Petrino offers behind the scenes info during first solo interview as Hogs' head coach

New Arkansas Razorbacks leader touches on recruiting, conversation with Yurachek, changes in preparation

Arkansas Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino on the sidelines during game with the UAB Blazers at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. / Michael Morrison-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas interim head coach Bobby Petrino took to the airways of Northwest Arkansas Monday morning to talk with the "Chuck & Bo Show" in his first appearance in his new role without athletics director Hunter Yurachek attached at his hip sharing the microphone.

Petrino got a chance to address the thoughts behind his actions since taking the job and also pulled the curtain back on behind the scenes conversations and where his staff stands on recruiting while trying to earn the job full time.

Here's what the Hogs' new coach had to say.

On his conversation about the job with Yurachek:

It was about the, probably the least amount of the conversation that we had. When he said, "Would you like to be the head coach or a candidate for the job going forward?" I said, "Of course I would," and that's all there was to that. Like I said before, my focus is just on what we can do now in eight weeks and how we can make this a great experience and and get better and win game.

How recruiting fits into what his staff is trying to accomplish:

Well, the only way you can do that is operate like you are going to be here, and that's what we did this past week when we were recruiting. All the coaches going out to different schools, getting in, talking to the high school coaches, talking to the recruits, going to games. It was a lot of fun. It was great to see your guys out there, and certainly exciting to watch some of the recruits that we had on the field live.

How to attack Tennessee to pull off the team's first win:

I'm excited about it. I think offensively, what we've got to do is protect the quarterback and move forward. You know, not have negative plays, as long as we're going forward on first down, second down, get in positions where we can execute on our third down, that's been a strength of ours all year long, and we've got to rely on on that defensively. It's going to start with shutting down the run.
As much as Tennessee plays those spread formations and does all that, they rely on running the football, so we've got to be able to do that and then get off the field on third down. I think one of the issues that we've had is getting off the field on third down. So if we can do that, we'll be right in there in the fourth quarter. And that's what we want to do, is make it a fourth quarter game where we're an opportunity to win the game in the fourth quarter.

Preparation with the team so far:

It's been a little bit of a wild ride, but it's been fun. Not not a lot of sleep, but a lot of lot of good work. I'm excited about the way our players reacted to practice last week, and the way we got better each day at practice, as far as our effort, attitude and physicalness. So looking forward to getting back out on the on the field today, for a little while, really getting out there tomorrow to start the week off.

The difference in game preparation as head coach as opposed to offensive coordinator:

Well, the nice thing about offensive coordinator is my job was to make sure the quarterback was ready to go. Got to spend a lot of time in the meeting room with them watching video, watching to making sure they knew the game plan, understanding protections and the run.
Now you have to oversee everything. [You have to] spend time with the defensive staff. Make sure we spend time with practice and special teams the way we want to practice special teams. But there's just a lot more more things to handle. The good thing is, the offensive staff is intact, and guys are working that I trust and I know that when I leave the room, they just continue moving forward and going on.

How he changes culture, game planning, preparation approach in a single bye week:

Well, what we really tried to do last week is to understand it is about the players, and let's make it where they enjoy coming into the building. They enjoy working hard. Make sure that the attitude in the building is good, the attitude out on the field is good, and try to make sure they understand that what we're trying to do as a coach is make them better, let them have a better understanding of how to play their position, how to play together as a team, how to play with great effort. So it's kind of easy to just focus on how to how to help the player get better.
And I think our staff did a really good job of that. I'm also trying to make it so it's a good experience for the staff, you know, so that they grow and mature here in the next two months and get better as an individual coach and maybe new responsibility that they have that will help them get focused and really enjoy what they're doing.

How the defensive players have handled things:

Well, I thought, you know, the first meeting was hard. We got guys in there that, you know, all of a sudden, life has changed a little bit, but that I told them that's exactly the same as me. I came here with the idea that I was going to coach the quarterbacks and coordinate the offense, and all of a sudden, the guy that trusted me and hired me and did a great deal for me is not here any longer.
So we all have have to understand that it's not going to be the last time we have change in our life. In fact, it's going to go on and on and on. So it's up to us to have a positive attitude and grow from it, not take a step backwards. And you know, once we got a long meeting going, and then we got out on the field, I think that the players came together and their attitudes been good.

How the Hogs will get better on defense:

Well, we got to we got to cut it down a little bit so everybody's out on the field and understands exactly what to do. You know, when you're not understanding exactly what to do, and all 11 pieces aren't working together, it's hard to hard to stop somebody.
We have to play the principles of good defense, which is getting a great stance, get my eyes right, [and] have great get off no matter what position we're playing. You got to shed blocks, run full speed to the ball and tackle well. The first thing we need to do is stop the run. Once we stop the run, then we can look at how to eliminate the big plays down the field, throwing the ball.

Whether players are putting past behind, focusing forward:

We are going to find out a little bit more. They did a good job last week. I was proud of the attitude that we had, the effort that they gave at practice, how willing they were to work hard. Gave them three days off. So they were off Friday, Saturday, Sunday, come back, and group of them are in the weight room right now, working hard, and then we get some good meeting time in a short practice today.
You know, I don't really like to practice a lot on Mondays. I kind of have a routine to go through Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and I don't like leaving it on the practice field. So we're going to try to get them to understand what the schedule is going to be and how to prepare your mind and your body to go to battle on Saturday.

Changes that will take place in weight room routines:

"We'll get in there and throw the weight around a little bit more. Certainly have you know different guys on different schedules, so a lot of times, the starters and guys that play a lot of reps are going to be in there pounding away two times a week, and guys that are developing and keep growing need to do it as the rest of the season goes on, so they'll get in there a little bit more. And some of that on a voluntary basis because of the hour restrictions that we have.

Steps needed to get offense humming again:

We got to get back to our mental state, making sure that we're getting out on the field and we're tough and believe in each other and expect to go score every time we touch the ball. I felt like those first four games, our guys did that. They played with great speed and effort. We were able to protect the quarterback and not turn the ball over, except for twice. But we got to get that back.
There's no question about that. I do feel like at halftime at the Notre Dame game that the offense didn't do a very good job of re-energizing and going out and and being able to feel like and believe — a lot of offense is believing that you can do it — believing in one play at a time. I felt like when they looked at scoreboard that they got the idea that they weren't believing we were going to be able to come back and get it done.

Keeping players motivated:

I think you do it on a daily basis. It's one day at a time, and just focus on what we can do today. And like I said, part of this is for the players to make themselves more marketable, make their brand better for their future, whether it's going into the NFL, whether it's transferring, whether it's staying here, they've got to sell themselves and they've got to put it on video so that they can can sell themselves as a product. And if we can understand that and then fit together and play for each other, I think you'll see us get better and better.