Pittman: Arkansas return for Petrino ‘no brainer’

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman stated Thursday his hiring of Bobby Petrino as offensive organizer was an easy choice once he understood the previous Razorbacks coach was genuinely interested in returning and once the university’s upper administration approved the decision.At that point

, Pittman said he was unfazed about any scrutiny he may face and called the move a “no brainer” when attending to the media on Thursday.

“You’re going to have people that don’t concur with a great deal of things in life,” stated Pittman, whose Hogs are coming off a 4-8 season. “And my message is that we’re doing the best we possibly can do for the state of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas.

“If every choice I make or everything that I have actually done, and I’m anxious about how it’s going to be received, then I’m not being true to myself, and to me, this was the very best hire for our university, our program and our state. Therefore I’m going to stand really firm behind that, and if people don’t like it, I’m sorry.”

Petrino’s hiring was announced on Wednesday, and he and Pittman consulted with the media on Thursday. Pittman said it was Petrino’s agent, Christina Phillips, who initially connected to him through text message about her customer being interested.

“To be honest with you, I was just looking for the best male for the task,” Pittman stated. “In my viewpoint, I did.”

Petrino, among the most reputable offensive playcallers in the game, took Arkansas to some of the school’s finest success in football in the previous 50 years as head coach from 2008 to 2011. The Hogs won 10 games in 2010 and 11 in 2011, completing that season ranked No. 5 in the polls and winning the Cotton Bowl.That run marked

the only time because Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992 that the Hogs have assembled back-to-back winning records (6-2) in league play.But in April 2012, a motorbike crash including Petrino exposed an adulterous affair he was having with a female staffer who he had actually hired in the football workplace. After an investigation, Petrino was fired for cause when then-athletic director Jeff Long said Petrino lied to school officials.Sources told ESPN that existing Arkansas chancellor Charles Robinson, system president Donald Bobbitt and the university’s board of trustees were all a part of accepting Petrino’s return provided he had previously been fired for cause, albeit more than ten years ago.Pittman worked though the correct channels with his athletic director, Hunter Yurachek, and said he talked to 5 individuals

for the task.”I wanted to employ him. I know he’s a good guy. We all make errors. … I was adamant that I wanted to employ him, and he was adamant that he wanted to come,”Pittman said. “So the university went to deal with all that other stuff. “Petrino, who said he’s spoken with tons of fans and former players because the news of his return broke, got psychological when discussing his

second possibility at Arkansas. He informed ESPN two years ago that he was most upset with letting numerous individuals down when he was fired.”No, there was never ever any anger at all,”Petrino said. “I was constantly a Hogs fan. People would ask me,’Are you going to enjoy the game? Are you going to enjoy them play?

‘I watched as lots of games as I could. I cheered for them. I rooted for them. ‘”Petrino, choking up, included:” I enjoyed the players.” The 62-year-old coach stated he took a tour of the Arkansas football complex when he got to town Wednesday and kept in mind how much everything had changed. He was on campus in 2022 as Missouri State’s head coach when the FCS Bears came close to upsetting the Hogs in a 38-27 game that saw Missouri State lead by 10 points in the 4th quarter.Petrino’s household lives 150 miles away in Springfield, Missouri, and his son-in-law, Ryan Beard, is Missouri State’s head coach.”I genuinely do love Arkansas, the university, the state and individuals, “Petrino said.”I think it’s the most unique place I have actually ever been.”Pittman was determined that it would be Petrino’s offense and that he is totally free to run his system and terminology.

However, Petrino stated that wasn’t the case this season while working as Jimbo Fisher’s offensive planner at Texas A&M. He stated Fisher wanted him to find out and use all of Fisher’s terms.”What we spoke about was having the ability to come in and run the offense and put the offense in and do that,”Petrino stated of his discussions with Pittman, while adding that his offense hasn’t changed much.”I do not believe it’s about plays. I do not believe it’s about what you

do. I believe it has to do with how you use the players that you have, how you get the ball to a Jarius Wright, to a Joe Adams, how you get the ball to Dennis Johnson and how you work the various situations of the game

,” stated Petrino, referencing a few of his previous players at Arkansas. “So what I enjoy to do is use players and after that be really good at the situations of the game and the players truly understand what we’re going to see in third-and-short, what we’re visiting in fourth-and-short, what we’re going to see in the red zone, what blitzes they range from the 15-yard-line in.” Get everyone on the exact same page and after that practice the heck out of it. “