New Arkansas Razorbacks offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino reflecting on how things have changed in decade since he was last here and it will be his offense in place with Hogs.
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00:00 I was curious about the phone call from Coach Pittman,
00:03 how that went with you.
00:05 And your agent reached out first.
00:07 Is that still Russ Gamble?
00:08 I know that was 12 years ago.
00:10 No, actually my agent is Christina Phillips.
00:12 And she didn't tell me about that.
00:15 I just learned that today.
00:19 But I appreciate her.
00:22 She reached out to me when I was at Missouri State.
00:24 And she said, hey, let's get you back in the game.
00:26 And I said, Christina, I think I'm just
00:30 happy doing what I am right now.
00:32 And she was on me about, no, you can't do that.
00:35 We'll work at it.
00:36 It might take us a while, but we'll keep going.
00:39 And she convinced me, OK, let's work at it
00:42 and see if we can get back in the game.
00:44 And it's been a process, but it's a lot of credit to her.
00:48 I listened to you on the podcast this morning that you did.
00:52 You've been going through, looking at players,
00:54 looking at film and stuff.
00:55 Have you seen anything that's jumped out specifically,
00:57 any players or anything like that?
00:59 Yeah, I haven't been able to get into it enough,
01:01 just because also looking at recruits
01:04 and anticipating portals.
01:07 But I've been able to watch some of the individual players.
01:11 And then I've had guys come in and talk to me.
01:13 And the names start going, who's that now?
01:15 Who is that again?
01:16 Who is that again?
01:18 But it's a process.
01:20 And I did have a good meeting yesterday
01:22 with the offensive group as a whole.
01:25 And that was fun.
01:26 I enjoyed it.
01:28 Now that you're back in the game,
01:31 any trepidation coming back here?
01:33 And just what do you want to do?
01:35 What do you want to get done here
01:37 the next few years of your life?
01:39 Yeah, I want to win.
01:40 I want to see us--
01:42 I came back here to support Coach Pittman in winning.
01:48 I appreciate him a lot when he did send that message
01:52 that, Coach, this is Coach Pittman.
01:55 I'd like to talk to you.
01:57 The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
02:00 I was like, that's going to happen?
02:01 Really?
02:03 And then we talked for a short amount of time.
02:05 And he said that he had an interest.
02:07 And we set a time to talk where we both had time later on.
02:13 And that was exciting.
02:14 I felt, hey, maybe this is really going to happen.
02:17 Could it possibly happen?
02:19 I talked to my family and stuff.
02:20 That could possibly work.
02:22 And then we had a great talk, great conversation.
02:25 I think it was over an hour some, maybe longer than that.
02:29 And then when I got off the phone, I said,
02:32 man, he didn't offer me the job.
02:36 I was a little bit surprised about that.
02:38 I thought, man, maybe I need to do a better job interviewing
02:41 again.
02:43 But it was a process he was going through
02:45 and taking his time.
02:46 And I was just anxious to talk to him again.
02:51 So your offense at A&M last year, how much of it was you?
02:55 And then you got to see Arkansas in Arlington.
02:59 What did you think of what was going on
03:01 and the personnel Arkansas has?
03:03 That's a loaded question there.
03:07 You know, when I took the job at A&M,
03:12 Jimma wanted to keep the same terminology.
03:15 And call things the same way they did.
03:19 It was hard.
03:20 It was hard on me.
03:21 I was staying up all night.
03:22 I can remember the first scrimmage.
03:25 I was up at 2 AM in the morning, woke up at 2 AM in the morning
03:28 to get ready to call plays for the first scrimmage,
03:30 just understanding what the terminology was,
03:33 what the formation was.
03:35 And it was a different-- it was not only calling the plays
03:39 different, but the formations, the way
03:42 they called the formation is probably
03:43 different than anybody else that I've ever been around.
03:48 You know, normally you call the strength
03:49 where your tight end's going to align.
03:52 And there, it's where your slot receiver is going to align.
03:56 So just getting the connection to be able to do that
03:59 was very difficult. But I worked hard at it.
04:03 And I thought we had a pretty good year.
04:05 We went through a couple quarterbacks, which was hard.
04:08 But I really enjoyed it.
04:10 And I think that's the one thing that--
04:14 when that happened, when Jimbo lost his job,
04:18 I thought I want to still coach, just because how much I enjoyed
04:22 being in the classroom with the quarterbacks,
04:26 spending time with the offense, just coaching football,
04:30 teaching.
04:31 It was fun being back in the meeting room and teaching.
04:35 I started getting in this profession as a teacher.
04:38 So it was really fun to get back and do that.
04:40 Reading some of the quotes that have come out
04:45 since you accepted the job, you've
04:46 talked about always wanting to come back
04:48 and this being a dream.
04:49 I'm just curious, was there ever a time
04:50 since you left where maybe there was some anger
04:53 towards this place?
04:54 And when did that anger maybe turn into a desire to return?
04:58 No, there never was any anger at all.
05:01 You know, I was always a Hogs fan.
05:03 You know, I watched--
05:04 people would ask me, are you going to watch the game?
05:06 Are you going to watch them play?
05:07 And I watched as many games as I could.
05:09 I cheered for them.
05:10 I rooted for them.
05:12 You know, love the players.
05:13 Coach, I know you returned to the Little Rock Touchdown
05:20 Club a few years back.
05:21 And it was well-received and everything.
05:23 But could you have ever imagined at that time,
05:26 you said you always loved the Hogs,
05:28 could you have imagined getting this opportunity to come back
05:30 and coach like this?
05:32 Well, like I said, I thought about it and dreamed about it.
05:34 And I didn't know if it would ever happen.
05:38 So certainly, I can't tell you how excited
05:40 I am to be back here.
05:41 It's going to be a lot of fun.
05:42 And I truly do love Arkansas, the university, and the state,
05:48 and the people.
05:49 You know, I think it's the most special place I've ever been.
05:52 And you mentioned getting to kind of see some
05:54 of the individual players that Arkansas has on the roster.
05:56 I know it's still a fluid situation.
05:57 But given your history, I was wondering
05:59 about if you had any particular thoughts on the quarterbacks
06:01 that Arkansas has here, Jacoby Criswell, Malachi Singleton,
06:04 if you've had a chance to look at them
06:06 and see what you thought about them.
06:08 Yeah, I've had a chance to watch their video
06:10 and see some of their practice video, some of their game
06:13 video, and see things that they can do.
06:15 And obviously, you like the talent that you see there,
06:19 arm strength, and mobility, and different things they can do.
06:23 You really don't know a lot until you get out
06:25 on the practice field and start practicing with them.
06:28 So we'll look forward to that.
06:29 And the rules are as such now where
06:32 we have time to meet with them when we come back from Christmas
06:35 and get in the classroom with them.
06:39 So it'll be fun to see how much they understand
06:42 about the game of football.
06:44 Bobby, last night, 20,000 people yelling your name.
06:49 How does that make you feel?
06:52 It was exciting.
06:52 Yeah, I felt good about it.
06:55 And again, I got to say it's a credit to Sam
06:58 to be able to bring me there and allow that to go on.
07:05 I think it's just a credit to him.
07:07 You can see the confidence that he has in himself as a man
07:11 and how much he loves the university
07:13 and wants to do what he believes is best for us to go forward
07:17 to win is a real credit to him.
07:20 It's been over 10 years.
07:22 How are you different now than you were in 2011?
07:26 Yeah, I mean, everybody's different.
07:27 You know that.
07:28 And you're different than you were back then.
07:30 So hopefully I've grown as a coach, as a teacher,
07:34 as a husband, as a father.
07:37 I believe totally that I have.
07:41 Hopefully I'm better tomorrow than I am today.
07:45 Bobby, I remember going to the groundbreaking for the Smith
07:47 Center.
07:48 I think it was maybe a Friday before a home game.
07:50 But you never got to get in that building.
07:52 I assume you've been in there now.
07:53 Just kind of, well, what's your thoughts on that building?
07:55 And finally getting to work in there.
07:58 Yeah, it was fun to walk through it and see it.
08:02 And yesterday I took my own tour, I guess,
08:07 rounded up one of the young guys and said,
08:09 hey, take me through the building here
08:10 and show me it around.
08:11 So it was exciting to see it.
08:13 They certainly did a good job with it.
08:15 And it'd be fun to start working in there.
08:19 And have you decided if you're going to be on the field
08:21 or in the press box?
08:23 I haven't even thought about it.
08:25 You guys are way ahead of me.
08:26 Coach talked about having to learn new terminologies.
08:33 Sam, I'm going to turn you loose on--
08:36 Yeah, what we talked about was be able to come in and run
08:40 the offense and put the offense in and do that.
08:42 And one of the things I've learned throughout my career
08:46 is that you utilize everybody and you
08:50 try to get everybody's input.
08:52 And certainly I want to see the assistant coaches have
08:55 their input.
08:55 And when I interviewed with Coach,
08:58 we talked about certain things.
09:00 If he walked in the room and asked me about this,
09:03 asked me about that, what do I think about that?
09:07 And I'd say, well, I'd welcome it.
09:09 There's a reason he's known as the best offensive line
09:12 coach in America.
09:15 And if he has certain thoughts that he
09:17 wants to do on short yardage and goal line,
09:20 I communicated to him that when I was calling plays at Arizona
09:23 State, Bruce Snyder ran short yardage and goal line.
09:28 That's what he wanted to do.
09:29 That was something he was very, very proud of and very, very
09:33 fond of.
09:34 And if Coach wants us to do something
09:38 on short yardage and goal line or third down,
09:42 we're definitely going to work on doing it.
09:45 And I think that's how it has to work.
09:47 That's how it goes.
09:48 He's the head coach.
09:49 And we're going to do as much as we
09:51 can to keep him satisfied and happy.
09:54 And as an assistant, what you try to do
09:57 is keep the head coach happy and not chewing you out.
10:01 So that's one of my goals.
10:03 Let's make sure he's not chewing me out every day.
10:06 This is not football.
10:08 So tell me about Northwest Arkansas.
10:11 You look forward to hitting some balls in the bushes
10:14 at Blessings or Beaver Lake.
10:15 What goes through your mind that I'm back in Arkansas?
10:21 I got a lot to learn, man.
10:22 I can't even find my way around.
10:24 It's changed.
10:25 It's really changed.
10:26 The roads are a little bit different.
10:28 The way you get places are a little bit different.
10:32 I drove up in front of this building right here.
10:34 And I'm like, wow.
10:36 They redid that, too.
10:38 So first thing I got to do is find out where I'm at.
10:42 Definitely like going to the lake.
10:43 That's something that we've always enjoyed as a family
10:46 and love to do.
10:47 And it's on my bucket list to be able to slalom
10:51 when I'm 70.
10:52 So I've got to keep working on that,
10:55 make sure I'm in good enough shape to be able to--
10:57 I don't get up anymore on one, to be honest with you.
11:00 I get up on two and drop, just because it's
11:03 so hard to grind to get up on one.
11:05 And nobody skis anymore.
11:07 My kids have totally went away from me.
11:10 And they don't ski.
11:11 They surf and wakeboard.
11:13 And I don't even see the fun in that.
11:15 You go so darn slow.
11:16 I don't know how it's fun.
11:17 But I'm still going to water ski.
11:21 I've lost a lot of balls at Blessing.
11:23 So maybe if I get to play that sometime,
11:25 I'll find a few of them that I left out there.
11:27 I have to drop a ski, too, man.
11:33 I don't have to.
11:34 I choose to.
11:36 I'm kidding.
11:37 I can't get up on one.
11:39 You're signaling.
11:40 I wonder what you thought of the signaling, sign-staining flap
11:44 this year, and how does that apply to you, maybe?
11:48 Or what's the future of signaling as well?
11:52 Do you think helmet devices are--
11:54 Yeah, I think that they should have done that a long time ago.
11:59 And I don't know anything about Michigan and what they did,
12:02 or any of that.
12:03 I honestly didn't pay any attention to it.
12:06 But I do know when you went and played Clemson,
12:09 that they were going to have your signals.
12:11 Guys on the sidelines standing there
12:13 with the sheet of paper with your signals on it.
12:16 And that was tough.
12:17 And the SEC and the ACC have talked for years
12:23 about putting the piece in the air.
12:25 And one of the issues that you always have in the NCAA
12:30 is everybody has a vote.
12:32 So there's a lot of schools that play football that
12:35 can outvote the major conferences that
12:38 don't have the money for that technology
12:40 to be in their helmets.
12:41 So that's why they've got to do something about it.
12:44 But it's become more and more relevant
12:48 throughout the years that I've been in about people
12:50 stealing signals and calling defenses and offenses that way.
12:55 Speaking of money, just your thoughts on Arkansas Edge
12:58 and how that might help you in the portal and things
13:01 like that.
13:02 Yeah, I got some reading up to do on that.
13:06 I've been kind of in a whirlwind.
13:07 So I haven't even been able to check up.
13:10 I know Coach told me that he was excited about the new NIL
13:14 deal that's going on.
13:15 And at A&M, the assistant coaches knew nothing.
13:20 We weren't involved in any part of the NIL.
13:23 I didn't know what anybody on the team got or didn't get.
13:28 So I haven't paid enough attention to it yet.
13:30 I got some work to do.
13:31 I remember that '08 LSU game where
13:36 you guys threw deep in a short yardage situation.
13:39 And you were like, well, this is the last time
13:40 their corners are going to be cheated up on us.
13:42 And you've always kind of done stuff like that,
13:45 maybe not even so much just about the plays
13:47 that you're calling, just about when you call them
13:49 and your feel and stuff.
13:50 What has changed the most about your offense
13:52 since you were here last?
13:54 I honestly don't think a lot has changed simply because I
14:01 don't think it's about plays.
14:03 I don't think it's about what you do.
14:04 I think it's about how you use the players that you have,
14:08 how you get the ball to a Jarius Wright, Joe Adams,
14:12 how you get the ball to Dennis Johnson,
14:16 and how you work the different situations of the game.
14:20 So what I love to do is utilize players and then
14:25 be really good at the situations of the game
14:27 and the players really understand
14:30 what we're going to see in third and short, what we're
14:33 going to see in fourth and short,
14:34 and what we're going to see in the red zone
14:37 or what blitzes they run from the 15-yard line in
14:40 and get everybody on the same page
14:43 and then practice the heck out of it.
14:45 And then when you're on the left hash 35-yard line,
14:49 first and 10, you want to take a shot at the end zone,
14:52 everybody knows what we've done, what coverage we expect,
14:55 and then what to do if we don't get that coverage.
14:58 Or what are you going to do on fourth and one, left hash,
15:03 game on the line.
15:05 We ran the ball the previous two times,
15:07 and got knocked right in the mouth.
15:09 So let's give us a little play action in there
15:12 and see if we can get it.
15:13 So I kind of like to really work on situations and players.
15:18 We saw your messages after Ryan Mallett's passing,
15:21 and I know you loved him.
15:22 And I always remember also, people
15:27 used to say that Ryan Mallett was the perfect quarterback
15:29 for your system.
15:30 And then you went to Louisville and you had Lamar Jackson,
15:33 and I was thinking, well, what's Lamar Jackson then?
15:35 What kind of quarterback do you like?
15:37 I mean, and Tyler Wilson was a different quarterback for you.
15:40 What type of system, quarterback, I guess,
15:42 in your system would you like to have the most?
15:44 Yeah.
15:45 I mean, Ryan was pretty perfect because Ryan was as smart
15:48 as you could possibly be.
15:51 He understood the game.
15:52 He understood his players around him.
15:56 He understood when you made a call what you were thinking.
16:00 He was really a guy that you could anticipate
16:05 what he was going to do.
16:07 When you saw the coverage and the play call,
16:10 he would probably go the way he did in practice.
16:15 Lamar was the same way.
16:17 Lamar was a guy that really studied the game plan,
16:20 really knew what he wanted to do,
16:21 what we wanted to do as a staff.
16:24 Both of them could get you out of a bad play.
16:27 You're not always going to hit the call as a play caller.
16:30 And you can be really, really aggressive
16:33 when your quarterback can come out there and say,
16:35 oh, yeah, this play action isn't going
16:36 to work because they're blitzing two guys off the left side
16:39 and change the play or the protection for you.
16:44 And that's what those guys allowed you to do.
16:45 You could just call it up and have
16:47 a lot of freedom in your thoughts of being aggressive.
16:51 And then if it wasn't worth a darn,
16:53 they can get you out of it and get from a bad play
16:56 into a good play.
16:57 And the freedom they give you as a play caller really helps.
17:02 Two more.
17:02 Brett.
17:03 Go ahead.
17:03 Coach, I noticed I couldn't help but get a little emotional
17:05 when you're asked about why this is like a dream.
17:08 And you said you love this state.
17:10 Expand on that.
17:10 Why is that?
17:12 It's obviously more than just a job, isn't it?
17:15 Yeah, I think the relationships that I was able to have
17:19 and make and then even continue after I left
17:23 was something that's always been special.
17:26 Obviously, you know that some people are concerned and say,
17:28 maybe you don't deserve a second chance with the university.
17:32 What do you do?
17:32 I've been told winning cures all ills.
17:35 But it seems like there's more than that.
17:37 What do you say to that?
17:38 Yeah, I'm kind of on the--
17:41 I'm not really sure what words to use on it.
17:44 But my beliefs are that it's OK for people to disagree,
17:49 have different thoughts, have different opinions.
17:52 There's no add will to it.
17:54 Nobody should have that.
17:56 This is-- I grew up where this is in the United States
17:59 of America.
17:59 And everybody can have their own thoughts, their own religion,
18:02 their own feelings on everything.
18:05 And you know what?
18:06 That's OK.
18:06 We don't have to do anything about it.
18:08 There isn't going to be anything done about it.
18:10 That's just how it is.
18:11 And I think that's one of the greatest things about a football
18:14 team is guys come from everywhere,
18:16 every different walks of life, different colors,
18:18 different religions.
18:20 And then you come together, and you love each other,
18:22 and you go out and compete hard together
18:24 and give each other a chance to win.
18:27 So I don't have any ill feelings towards anybody that disagrees.
18:31 Or I just wish it was that way for everybody.
18:34 Last one, John.
18:35 Top priority, winning?
18:38 You know, winning is the end result. Winning
18:40 is the end result of doing everything right.
18:42 So the top priority is to teaching the players,
18:46 teaching them not only the playbook, but how to compete,
18:50 how to be tough, how to have passion.
18:54 It's different now than it used to be,
18:55 because you have a shorter window to do it.
18:58 You know, with the nil and the transfer portal and all that,
19:01 you used to be able to build it for a year, three years.
19:05 And that's what we had.
19:06 We had those guys that were together,
19:08 grew up as little kids, got beat up on when they were freshmen.
19:12 You know, I remember Joe Adams saying,
19:15 they're just not beating us.
19:16 They want to kill us.
19:18 And two years later, he was like,
19:19 that's what we're going to do to everybody.
19:22 But now you don't have that window.
19:23 You got to do it in a shorter period of time.
19:25 So it's just a different challenge
19:27 that you have to attack.
19:28 - Coach, so a lot of the former players
19:31 that you had here at Arkansas post on social media,
19:33 they're all excited and approved.
19:35 Have you had any comments, text messages
19:37 from former players that are here?
19:38 And what have those comments and conversations been like?
19:40 - Yeah, I've had a lot.
19:41 So it's pretty cool.
19:44 It was fun when we came here and played.
19:46 You know, I got into the locker room
19:48 and all of a sudden I got out of the shower
19:50 and there's Joe Adams and Colby Hamilton standing there.
19:53 And I said, how did you guys get in here?
19:55 You know, they snuck in the locker room to say hello.
19:57 So it's been pretty cool.