Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

12/27/2010 at 10:27am

Building offenses has long been considered the specialty of Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. It’s been his calling card as an assistant coach and when running his own college football programs.

But Petrino proved himself capable of even more this year with the Razorbacks. He’s not just capable of building offenses, but re-building reputations outsiders long considered damaged.

Petrino has rehabbed the image of Arkansas football this season. He guided the Razorbacks — often an afterthought in the national conversation — to a Sugar Bowl for the first time since 1980 and got the program to a BCS bowl for the first time since the system was implemented in 1998.

Is it any wonder Petrino, the Arkansas Business “Newsmaker of the Year,” repeatedly referred to this among “the most fun” football seasons in a three-decade coaching career? From the start of fall camp to the final regular season game against LSU, Petrino spoke of how much he enjoyed himself.

Petrino’s own image is getting a makeover in 2010 as well.

Nationally, he’d become regarded as a job-hopper, the sort of coach who constantly sought greener pastures. Petrino’s reputation came despite the fact he’d only held two college head coaching jobs in a career that began in 1983 as a graduate assistant at Carroll College, an NAIA school in Montana. Few national media liked his move from the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons to the Razorbacks in December 2007, and his departure had become low-hanging fruit for national analysts intent on picking out reasons to criticize Petrino.

Petrino, 23-14 at Arkansas, has quieted the critics of himself and the Razorback program. He became just the third head coach (Urban Meyer and Nick Saban are the others) to guide two different teams to a BCS bowl.

Arkansas has its second 10-win regular season since joining the SEC in 1992. A victory Jan. 4 against Ohio State and the Razorbacks win 11 games for just the first time since 1977. Before that the 1964 shared national championship season is the only other 11-win season in Arkansas history.

Never before have the Razorbacks played so many Top 25 matchups in a single season, finishing 4-2 against ranked opponents. Only top-ranked Auburn claimed more victories against Top 25 teams.

What the Razorbacks accomplished exceeded the expectations of many outside observers. George Schroeder, columnist for Oregon’s Eugene-Register Guard and a contributor to SportsIllustrated.com, was among those who didn’t see a Top 10 regular season finish coming for the Razorbacks when 2010 began.

“I am surprised to see Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl, but only because I didn’t realize how good the rest of the team was surrounding Ryan Mallett,” said Schroeder. “Then when you consider how good the SEC West turned out to be, and how Arkansas was a couple of plays from being unbeaten, it’s astounding.”

Expectations for 2010 were set inside the program shortly after the 2009 season ended in the Liberty Bowl. Petrino spoke often of this being a year Arkansas could compete for championships. He believed the team was ready for a breakthrough despite the program being just 13-12 in his first two seasons.

Players spoke openly of their desire to get into the national title race. For a program that hadn’t spent an entire season ranked in the Top 25 since 1989, it seemed far-fetched. First, the Razorbacks needed to win an SEC championship, something they hadn’t done since joining the league in 1992.

Arkansas administrators were also counting on a big year from football. Season ticket sales were projected to increase football ticket revenue by at least $3 million.

Pressure mounted from inside and outside the football complex. Yet players saw a more relaxed coach.

Petrino had imparted his expectations and work ethic in them and didn’t feel compelled to be as tough on them. There were even jokes from the boss hog during practices, something that didn’t happen often in Petrino’s first two years with the Razorbacks.

“I think he’s had more fun because of the leaders on this team,” quarterback Ryan Mallett said. “He doesn’t have to preach as much. Guys are taking over [leadership], and I think that’s one of his most enjoyable parts.”

And the enjoyment continued for Petrino even as the Razorbacks stumbled to a 1-2 record after their first three SEC games. Arkansas stood 4-2 at the midway point of the season and appeared destined for another year of underachieving.

The Razorbacks regrouped after a 65-43 loss at Auburn and won six consecutive games to close the year. That resiliency is what Petrino appreciated about the team, linebacker Jerry Franklin said.

“He knows when we fall we’ll pick ourselves right back up and go hard,” Franklin said “He likes the way we grind. He knows we’ll come into work, even when we have a loss. He knows we’re going to come in and go to work.”

Petrino will be working in Fayetteville for years to come.

On Dec. 11, he agreed to terms of a contract that should lock him up at Arkansas through 2017. He’ll make an average of $3.56 million per season. His base salary remains $1.95 million, but the money made for appearances, TV/radio duties and deferred compensation for sticking around have increased.

Between now and 2017 the buyout totals if Petrino were to leave are: $18 million, $18 million, $17.95 million, $14.525 million, $10.825 million, $7.375 million and $3.925 million. And there’s also a no-compete clause where Petrino has agreed not to seek employment at any other SEC school.

Built into the agreement — which came with a $500,000 signing bonus — are longevity bonuses that can be triggered in 2014 and 2017. Petrino earns $250,000 if he sticks around through 2014 (the year his initial contract was set to expire). Petrino gets $475,000 as a bonus if he makes it to 2017.

Those numbers elicited reaction from national media who had treated Petrino’s words of commitment to Arkansas with skepticism. Sports Illustrated writer Stewart Mandel posted the following to Twitter as news began circulating that Petrino agreed to a deal that could keep him in Fayetteville until it was time to retire:

“Egg on my face. Petrino’s new contract includes an $18 million (!!!) buyout. He’s not going anywhere for a while.”

Few were willing to believe Petrino was committed to Arkansas for the long haul prior to the new employment agreement. Schroeder, who contributed several Razorback-related columns to SI.com prior to the season, said it could take additional time for Petrino to totally win over critics, but the buyout and Sugar Bowl appearance are a start.

“I think the ultra-expensive buyout clause took some people – OK, everybody – by surprise. Bobby didn’t have to agree to that, and I’m sure a lot of people were really surprised,” said Schroeder, a past president of the Football Writer’s Association of America. “That said, I don’t think Bobby can do much to improve outside perception other than to keep winning – make Arkansas a factor in SEC championship discussions, which means in BCS title discussions – and to keep living in Fayetteville. I think he’s going to do both, win big and stick around. But only time will remove most of the snarky stuff about his job-hopping.”

Speculation Petrino was on the move again ramped up early in May. He and his wife, Becky, put their multi-million dollar, 8,000-SF Fayetteville estate on the market.

Ultimately, the sale was described as a cost-cutting move. The Petrinos still owned a home in Atlanta and trying to pay for two multi-million properties was just too costly.

That didn’t stop doubters from questioning Petrino’s commitment.

Another flare up occurred following the season. Arkansas took its time in announcing a new contract for the coach and that led Petrino’s name to get mentioned in conjunction with the Florida opening in the days immediately after Urban Meyer left that job. Sporting News described Petrino at “the top of the list” to fill the vacancy in Gainesville, Fla.

None of the fear was warranted. Petrino had said from the beginning he and his family liked Fayetteville and proved that once and for all by agreeing to the new deal.

Petrino said there was no specific moment that solidified in his mind that he and his family wanted to stay in the Ozarks. It was a process three years in the making, but it helped they liked the area. Knowing he could win and be competitive in the Southeastern Conference with the Razorbacks was a factor.

Given the opportunity to take a new contract, Petrino did not hesitate. And he got additional commitment from the UA when plans were approved for an 80,000-SF football operations facility initially estimated to cost $24-35 million. The project is yet another Petrino-led revamp for the Arkansas football program.

“This is where I want to be,” Petrino said. “I like what we’re building here. … It’s a place I’m very excited about what we’re building, what our staff has done and how we are competing at the highest level in college football.”

Tagged: Arkansas Business, Bobby Petrino, Newsmaker of the Year, George Schroeder