{"id":81427,"date":"2025-10-19T13:30:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T17:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=81427"},"modified":"2025-10-19T13:13:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T17:13:57","slug":"petrino-needs-arkansas-more-than-they-need-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/10\/19\/petrino-needs-arkansas-more-than-they-need-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Petrino Needs Arkansas More Than They Need Him"},"content":{"rendered":"
As the college football season rolls on, head coach positions are opening more week by week. With this, we see people across the country compile lists of candidates. As these lists come out, we can generally get an idea of what coaches are being courted by fans and Athletic Directors. If you were to look at these lists in detail, there is one that includes a name that others do not. The University of Arkansas<\/a> is the one list that includes its current interim head coach, Bobby Petrino<\/a>, and we at Last Word understand why.<\/div>\n

Petrino Needs Arkansas More Than They Need Him<\/h1>\n

Want To Ride Again?<\/h3>\n
As the Hogs continue their losing streak, now at five games, fans are curious who the next coach will be<\/a>. The name of Petrino continues to be mentioned, yet back-to-back one-score losses under his watch which is one of the reasons Hunter Yurahek dismissed Sam Pittman. In the latest loss,\u00a0versus Texas A&M<\/a>, the offense scored more effectively to keep the score close, which had not been seen in numerous weeks. A one-loss score is still a loss, and the second consecutive for Petrino.<\/div>\n
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The defense continues to struggle as we expected with the staff overhaul. Let\u2019s not forget that Arkansas faced a top ten Aggies program and not Alabama A&M from earlier in the season. Some fans seem to forget the\u00a0level of competition when dreaming up expectations<\/a> for performance on the field. While this unit has continued to catch the brunt of the criticism, it’s unfair because of a blinding love for an ex-lover.<\/div>\n

I Need This<\/h3>\n
Now, we get real with the conversation on Petrino. If Arkansas does not hire him, he may not get the opportunity to be a \u201cP4\u201d head coach. In the end, this is the only opportunity available, and he added himself to the list. With Yurachek having a plethora of names available to speak with, the team continues to lose games. For Petrino to get the job, they need wins.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
With a daunting schedule and no more cupcakes, Arkansas may be staring into a long losing streak. As we have seen with teams led by Petrino, the offense is high-powered, with a defense that struggles to keep up. As we detailed when the changes were made, axing essentially an entire staff to promote \u201chis people\u201d was a bold move. In the end, this change has not worked in Fayetteville on the field. The only positive is that fans are reliving life before a literal crash that ripples are still felt today. That crash was caused by the man who is currently begging for the job, yet hasn’t won a game. In other words, nothing has changed from Pittman to Petrino; the team is still losing.<\/div>\n
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Photo Credit: Dan Rainville \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Who Does Arkansas Need?<\/h3>\n
Arkansas deserves better than a retread hire in Petrino. When we say Arkansas, we are referring to all of it, from fans to administration. The program that has a rich tradition and donors to back a winner should mean more to fans than to allow this. A coach such as James Franklin<\/a>, Alex Golesh<\/a>, or Bob Chesney<\/a> is what this program needs. Someone with a new voice and outlook on football. More importantly, the Hogs need someone ready and able to work in the modern era of college football.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Petrino has not shown to be successful at this juncture, yet. Meanwhile, the coaches listed, among others, have proven to embrace this era. Coupled with the General Manager for the program, Remy Coefield, all efforts need to be on NIL, and understanding how to be effective within it. After all, the Razorbacks are in the SEC, and this has to \u2018Mean More\u2019 in this search. In the end, Pittman left the program much better than he received it. The next coach, who is not Petrino, deserves to be embraced and supported with a rejuvenated investment in the football program.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In closing, this is just a harsh reality of modern college football. Moreover, this is what this program deserves, and that is an open-minded and balanced coach. One that embraces a defensive staff for consistency, along with a new world of recruiting high school and portal talent. For Arkansas, the fact is simple. Petrino needs the program more than they need him. In fact, they need and deserve better for the future to be the best.<\/div>\n
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Main Photo: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the college football season rolls on, head coach positions are opening more week by week. With this, we see people across the country compile lists of candidates. As these lists come out, we can generally get an idea of what coaches are being courted by fans and Athletic Directors. If you were to look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4207,"featured_media":81444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,35588,17,3],"tags":[437,35724,111],"class_list":["post-81427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-arkansas-razorbacks","category-news","category-sec","tag-bobby-petrino","tag-hunter-yurahek","tag-sam-pittman"],"modified_by":"Kate Pearson Halyburton, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81427"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81445,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81427\/revisions\/81445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}