Bobby Petrino

Robert P. "Bobby" Petrino (born March 10, 1961) is an American football coach, currently the head coach at Western Kentucky University. He was the head coach at the University of Arkansas from 2008 to 2011, until his dismissal in the spring of 2012 for not disclosing an "inappropriate relationship" with a female employee. He also coached the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL for a less than a season in 2007, and was the head coach at the University of Louisville from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he spent 20 years as an assistant coach in the collegiate and professional ranks.

Early years
Born in Lewistown, Montana, Petrino grew up in Helena and graduated from Capital High in 1979. He attended hometown Carroll College and graduated with a physical education and a math minor in 1983. While at Carroll, he played quarterback for the Fighting Saints and began his coaching career there as a graduate assistant during the 1983 season.

Carroll and Weber State
After a year at Carroll, he moved to Weber State College in the Big Sky Conference, coaching quarterbacks as a graduate assistant under head coach Mike Price. Petrino returned to his alma mater in 1985 as offensive coordinator. In each of his two seasons in that position, Carroll had the top-rated offense in NAIA football. He then returned to Weber State for two seasons in 1987 and 1988 as the receivers coach under Price, who left for Washington State in 1989.

Idaho and Arizona State
Petrino spent a year as quarterbacks coach at the University of Idaho in 1989 under new head coach John L. Smith, then was promoted to offensive coordinator. In 1992, he took a step up the collegiate coaching ladder to Division I-A (now FBS) when he became quarterbacks coach at Arizona State University in the Pac-10 Conference. During his two seasons at ASU under head coach Bruce Snyder, he oversaw the development of future All-American QB Jake Plummer, who went on to play ten seasons in the NFL.

Nevada and Utah State
In 1995 he moved to the University of Nevada, serving as both offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Chris Ault. During his one season there, the Wolf Pack were second in the nation in both passing offense and total offense, and third in scoring offense. The next year he began a three-year stint as offensive coordinator at Utah State University, reuniting with Smith.

Louisville
When Smith moved to Louisville in 1998, Petrino followed him there as offensive coordinator. In his one season there, the Cardinals were top-ranked in Division I-A in scoring and total offense and posted the biggest positive turnaround among I-A football teams, winning six more games than in the 1997 season. Petrino left the collegiate ranks to coach in the NFL for three years. His place at Louisville was filled by Scott Linehan.

Auburn and Return to Louisville
In 2002, Petrino returned to the college ranks, replacing Noel Mazzone as offensive coordinator under Tommy Tuberville at Auburn, whose offense significantly improved that season. He returned to Louisville in 2003 as head coach. After only one season at Louisville, Petrino secretly interviewed for the coaching job at Auburn, even though the Tigers had made no decision on whether to retain his mentor, Tuberville.

In four years at Louisville, Petrino built the Cardinals into a national power. He led them to 11 wins in 2004 and 12 wins in 2006--only the second and third times that the Cardinals won as many as 11 games in a season.

On July 13, 2006, Petrino signed a 10-year, $25.6 million contract to stay on as head football coach. The deal gave Petrino a raise from $1 million to $1.6 million annually, and he would have been paid $2.6 million in the final year of the deal. The contract included a buyout clause of $1 million.

On January 7, 2007, it was announced Petrino had accepted the head coaching position for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons.

Arkansas
On December 11, 2007, with 3 games left in the NFL season, Petrino resigned as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and took the head coaching position at Arkansas. The Razorbacks ended the 2008 season with a record of 5–7 (2–6 in the SEC); The two conference wins were over Auburn, and a last second win against LSU in the annual Battle for the Golden Boot.

The Razorbacks under Bobby Petrino showed significant improvement in the 2009 season with analysts from both ESPN and CBS regularly citing starting quarterback Ryan Mallett as one of the most impressive collegiate quarterbacks in the country. The Razorbacks came close to upsetting the #1-ranked University of Florida Gators on October 19, 2009. That game culminated in a controversial 4th quarter personal foul call on an Arkansas lineman. The resulting 15-yard penalty allowed the Gators to continue what turned out to be their game-winning drive. The SEC ultimately issued an apology for the call and suspended the officiating crew.

The Razorbacks also enjoyed success under Petrino in the 2010 season finishing 10–2 and notching their first BCS bowl appearance against Ohio State. In the All State Sugar Bowl, Ohio State built an early lead behind the play of Terrell Pryor and Boom Herron, but Arkansas came back in the second half. As the Razorbacks were driving for a go-ahead score in the final minutes, Ryan Mallett threw an interception near the Ohio State 20 yard line, and Ohio State ran out the clock.

The Razorbacks won the 2012 Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas, defeating Kansas State by a score of 29-16. The "Hogs" concluded the 2011 season with an 11-2 record, with their only losses to Alabama and LSU. It was just the third 11-win season in Arkansas' 119-year football history.

Motorcycle incident and subsequent scandal
In April 2012, Petrino was involved in a motorcycle crash in Arkansas while sliding off Highway 16 near Crosses. He was riding along with former Arkansas All-SEC volleyball player Jessica Dorrell, whom he had hired on March 28 as the student-athlete development coordinator for the football program after serving as a fundraiser in the Razorback Foundation. Petrino initially said he was alone. However, on April 6, just minutes before a police report was to be released showing Dorrell was also aboard, Petrino revealed that Dorrell was not only a passenger, but that he had been conducting an adulterous relationship with her. Athletic director Jeff Long placed Petrino on an indefinite paid leave of absence while he reviewed the situation.

On April 10, Long announced that Petrino had been fired. During Long's investigation, it was discovered that Petrino made a previously undisclosed $20,000 cash gift to Dorrell as a Christmas present. It was also revealed that Dorrell may have received preferential treatment in her hiring to the football staff, as Petrino's relationship with Dorrell was not disclosed and Petrino was on the hiring committee. Long determined that Petrino's attempts to mislead both him and the public about the accident and his relationship with Dorrell were grounds to fire Petrino for cause. Long also determined that the $20,000 payment could expose Arkansas to a sexual harassment suit if Petrino were retained. Petrino was succeeded by his mentor, Smith, who had been the Arkansas special teams coach before briefly taking the head coaching job at Weber State.

Public apologies: “Making things right with my family”
In July, Petrino contacted Smith and members of his former team, including quarterback Tyler Wilson, who said the outreach provided "a little closure." Running back Knile Davis said, "He apologized. He said, 'I’m sorry for everything that happened.' … He was very humble. He was very hurt. I told him not to be so hard on himself. I told him, 'You made a mistake. You’ll get back from it.'" Smith's phone call with Petrino "was basically about our football team at Arkansas, of which he's always concerned about."

In August 2012, Petrino sat down for a video interview with ESPN college football reporter Joe Schad to express remorse and regret, saying there was “no justification” for his decisions. He said, “I take responsibility for it and I am really sorry. I have played it over and over in my head a million times. How could I do this? How could this happen? And not just the hiring. Or that day. But my actions, my behavior -- for months it was just wrong. I'm working hard to save my marriage. I'm working one day at a time. I want to stay married. That's my main priority right now. Making things right with my family. … I've made mistakes and I'm going to be a better person for it. … I think I've got to take this one day at a time, continue to improve as a person and as a husband. I'm also going to continue to work on football. And I just hope and pray that I get that opportunity again.”

He continued, "I've made mistakes and I'm going to be a better person for it. I'm going to keep my life in better balance. And I really feel I'll be a better coach because this happened, because now I know that I'm going to coach the person as much as the player and help the person who has made mistakes, help him understand that he is not going to be defined by the mistakes he has made but how he reacts to it and overcomes it."

Western Kentucky
On December 10, 2012, Western Kentucky hired Petrino as their new head coach, replacing Willie Taggart, who departed for South Florida Petrino signed a four-year contract worth $850,000 annually and includes a $1.2 million buyout clause if he terminates the contract before the expiration in 2016.

Pro coaching career
Petrino's first stint in the NFL was 1999–2001, as he spent two seasons as the quarterbacks coach and a third as offensive coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Petrino was praised as an offensive mastermind. Tom Coughlin, then head coach of the Jaguars, called Petrino “the best play-caller I've ever been around.”

After five seasons as a college assistant and head coach, Petrino returned to the NFL on January 7, 2007, accepting an offer to become the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. His contract in Atlanta paid him $24 million over five years.

Petrino was brought in primarily to make star quarterback Michael Vick into a more complete quarterback. However, before Petrino's first training camp, it emerged that Vick had bankrolled an illegal dog fighting operation near his hometown in Newport News, Virginia. For all intents and purposes, the Falcons' 2007 season ended when Vick was arraigned on federal dog fighting charges on July 26. The terms of Vick's bail barred him from leaving Virginia before the November 26 trial.

With their franchise quarterback effectively sidelined for the season, the Falcons appeared to be a rudderless team. On December 10, 2007, with the Falcons languishing in the NFC South cellar with a 3-10 record, Petrino resigned to take the job at Arkansas. Petrino informed his players of his decision to resign via a four-sentence laminated note left at the locker of each player. This caused some retribution with some of his staff as well, including former defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Zimmer was very outspoken in the media with regards to Petrino's leaving in the middle of the night without communicating with his team or coaches of his decision to leave the Falcons.

Personal life
Petrino has two sons and two daughters with his wife, Becky. His oldest daughter, Kelsey, graduated from the University of Louisville, his oldest son, Nick, currently attends Louisville. His youngest son, Bobby Jr., attends the University of Arkansas and his youngest daughter, Katie, is a redshirt sophomore on Louisville's golf team. He also has one grandchild. Petrino's younger brother Paul is the new head coach at Idaho.