Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Call Bobby Petrino a coward. Characterize him as a genius. Depending on who's asked, both could fit. Egotistical, innovative and/or ambitious might be other descriptions.

Say what you want about the new University of Arkansas football coach. Petrino will simply shrug his shoulders. He is as uncomfortable with praise as he is outwardly unfazed by criticism.

"To each his own," Petrino says.

Opinions - good or bad - don't win football games. Until they do, Petrino seems unmoved by what people have to say about him. Scoreboards speak the loudest as far as Petrino is concerned.

Petrino's tunnel vision has helped win a lot of games, including a 41-9 mark in four years (2003-06) at Louisville. It also has cost him a lot of fans. National media revile Petrino. He has critics in college and the NFL. His reputation as an opportunistic job-hopper precedes him and was only furthered when Petrino left the Atlanta Falcons for Arkansas with three games remaining in the 2007 season.

Little from Petrino's side of things has been revealed about his Atlanta departure. Falcons players and national media referred to Petrino as a "coward" and "liar." The Falcons, who were 3-10 at the time of Petrino's resignation hours before he showed up in Fayetteville, were also showing solidarity for Michael Vick, their suspended quarterback convicted of running a dog-fighting operation.

All Petrino will say in response: "I'm looking forward to the future. I'm really happy being [at Arkansas]. I'm real excited about the challenges and putting our football team together."

Arkansas fans are excited for the future as well. Petrino was hired to replace Houston Nutt, whose personality and perceived lack of offensive acumen had begun to wear on folks in his home state after 10 years.

Petrino, 47, no doubt has baggage, but he brings the Razorbacks' rabid fan base the promise of a fresh offense. Even after ranking 17th nationally in total yardage behind the strength of two running backs selected in the first round of the NFL draft, players have bought into the idea that the offense can do more with Petrino calling the plays.

"The defense won't even know what hit them," tailback Michael Smith said. "If we get it together, we'll be all right."

(Video: Chris Bahn previews the Razorbacks' 2008 defense. Check out more on the Razorbacks' schedule, the offense, the tight ends, Jonathan Luigs and Bahn's season prediction. )

Early Start