Arkansas Nearly Avoided Nightmare, but A&M Still Hires Former Razorback Coach

Aggies need to toughen up because Petrino is the right choice to fix offensive mess

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Jan 5, 2023 7:21 AM EST
Original:
Jan 4, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – When former Arkansas offensive coordinator Barry Odom snatched Bobby Petrino up to be his offensive coordinator at UNLV, it was his parting gift to Sam Pittman and the state of Arkansas.

When it happened, Razorback fans across the country let out a collective deep breath of relief they had been holding.

That's because in the days prior, word had trickled out that Jimbo Fisher was interested in giving up the reins to his offense for the first time as long as Bobby Petrino was who was going to run it.

Then around lunchtime today, Arkansas fans got what could only be taken as awful news.

As if life for Razorback fans hadn't reached a non-Chad Morris low with half the football team gone and a big chunk of the coaching staff hitting the portal also, news that Bobby Petrino had been stolen from Las Vegas in the middle of the night by Aggies wielding giant bags of money just made the nightmare worse.

Earlier this year, Petrino nearly put Sam Pittman's career on the mat by coaching a group of FCS guys at Missouri State to what was well on its way to being a North Texas/Western Kentucky level tail kicking in a packed Razorback Stadium.

Arkansas trailed 27-17 in the fourth quarter and it didn't feel as close as it actually was. Had Arkansas not gotten a 73-yard touchdown run by Raheim Sanders on a shuffle pass and an 82-yard punt return by Bryce Stephens instead of having to sustain drives, Petrino would have gladly driven his way back up I-49 with a huge SEC upset in his back pocket.

As soon as word got out, they knew A&M would no longer need fluke defensive plays at the goal line getting returned for touchdowns to take down the Razorbacks going forward.

"We all know Bobby Petrino just needs a little defense," one caller to 1037 The Buzz in Little Rock said this afternoon. "I hate to say it, but A&M may be the favorite to win a national championship."

But it's not like the SEC's excited to see him either. It may be enough to drive Nick Saban into retirement because the last time Petrino was in the SEC, he had Arkansas at No. 3 in the nation late in the season and landing first place votes following a Top 5 finish.

That was at Arkansas, a place one prospective hire once famously declared was the place coaching careers go to die.

Instead of turning the best of whatever tiny Warren High School has to offer that year into a defensive coordinator's nightmare, he now has access to the deepest pockets in college football, outside of perhaps SMU, with full rights to have an array of Appalachian State insulting Monopoly men purchase the best talent in the country.

Consider the fact he has no coaches' shows and various "club" events to attend nor any beautiful, curvy mountain roads to drive down, and SEC fans are left with the realization that one of the most brilliant offensive minds in the history of the game has nothing to do but obsess about how to pick apart their team's offense 24 hours a day.

Apparently the only SEC fanbase that doesn't think this spells doom for the rest of the league are the infamous Aggies.

After years of singing songs about Texas even after a decade in the SEC and massively underachieving under Fisher for half a decade with the exception of the COVID year, it seemed logical that A&M fans would finally be willing to let it go and embrace a chance at a bright future.

Instead, they seem content to simply hang on to mediocrity while waiting for Texas to stroll back into their lives and fully restore them to their place as little brother.

The Aggies have spent decades being the whipping boy when all along they should have been a killer. It's just a mentality they've never been able to shake in College Station even with the upgrade in conference.

Petrino is not a lot of things.

The kind of guy you and your daughter would like to sit down with and enjoy a nice bowl of ice cream is one of them.

However, in the world of football, he's a stone cold killer and that's what A&M needs whether they like it or not.

Aggies are known for having the thinnest skin in all of college sports. They will definitely need to develop some mental toughness because the barrage of motorcycle, neck brace, side chick and Darth Vader meme are about to get extensive.

There may also be a few Axis of Evil references also.

But if they can handle it, then, for once, the Aggies will become a team people actually fear in college football.

Just enjoy the ride Aggies fans because the rest of the League sure won't.