It Hasn't Taken Long for' QBs to Get Overall Petrino's Orchestrated Approach

Green, Singleton, Criswell all appreciating coordinator's attention to detail in spring practices after Saturday's scrimmage

Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback Malachi Single throws a pass as offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino watches during Saturday morning's spring practice in warmups before a scrimmage at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Ark. / Andy Hodges-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Nothing from the Arkansas Razorbacks' quarterbacks about offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino was particularly surprising to anyone who paid attention when he was around in his first run from 2008-11. Everybody likes what his offenses are noted for doing.

The current quarterbacks were too young to remember any of that, and only had information second-hand or from watching television. It's probably nothing like the crash course in offensive football they've been getting since Petrino arrived in December after a year at Texas A&M.

"I love how he wants us to be explosive in the run game, as well as in the pass game," Malachi Singleton said Saturday. "He just wants us to be smart football players. He gives us the keys to the offense, like Jacolby was saying earlier. It’s on us to get us in the right play, get us in the right run checks. Really just having the keys to the offense and being able to play my game and our game, just really been grateful for it."

Let's not be too quick to put everything on the quarterback, a decades-long habit for Razorback fans. In Petrino's offense, the wide receivers are just as important. It helps to have guys with the ability and football IQ to be able to execute. Petrino's system doesn't just require quarterbacks to know what they're trying to do, the receivers play a role just as big.

"Just knowing football and knowing the ins and outs and knowing the whys," expected No. 1 quarterback Taylen Green said. "Why concepts work against what coverage. Just going through my reads, and the big thing is just being consistent with that and being consistent with my footwork and what (Petrino) harps on with me and us, is having an expectation of every single drive our goal is to score, and we’re going to score. 

"If we don’t score, you know, he’s going to get on us. That’s what I like. He definitely keeps it real. Sometimes you don’t wanna hear it, but you need to hear it. You need that info. You need that person to just keep it real and keep it honest, and that’s what I like."

It's that detailed approach that fascinates fans and players tend to appreciate. He throws a lot of information their way. It's up to the players to understand it, but more importantly, be able to execute it. It usually works best when everything works together like a well-orchestrated concert.

"He goes into detail every single play," Green said. "Literally the ins and outs. He’s never surprised at any look of the defense. Every single question that we have, he has an answer for. It’s not going to give him a minute. He’s going to answer it like that. That what I love and what we love as quarterbacks."

Petrino can X and O with the best. He usually figures out match-ups his team can get an advantage doing. The bar is low from recent Razorback offenses to get better. He's just now starting to put the pieces in place and get them prepared for what's coming, which will be a non-stop education parade. The whiteboards have probably avoided the mess from using the old traditional blackboards us old-timers had to endure with erasers and the constant dust flying up in your face. Petrino's whiteboards have sorta become legendary in some circles.

"When he gets up there, he can draw you five different blitzes for that formation, that protection," Singleton said. "Everything can be picked up. We have the chance to change the protection to pick it up. He gets into real detail with it and it's real easy for us to pick up on. He just makes it real easy for us."

That's the music Razorbacks' fans have been wanting to hear since the 2011 season, Petrino's last with the Hogs. Now they just want the band to play the right sound that they haven't heard in a while.

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