Former Arkansas Quarterback Reveals How Petrino Brothers Used Him for Personal Gain

While sharing stories of time as a Razorback competing with Ryan Mallett, Tyler Wilson explains how their rivalry was exploited to make both better, prepare Wilson for success

(The following story originally ran in August.)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Numerous current and former Razorbacks gathered at the Hall at Ninth Street on the southern edge of downtown Little Rock for the Countdown to Kickoff event Wednesday night, and among them, flitting between members of the television and radio media, ready and willing to share stories about former quarterback Ryan Mallett, was record setting former quarterback Tyler Wilson.

And where there are stories centered around Wilson and Mallett, there are also stories about the Petrino brothers, head coach Bobby Petrino and offensive coordinator Paul Petrino. The record-setting quarterback, during an appearance on "Drive Time Sports," the afternoon show for 103.7 The Buzz in Little Rock, held nothing back in describing how each Petrino was willing to use him for their own personal interests.

"Ryan and I were teammates. We were close, but we were also very competitive against one another," Wilson said. "There's only one quarterback that runs out there on the field and I wanted it to be and he wanted it to be him." 

Wilson said he grew to become a thorn in Mallett's side, pushing hard to overtake him as the starting quarterback. Petrino saw this and how much it got under Mallett's skin, so he took advantage to help his starter overcome personal shortcomings.

"If you showed up a couple of minutes late for a meeting or missed a meeting, part of my biggest development was I played a lot in practice with the No. 1 team as threats most of the time during the week," Wilson said. "So my development at quarterback was largely because Petrino, most of the time, would use a little bit of that salt and pepper to stir the pot a little bit."

Stirring the pot went a long way toward Wilson closing the gap, which was a part of the Petrino genius as he tapped into a bit of mental gymnastics that made both quarterbacks significantly better.

"Petrino loved to use me as that thorn in his side," Wilson said. "He was far more talented than me in terms of throwing the ball, especially early on in his time at Arkansas. I got a little better. He pushed me to get better. That's the thing I respect most about our time together."

It was a move that paid off greatly when Mallett suffered an injury in a key game against Auburn that, when it took place, was considered a de facto SEC West championship game for the inside track toward a national championship. It was a tough spot for an unproven quarterback like Wilson to enter.

Prior to popping in for the Countdown to Kickoff event, Wilson said he and his girlfriend stopped off at the Little Rock Athletic Club for a moment. There, something happened that served as the perfect metaphor for how big Mallett's shoes were, quite literally, to step into that day.

"Speaking of Ryan Mallet, I've got my girlfriend with me [as they enter the LRAC], and she's behind me and she says 'That's a really big guy," Wilson said. "I said, 'You know who that is? That's Corliss Wiliamson. And he's 6'7" right, and that's the size of Ryan Mallett. I played with a quarterback who just carried that demeanor that size and when he walked in.'"

Wilson came in and lit Auburn up, going toe-to-toe with eventual Heisman winner Cam Newton. When he hit Joe Adams between a pair of receivers at the goal line on a 25-yard slant to make it 37-35 late in the third quarter, one of the CBS announcers exclaimed "Oh my goodness! There's not a back-up in the country who can throw a ball like that." 

Despite entering late in the second quarter, Wilson threw for 332 yards and four touchdowns on 25-of-34 passing. And although he was putting up Mallet-like numbers as a result of getting all those first team reps, he had to earn the yards differently. Petrino may not have trusted Mallett to be on time, but he trusted the statuesque quarterback way more than Wilson when it came to in-game decisions.

"I was envious that they had a relationship that I didn't have," Wilson said. "Petrino trusted Ryan Mallett when he got to the line of scrimmage. Ryan very seldomly got us into bad plays. A lot of times at the line of scrimmage when you'd call a play in Petrino's offense, it was a suggestion. It was not run the dang play. You don't see those football hats on there – run the dang ball.
"It was a suggestion when we'd call the play in the huddle. And then we'd get there, based on the defense, we would have 20 options to get into. Ryan was really good at identifying and getting us into the play. I wanted to play as fast as possible and just say hut. Give me the ball and I will find somebody to throw it to. I was better when we were playing fast because I grew up in a no huddle system, so he was just naturally better at that. I got some chewings that Ryan didn't get. That's just the way it was."

But once Wilson got into the game, even though he had less freedom than Mallett, he still had to show he could think quickly to process all the options Petrino required his quarterbacks to consider once the play began. Fortunately for Wilson, while Petrino may not have had full trust in him, Wilson had full trust in certain receivers. 

"I had some really good receivers," Wilson said. "Greg Childs. Jarius Wright. All those guys made really good decisions. I went to Jarius a lot. Jarius was the best receiver in a slot position. A lot of these routes we had in Petrino's system were option routes.
It's a nightmare as a quarterback when you hear in a system we're going to run the option. Not an old school triple option, but the wide receiver has an option based on the leverage of the defender. 
"It's like basketball. You don't know where he's going to go. I've got to wait for Jarius Wright to make a decision and I've got people breathing down my neck. Jarius always made the right decision. It was an easy completion, and when you've got that relationship, it really helps a quarterback out".

Also helping the quarterback out that day was Mallett. As Wilson hit Childs over the middle on an inside route from just outside the red zone for a touchdown, it was Mallett who was shouting instruction to Wilson as he prepared to hit Childs perfectly for the 2-point conversion in the front right corner of the end zone to go up 43-37 in the fourth quarter against the eventual national champions.

"It was probably the least important moment in his career," Wilson said. "He was the biggest cheerleader for me that night when he couldn't play and the chips were against him. It was a Heisman candidate moment for him. He could have really put himself in position and put our team in position. He wanted to lead that team, but he knew he couldn't get back in that game. He was the biggest cheerleader and advocate for me in that game, and I think impacted the rest of that game as good as he could on the sideline."

The following season, Wilson shattered several of Mallett's records as he lead Arkansas to an 11-2 season and a No. 5 rankings. The only two losses the Hogs suffered that year were to Alabama and LSU, the two teams that played for the national championship. Soon after, the infamous motorcycle accident ended Bobby Petrino's tie at Arkansas, but Paul Petrino remained behind. However, he knew his time was short, which led to an agenda that allowed Wilson to eventually squeak past Mallett as the Razorbacks' all-time passing yards leader.

In a game that turned Johnny Manziel into "Johnny Football" and set him on the path to the Heisman, Wilson was beaten mercilessly. The game was well out of hand in the first half and, despite trailing 44-10 heading into the fourth quarter, Petrino refused to give his starter a chance to come out and avoid taking more physical and mental damage.

"While I was getting beat up, I had Paul Petrino still there as the offensive coordinator," Wilson said. "Now, Paul didn't have a dog in the hunt because he knew he wasn't gonna be back and he knew he wasn't gonna be back. And he said, 'Well by gosh, our passing stats are gonna be off the charts. So Tyler, you're not coming out of this game and our offensive stats are going to sky rocket.' I probably hold the records in large part because Paul said 'By gosh you're not coming out of the game and we're gonna set some records here passing at the University of Arkansas.'"

It's something he and Mallett might have joked about Wednesday night had it not been for the tragic moment off the beaches of the Florida panhandle just over a month ago. It's a thought that wasn't lost on Wilson.

"It's nights like tonight that you would bump into each other," Wilson said. "We wouldn't see each other all the time, but you'd see each other occasionally and we'd always have that fraternity bond. And when he's not here tonight to look across the room and say, "You remember when that happened.'"

Razorback fans can listen to the full interview here.

HOGS FEED:

PETRINO KICKING TIRES ON POTENTIAL FCS TRANSFER QUARTERBACK

FORMER RAZORBACK TELLS STORY OF HOW PETRINO USED HIM TO PUSH MALLETT TO BE BETTER QUARTERBACK

SEC ROLL CALL: PLAYOFF TRIAL SEES DRAMATIC TWIST AFTER SEC REVEALS FLORIDA STATE'S BEEN WANTING TO PLAY ARKANSAS BEHIND ACC'S BACK

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