director Hunter Yurachek mentioned in an announcement that it wasn’t “the season any of us anticipated.”
The enchantment of tactician Petrino is simple. He led Lamar Jackson throughout his Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2016 with the Cardinals, and has lengthy been thought-about a high-end participant, as his ultimate two seasons at Arkansas ended with journeys to the Sugar Bowl and Cotton Bowl.
Petrino’s off-field points outdoors of his spiral on the finish of his tenure at Arkansas included a secret assembly with Auburn officers in 2003 that backfired when it was revealed publicly as a result of the coach Tommy Tuberville nonetheless had his job. Petrino left his NFL head teaching place with the Atlanta Falcons after 13 video games to take the job at Arkansas and left a word for the gamers within the locker room.
After his time at Missouri State, he left for the offensive coordinator job at UNLV, solely to go away for Texas A&M a number of weeks later.