Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Gene Chizik’s days at Auburn appear to be numbered.

Losing to Vanderbilt to continue to the worst start in six decades didn’t help his cause. And his buyout is more manageable than the $7.5 million initially reported.

If the Tigers are in the market for a coach, they’ll be competing for one alongside Arkansas. That could make things difficult for the Razorbacks.

Unless Auburn is in a market for a coach that Athletic Director Jeff Long wouldn’t consider. A coach like, say, Bobby Petrino.

Al.com columnist Kevin Scarbinsky writes there is already a push for Petrino on The Plains. Here’s an excerpt from his column, detailing why Chizik needs to go (primarmily because he’s losing ground to Saban):

All the good work Chizik and his staff did in 2010, in running the table and winning the national championship, has come undone. On and off the field. The fan base he rallied so skillfully that season has turned against him, to the point that one Auburn booster said a quiet movement has begun behind the scenes to gauge and enlist support for Bobby Petrino as the next coach.

Petrino will wind up with a job somewhere. And there may be enough big conference job openings that he winds up not having to toil at some outpost as he rebuilds his reputation.

Because Petrino violated his contract, accepted responsibility (read his statement here) and waived an appeal and the $18 million buyout that went with it, Petrino is free to take a job anywhere. Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long confirmed it last week during a Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting.

“When you are terminated for cause you have no contractual obligations to the institution,” Long said. “So he’s free to do whatever he would like.”

Which brings us back to Auburn.

It shouldn’t be a surprise some supporters there are interested. Petrino, who has an Alabama-based agent, was having success in the SEC. He had a season with the Tigers as offensive coordinator and while at Louisville he agreed to a clandestine meeting with Auburn officials interested in lining up a replacement for Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville, even before Auburn's season finale against Alabama (which Tuberville and the Tigers would win).

Here’s something to ponder, though: If the issue at Auburn is that the program is losing ground overall, and especially to Alabama, then how will Petrino’s struggles against Saban be viewed? Petrino was 0-4 against him, losing by an average of more than three touchdowns per game.

And the gap appeared to widen substantially after 2010 (a 24-20 loss).

Granted, few coaches have had much luck against Saban. He’s 55-6 since 2008 with only four of those losses coming in the SEC.

You'd have to imagine Petrino would like another crack at Saban. Will he get it at Auburn?