Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Pardon the psychological analysis here as we approach the Arkansas Razorbacks' 2011 season opener with Missouri State, but for several months I've wondered whether Bobby Petrino was the same coach, the same guy, that he was when he arrived in Fayetteville in mid-December 2007.

We were all told what to expect of Petrino by an Atlanta and a national, NFL-savvy media after his sudden departure from the NFL's Falcons and back to college football that, frankly, has turned out to be as worthless a forecast as one that said we'd have a mild summer.

Based on the national experts and their wise assessments as 2008 began, Petrino shouldn't even be here now. They conceded the guy could coach, and he'd win, but he should have taken that 10-win season and first-ever BCS bid for Arkansas last season and high-tailed it to Michigan or somewhere that's way more deserving of his talents than the little ol' Natural State.

We were told by the experts, and these include coaches he'd worked for, that all Petrino cared about was offense. And yet Arkansas may have its best defense across the board since it joined the SEC football ranks in 1992. The program hasn't been this deep along the defensive front since Lou Holtz arrived (and he inherited the recruiting work of 1973-76 defensive coordinator Jimmy Johnson, who darn-sure could recruit).

Recruiting? Like defense it also wasn't supposed to be Petrino's cup of tea, but how else do we try to explain how Arkansas landed 14 players on the preseason All-SEC team while league favorite LSU, a regular in the national recruiting Top 5, had just seven? For that matter, while the supposed all-knowing experts of Everything Petrino hit on the recruiting issue, it suddenly dawned on the detailed folks even back in 2008 that Louisville produced more NFL players during Petrino's time there (2003-06) than any team in the SEC during the same period.

I came away with the idea earlier this summer, and touched on in our Football Preview, that nobody really knew Petrino — that what they said about him turned out to be completely the opposite. The headline said it: "Petrino has the whole bunch snookered."

Frankly, I had wanted Petrino to address those thoughts before our summer preview went to press. Somehow, even e-mailed questions to him through the media relations office couldn't be answered. I'm betting he didn't even see them. So, in one of those rare moments we get with Petrino in person (and let me add that on Monday, when he flew all the way to Little Rock to address the Touchdown Club, he still had no time in the schedule for interviews), I asked him in mid-summer if he felt like he had changed over four years here. Was he the same coach going into his fourth season at Arkansas that he was beginning his fourth year in Louisville, when he took the Cardinals to THEIR first BSC bid ever and a 12-win season.

"That's a good question, I hadn't really thought about that," he said. And what he said afterward was that the core principles of coaching he held then hadn't changed.

But, I suppose truth be told, and being that this was the last question anyone was getting in that day, I didn't follow up with what was really eating at me: "But do you feel like you're a different GUY than four years ago?"

I know the answer now without asking. He has a far different air about him than the Petrino we saw in 2008. The Petrino I saw stride into the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday had that same swagger when he walked into the Broyles Athletic Center that December night in 2007, but he was much more relaxed Monday in the way he spoke during his 30 minutes on the dais. Whether it be recent Razorback Club meetings or simple 10-minute press conference, he seems to have loosened considerably.

Now, I wouldn't be completely forthcoming if I didn't tell you that I know he can still fly off the handle at some folks if things aren't proceeding as quickly and efficiently as he'd like. I'll leave my sources on that anonymous, since they will encounter the coach again often (and want to, even with the occasional volcanic eruption).

Two years ago, while one of the weekly Touchdown Club emcees, Rex Nelson, did his bit about a certain  very-enthusiastic coach in the 662 area code (that would be Houston Nutt, in case you don't have a phone book handy) having advice for Petrino as Arkansas' coach, observers thought they detected Petrino almost steaming during the bit, keeping a water glass up to his mouth to keep from showing any emotion. Or maybe inwardly he thought he was funny. Whatever, the thought among the club founders that day was that neither Petrino nor UA athletic director Jeff Long were amused.