Petrino may have locked down new Razorbacks' defensive line coach

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The weird week for Arkansas football continues as Razorbacks interim coach Bobby Petrino has reportedly hired a new defensive line coach, according to Chris Low of On3.

Veteran NFL coach Jay Hayes will replace fired Arkansas defensive line coach Deke Adams who was let go early morning after nearly 3.5 seasons with the program.

Bobby Petrino is adding veteran NFL assistant Jay Hayes as Arkansas' DL coach, sources tell On3. Hayes was with the Bengals the longest has coached some top DL, including Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap. Hayes also coached in college at Notre Dame and Wisconsin.
— Chris Low (@clowfb) October 3, 2025

Hayes will bring decades of NFL defensive expertise to the Razorbacks with a proven track record in player development, and a gritty, fundamentals first approach to the Razorbacks' defensive line.

He has a seasoned football mind with over 20 years of NFL coaching experience, including long stints as the defensive line coach for the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

One hallmark of a Petrino built program is having well coached defensive line play that is very active and disruptive at the point of attack.

During his 13 seasons with the Bengals from 1999-2008, he built a resume that includes working with elite pass rushers such as Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap. His units were widely known as technically sound, disciplined and able to maximize talent across various defensive schemes.

From his time with the Packers and Buccaneers, he further sharpened his ability to teach gap integrity, hand placement, and pass-rush counters skills that will directly translate to SEC trench warfare.

The Razorbacks have at least one defensive end on the roster in Quincy Rhodes, who has been effective at getting to the passer throughout the early parts of the 2025 season. The junior pass rusher specialist has recorded 19 tackles, seven tackles for loss and five sacks through the first five games.

One major key to Hayes' success as a coach stems from his ability to turn mid-round draft picks into high-impact starters. The Razorbacks are a bit light in the depth department along the defensive line which will force Petrino's new assistant to work harder to field a balanced attack, refine raw athletes and polish technique in a very short amoung of time.

Hayes is a well versed defensive coach with experience in both 4-3 and 3-4 fronts which could give Arkansas some flexibility in how it attacks opposing offenses.

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino during fall camp practices at the indoor center in Fayetteville, Ark. | Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

Petrino mentioned earlier in the week that a defensive scheme was to be determined, but were going to get back to the fundamentals of defense before figuring out what base defense the Razorbacks will run at Tennessee next Saturday.

"The first thing that we have to do is get back to the principles of good defense, which is good defense," Petrino said Monday. "Get into a great stance. Get into a great alignment. Run full speed to the football. Shed blocks and tackle well. To stop people on offense, you have to stop the run first, and we haven’t been able to stop the run first. Some of it’s been our fits by our linebackers.

"Some of it’s been errors. So we’re looking right now at really finding out what our base defense is going to be from here on, and then build the package out of that and simplify a little bit. If we simplify and play faster and full speed, then we’ll have a better opportunity to stop people."

Petrino fired defensive coordinator Travis Williams along with co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson Monday after a porous first five games. The Razorbacks have surrendered 425 yards (No. 118 FBS), 30 points (No. 113 FBS), 257 passing yards per game (No. 111 FBS) and 29 plays of 20+ yards (No. 130 FBS).

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