All Hogs

Arkansas Nearly Avoided Nightmare, but A&M Still Hires Former Razorback Coach

Aggies need to toughen up because Petrino is the right choice to fix offensive mess

Kent Smith

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – When former Arkansas offensive coordinator Barry Odom snatched Bobby Petrino up to be his offensive coordinator at UNLV, it was his parting gift to Sam Pittman and the state of Arkansas.

When it happened, Razorback fans across the country let out a collective deep breath of relief they had been holding. 

That's because in the days prior, word had trickled out that Jimbo Fisher was interested in giving up the reins to his offense for the first time as long as Bobby Petrino was who was going to run it.

Then around lunchtime today, Arkansas fans got what could only be taken as awful news. 

As if life for Razorback fans hadn't reached a non-Chad Morris low with half the football team gone and a big chunk of the coaching staff hitting the portal also, news that Bobby Petrino had been stolen from Las Vegas in the middle of the night by Aggies wielding giant bags of money just made the nightmare worse.

Earlier this year, Petrino nearly put Sam Pittman's career on the mat by coaching a group of FCS guys at Missouri State to what was well on its way to being a North Texas/Western Kentucky level tail kicking in a packed Razorback Stadium. 

Arkansas trailed 27-17 in the fourth quarter and it didn't feel as close as it actually was. Had Arkansas not gotten a 73-yard touchdown run by Raheim Sanders on a shuffle pass and an 82-yard punt return by Bryce Stephens instead of having to sustain drives, Petrino would have gladly driven his way back up I-49 with a huge SEC upset in his back pocket.

As soon as word got out, they knew A&M would no longer need fluke defensive plays at the goal line getting returned for touchdowns to take down the Razorbacks going forward.

"We all know Bobby Petrino just needs a little defense," one caller to 1037 The Buzz in Little Rock said this afternoon. "I hate to say it, but A&M may be the favorite to win a national championship."

But it's not like the SEC's excited to see him either. It may be enough to drive Nick Saban into retirement because the last time Petrino was in the SEC, he had Arkansas at No. 3 in the nation late in the season and landing first place votes following a Top 5 finish.

That was at Arkansas, a place one prospective hire once famously declared was the place coaching careers go to die. 

Instead of turning the best of whatever tiny Warren High School has to offer that year into a defensive coordinator's nightmare, he now has access to the deepest pockets in college football, outside of perhaps SMU, with full rights to have an array of Appalachian State insulting Monopoly men purchase the best talent in the country.

Consider the fact he has no coaches' shows and various "club" events to attend nor any beautiful, curvy mountain roads to drive down, and SEC fans are left with the realization that one of the most brilliant offensive minds in the history of the game has nothing to do but obsess about how to pick apart their team's offense 24 hours a day.

Apparently the only SEC fanbase that doesn't think this spells doom for the rest of the league are the infamous Aggies. 

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After years of singing songs about Texas even after a decade in the SEC and massively underachieving under Fisher for half a decade with the exception of the COVID year, it seemed logical that A&M fans would finally be willing to let it go and embrace a chance at a bright future.

Instead, they seem content to simply hang on to mediocrity while waiting for Texas to stroll back into their lives and fully restore them to their place as little brother. 

The Aggies have spent decades being the whipping boy when all along they should have been a killer. It's just a mentality they've never been able to shake in College Station even with the upgrade in conference.

Petrino is not a lot of things. 

The kind of guy you and your daughter would like to sit down with and enjoy a nice bowl of ice cream is one of them.

However, in the world of football, he's a stone cold killer and that's what A&M needs whether they like it or not.

Aggies are known for having the thinnest skin in all of college sports. They will definitely need to develop some mental toughness because the barrage of motorcycle, neck brace, side chick and Darth Vader meme are about to get extensive. 

There may also be a few Axis of Evil references also. 

But if they can handle it, then, for once, the Aggies will become a team people actually fear in college football. 

Just enjoy the ride Aggies fans because the rest of the League sure won't.

Arkansas divider

HOGS FEED:

ARKANSAS DECIDES TO HIRE SECOND DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR TO ASSIST

RAZORBACKS' ATHLETIC DIRECTOR HUNTER YURACHEK ON PROCEDURES AFTER DAMAR HAMLIN INJURY

BILLS' DAMAR HAMLIN LEAVING FIELD ALIVE DUE IN PART TO A COUPLE OF OTHER TRAGEDIES IN SPORTS WITH ARKANSAS TIES

RED FLAGS WITH JORDAN DOMINECK DEPARTURE DESPITE RECENT PLEDGE TO STAY

OHIO ST. LEARNED WHAT ARKANSAS ALREADY KNOWS, TEXAS/OU NEED TO LEARN ALSO

RAZORBACK FANS STUN ALLHOGS STAFF WITH MOST CLICKED STORY OF THE YEAR

IF TCU CAN MAKE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, NO REASON ARKANSAS CAN'T EITHER

SAM PITTMAN GETS HISTORIC CHANCE TO REBUILD RAZORBACKS' PROGRAM

TWO MORE HIT THE PORTAL AS RAZORBACKS CARRY TORCH FOR SEC IN BOWL GAMES

RAZORBACK FANS WILL HAVE TO CHEER AGAINST EX-RAZORBACKS AT RELIAQUEST BOWL

OFFICIATING IN LIBERTY BOWL ALMOST COST SAM PITTMAN MUCH MORE THAN A WIN

SAM PITTMAN NEEDS TO DEVELOP KILLER INSTINCT BEFORE NEXT SEASON

WHY ARE ARKANSAS FANS COMPLAINING AFTER A BOWL WIN?

COVERING RAZORBACK FANS' EMOTIONAL CRISIS DURING TWITTER DOWNTIME

PORTA POTTIES INCONVENIENT, BUT NOT CHILD TRAUMATIZING LIKE WAR MEMORIAL USED TO BE

JUSTICE HILL WAS ALWAYS DESTINED TO BE ON COURT WITH MUSSELMAN, RAZORBACKS CHASING SEC TITLE

Arkansas divider

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Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments.