Jimmy Johnson: Arkansas should rehire Petrino
Could the Hogs be calling Bobby Petrino again? (AP photo)
Johnson, the former head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins, told Gino Torretta and Jack Arute on their Sirius XM radio show:
“Some people might laugh but I’m serious about it. If they want an outstanding coach they ought to bring back Petrino or hire Butch Davis. And people say, ‘Well how in the world can you bring back Petrino?’ I said, ‘Listen, you forgave Bill Clinton.’ Forgive the man. Forgive the man for making a bad decision. Give him an opportunity to coach again.
“I mean he wants to get back into coaching and he’s a great coach and he made a mistake. This whole country, it’s built on forgiving people and giving them second chances. And I think the fan base would love to bring him back. But if they don’t bring him back? But you know, Butch Davis, give him an opportunity. …”
Davis is another former Hurricane coach who was fired by the University of North Carolina amid an NCAA investigation into the Tar Heel football program. Davis was not directly linked to any of the violations that occurred.
Petrino, on the other hand, was linked to wrongdoing — albeit off the field. He was fired in April after a motorcycle wreck involving a woman with whom he admitted having an affair. Arkansas currently has an interim coach, John L. Smith.
On Wednesday, Petrino’s father told the Louisville Courier-Journal that his son was interested in the head coaching job at Kentucky, which announced last week the firing of Joker Phillips.
“I just know this, that he’s interested in Kentucky,” Bobby Petrino Sr. told the newspaper. “He wants to stay in the SEC. That was his life’s goal was to go to the SEC.”
“You know, he made mistakes,” Petrino Sr. said, “but he couldn’t have gone through any punishment worse than losing his job. He’s missed coaching tremendously.”
While it seems unlikely Petrino will return to Arkansas, he’ll undoubtedly be hired by someone at some point. In addition to Kentucky, fans on message boards at Tennessee, Auburn and even Georgia Tech have expressed support for hiring him. What program do you think is the best fit for Petrino?
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164 comments Add your comment
Tim
November 8th, 2012
8:43 am
Hire Petrino @ GaTech?!?!?
Sure. Why not. While we’re at it, why don’t we bring back Reggie Ball as our QB coach.
Petrino is a scumbag as proven by his actions while in Atlanta. As far as I’m concerned Arkansas WAS his second chance. And he blew it. In grand fashion, I might add. I’m not sure what Jimmy Johnson is smoking but second chances come only after time and a little contrition (of which I’ve seen none from ol’ Bobby…EVER) have passed between the problem and it’s originator.
I wouldn’t allow Petrino to coach a local rec. league team. He doesn’t deserve the honor of being allowed to do so. Certainly not at the collegiate level. Ask Warrick Dunn what he thinks of the guy. lulz. and when Dunn says something bad about a person, that’s REALLY saying something.
Sideline Dude
November 8th, 2012
8:46 am
Jimmy Johnson is an idiot for suggesting this. The Cowboys are going to be looking for a coach so why doesn’t Jimmy get Jerry Jones to hire Petrino? Maybe he could be their coach for half a season & then quit to go coach a high school team! Any team that hires Petrino deserves what they get.
Kennesaw David
November 8th, 2012
8:51 am
I never forgave Clinton. (But I got to say he looks pretty good about now, after what happened earlier this week) Petrino has more then proven what a dirt bag he is, over and over. No way should anyone put him back on a university campus in any capacity. He can go be an assistant coach for the Saints. He would fit right in there.
StanH
November 8th, 2012
8:52 am
Georgia Tech!!!!!!!!!!……Tired of Johnson blaming everyone but himself…..Bottom line is he cant recruit!!…..Ill take my chances with Petrino anyday!
Gene
November 8th, 2012
8:53 am
Enter your comments here
Gene
November 8th, 2012
8:58 am
While Jimmy is in a forgiving mood, why not reach out to Sandusky? Jimmy is one of Bubba Clinton’s half brothers. Check out the hair,
Blue
November 8th, 2012
8:58 am
There is a bigger issue than the affair that you people aren’t seeming to process. This man hired an unqualified person over someone who was qualified, and then HAD SEX with an employee, which opens up the employer to all kinds of lawsuits. THAT kind of judgment does not deserve a second chance with that employer. NO employer that I know of would hire someone back that had opened them up to that kind of liability.
4 Mo Years Doe
November 8th, 2012
8:59 am
Georgia should hire Petrino as head coach.
Bump Richt, he ain’t getting it done. I know you Georgia clones are gonna be mad but it ain’t nuttin but the truth……..truth – know what I’m sayin?
4 MO YEARS DOE!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4 MO!
Jim
November 8th, 2012
8:59 am
Strong goes to Auburn. Petrino goes back to Louisville. Bobo goes to Kentucky. UGA goes to National Championship. Tech goes to . . . well, you know.
AtlSteve
November 8th, 2012
8:59 am
Bobby’s issue was tied into work. He HIRED his mistress to work for him.
Bobby has a great mind for offensive football. He also has a tendency to make extremely poor decisions that effect his professional life. In this case his family life was also involved. This speaks to the man’s character. I would not want this man representing my alma mater as a head football coach.
USMC Dawg
November 8th, 2012
9:00 am
Bobby Petrino will end up in the SEC next year at either Kentucky, Tenn, or Auburn. I am guessing he will get the Auburn job. Whether you like Bobby Petrino or not, the man can flat out coach SEC football.
I love Jimmy Johnson’s comparison to Bill Clinton!
Howard
November 8th, 2012
9:01 am
This would say a lot about the University of Arkansas’ priorities and none of it would be good.
na
November 8th, 2012
9:01 am
he had a second chance already.
he blew it.
I think it would be hard to find any trust in this guy.
Sneaks out, leaves his team in the lurch and lies to his boss at the Falcons
Lies to Arkansas, his wife, cheats with a young girl, I bet her parents trust him also. Don’t even let him coach in high school , he will be dating 15 year old if you want to call it dating.
G-dub
November 8th, 2012
9:01 am
At least he was not doing little boys or girls. If I’m a big time school president he,s hired.
KC3
November 8th, 2012
9:03 am
Half of the guys on here would have probably done the same thing. Let the guy coach again. An old man chasing a young skirt. Blah blah blah
Eisendawg
November 8th, 2012
9:09 am
Perhaps Petrino would be better served teaching motorcycle safety classes.
GatorNation Fan
November 8th, 2012
9:09 am
I all for Petrino being rehired as long as its outside the SEC! The man has no scruples and does not belong anywhere in the SEC. I feel sorry for Kentucky if they hire thim, they will go from a Joker to a Loser.
Paddy
November 8th, 2012
9:11 am
You had better ask Mrs. Petrino if she would feel comfortable going back to Arkansas! No, Bobby will not be going back to that place anytime soon. LOL
carolinajacket
November 8th, 2012
9:16 am
I’m with Sideline Dude 100%. Let him go to Dallas. All those guys deserve each other.
AtlJack
November 8th, 2012
9:17 am
I’ve always wondered about the sanity of over the top college football fanatics.
Do you guys have any sort of life or do you live vicariously through the winning of football mercenaries?
RE this lowlife…
DawgGuy said it best:
It’s not just about a married man having an affair with a young woman.
1) He put his young squeeze on the University of Arkansas payroll.
2) He was having an affair with a subordinate.
Any university that would have him is no school that I would want my son to attend.
I doubt it,
November 8th, 2012
9:20 am
Anybody posting support of Bobby Petrino on Georgia Institutue of Technology website, is obviously NOT a fan or supporter of the GT program.
perk
November 8th, 2012
9:24 am
Some have already been talking to Petrino since late August about the possibility. Who do you think directed his apology on ESPN? Arkansas was testing the waters when he was in the sky box for a game. They were #5 in the country with a shot at the NC. NOt too far fetched
Heisenberg
November 8th, 2012
9:34 am
OMG! I saw this headline and I am ROTFLMAO! Had to double check the date to make sure it was not April 1.
mike
November 8th, 2012
9:36 am
dawg70 election over you lost get over it
by the way Clinton one of the most admire men in the world
this is a sports page idiot
bigcountryjdi
November 8th, 2012
9:40 am
Here is the bottom line: I haven’t thought much of him since he bolted the Falcons the way he did. I remember the Falcons had a Monday night game before the bolt and Arthur Blank said there was no way Petrino was leaving and he was his man. Next day…..news conference at Arkansas.
Bottom Line: I would not let my son play for him…..would you??
DawginJax
November 8th, 2012
9:40 am
Like father like son…”but he couldn’t have gone through any punishment worse than losing his job. He’s missed coaching tremendously.”….What about the punishment of wrecking your marriage and embarrassing your family and University…these two (Sr and Jr) have wacked out priorities, as does J Johnson. Still, he’ll probably end up in Ky or Aub….I say the SEC is much better off without this scumbag.
KBP
November 8th, 2012
9:42 am
As a Dawg fan, I hope he does not go to TN nor KY. The east is tough enough to win with Spurrier in it. Certainly don’t want to deal with Petrino, who is one heck of a college coach. He would immediately be a nightmare at TN and would make KY competitive in a few years.
Why are coaches expected to be role models? Why are they expected to be “Father Figures”? It would be great if they were but who knows how they really live? Who really knows their core values? Who really knows what their definition of being a man is? What being a husband is, what being a father is? That stuff should have been demonstrated at home long before kids get recruited. I know very well that some kids don’t get that at home and other people have filled that void be it a coach, a teacher or someone else, but it is unwise to rely on a coach who really see’s your kid as a commodity to become a role model. If my sons were big time QB’s, I would let them play for Petrino because he can develop QB’s. They would not play for him expecting him to be their role model.
Go back to Arkansas and fight it out with Saban, Miles, Sumlin, Mullen, etc. Stay out of the east! Stay away from Tech!
The Real Fan
November 8th, 2012
9:44 am
Money over morals. Would you like your daughter to work for him?
This has nothing to do with foregiveness. This is greed pure and simply by people who praise wins over character.
WWJD?
Matt
November 8th, 2012
9:47 am
Derek- who forgave CLinton? Not me. Dude was banging a woman who was not his wife in the White House while being the leader of the free world. No thank you. COngrats to the Dems. I look forward to paying for the less fortunate and illegals for the next 4 years. THis country is great isn’t it?
Dawg Fan 92
November 8th, 2012
9:53 am
I AGREE with Typical Man.
I’m a man!
Delbert D.
November 8th, 2012
9:54 am
Petrino is not such a bad guy compared to Butch Davis.
DawgColonel
November 8th, 2012
9:58 am
I don’t care how good a coach he is….the man lacks INTEGRITY.
If a school doesn’t value ethics, Petrino is your man.
Joe Dirt
November 8th, 2012
9:59 am
Petrino is a lying scumbag! He should be rehired!!!! Arkansas is a RED-STATE, they seem red-states like liars! The greatest political LIAR in history, Richard Nixon, (R-CA)
Dawginlex
November 8th, 2012
10:00 am
Nick Saban will be hired to coach at UGA.
Brown Eyed Girl!
November 8th, 2012
10:02 am
Living here in Louisville, I have been hearing UK fan talk about getting him for months. Now that Joker Phillips has been fired, that noise is getting louder. My husband, who is a UL alum, says they have no scrupples in Lexington and will sell their souls to just win! That guy may be making his way back to this state, but I don’t think he will be driving through Louisville anytime soon!
@Dawginlex
November 8th, 2012
10:06 am
Right, and Romney will replace Biden as vice-pres. Sheesh, what are you smokin?
1eyedJack
November 8th, 2012
10:06 am
“What program do you think is the best fit for Petrino?”
The Hell’s Angels?
KD
November 8th, 2012
10:06 am
Outstanding football coach. I think the University of Kentucky would be a good fit for him.
Braves #17 Fan
November 8th, 2012
10:07 am
Please, Lord. Don’t allow me to be tempted into having an affair with someone so attractive as Jessica Dorrell. If I start to swerve off path, please help me to remember the movie “Fatal Attraction”, as well as the former coach, Bobby Petrino. Amen.
Eisendawg
November 8th, 2012
10:09 am
Doesn’t look like they are considering advisement from ol Jimmy:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf–kentucky-not-considering-hiring-bobby-petrino-after-firing-joker-phillips-04081709.html
KBP
November 8th, 2012
10:10 am
Braves #17 Fan, hilarious!
Titanium Tad
November 8th, 2012
10:12 am
“If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’, Son.”
- Pretty Much Everybody @ Alabama & Auburn
Eisendawg
November 8th, 2012
10:12 am
If we ever have a contest, like “The Voice”, maybe “The Blog,” my vote is for 1eyedJack! SLMAO!
SawThat1nce
November 8th, 2012
10:13 am
Someone earlier said he should start back as a high school coach,
WELL, starting over as the Head Coach of Kentucky would be close to the same thing. HAHA.
Titanium Tad
November 8th, 2012
10:14 am
Naturally, “Touch My” Jimmy Johnson has no problem with marital infidelity.
Quagmire
November 8th, 2012
10:14 am
Only a scumbag program would hire a scumbag like Petrino, so I won’t be the least bit surprised if Auburn hires him.
TH FROM MC
November 8th, 2012
10:15 am
The best fit for Petrino is hell.
Cobb Dawg
November 8th, 2012
10:15 am
Good coach with lots of baggage. Whoever hires him will be deserving of what they get.
SawThat1nce
November 8th, 2012
10:17 am
WHoever hires him should put a clause in his contract…..
That states, he cannot ride pretty young girls on the back of his Harley, and try to recieve a reach-around, while at the same time he is trying to steer his bike.
SawThat1nce
November 8th, 2012
10:18 am
If he had just pulled over to the side of the road, the last time this happened, he would still have his job at Arkansas.