Razorbacks Hoping Bobby Petrino Has One Last Hurrah for Them

Since university seems uninterested in fighting NIL front, Arkansas must compensate on the field

Arkansas Razorbacks offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino watching offense in drills at camp practice on Aug. 7, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark. / Andy Hodges-SI on Hogs Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino has been the talk of fall camp and rightly so. Last year's performances that included a three-point showing against Mississippi State, a 14-point performance against Missouri and countless other gaffes to go along with the putrid outputs.

However, Petrino now has more pressure on him for reasons outher than the reputation that he inherits and the situation that his predecessor left him. The Razorbacks, whether through the athletic department's own volition or sabotage by some mystery man, seems content to bring a spoon to a gunfight in the world of NIL. Carlton Saffa, chief marketing officer at BetSaracen took to social media to air his grievances.

To sum it up:

1. Pittman, Yuracheck & Bobbit are great people, all of which I know & trust
2. The UA, like every school, needs more NIL money
3. Saracen built a module to offer, at no profit, 50/50 drawings for NIL
4. Someone from UA telling Capitol UA doesn’t need $
5. Why?

— 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚 (@carltontsaffa) August 10, 2024

This shifts all the pressure onto Petrino (and the rest of the coaching staff), but Petrino is the only one with the reputation that precedes him. He has been described as one of the chief, innovative minds in college. Articles stretching a decade old, all have one common link when talking about Petrino, if there was a chief innovation officer in college football, he would certainly be in the running.

Now, with the football program seemingly left to its own devices on the NIL front, coach Sam Pittman is hoping that Petrino has one more innovation in him, something revolutionary.

Taking inspiration from the recently concluded Olympics, a pair of Swedish beach volleyball players took a decades-old game of three-touch volleyball and changed the cadence of the game, similar to the run-pass option, and won themselves a gold medal with two-touch play that befuddled their opponents. The pair of David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig beat a field full of blockers half a foot taller than both of them.

An obscure analogy that is born out of Olympic withdraws, yes. However, it does showcase what Arkansas is up against. The top echelon of the SEC is the massive block that is half a foot taller than the Razorbacks. The block consists of more NIL money and better raw talent, it's now up to Bobby Petrino to do what he was hired to do. Change the cadence, both literally and figuratively.

Arkansas' opening kickoff is now less than three weeks away. The first game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 29 and will be broadcast on ESPNU.

HOGS FEED:

• Razorbacks commit named top-20 quarterback ahead of senior season

• Razorbacks being under-acheivers expected in move to SEC?

• Petrino, Mateos working in tandem to fix Hogs' biggest problem

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