Bobby Petrino

Year	School	Record	Bowl
2003	Louisville	9-4	GMAC
2004	Louisville	11-1	Liberty
2005	Louisville	9-3	Gator
2006	Louisville	12-1	Orange
Career		41-9	.820
	Arkansas	0-0	.000

2008 SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent	Location	2008 CHS Prediction
8/30/08	Western Illinois	Fayetteville, AR	W
9/06/08	La. Monroe	Fayetteville, AR	W
9/13/08	Texas	Austin, TX	L
9/20/08	Alabama	Fayetteville, AR	W
10/04/08	Florida	Fayetteville, AR	L
10/11/08	Auburn	Auburn, AL	L
10/18/08	Kentucky	Lexington, KY	W
10/25/08	Ole Miss	Fayetteville, AR	W
11/01/08	Tulsa	Fayetteville, AR	W
11/08/08	South Carolina	Columbia, SC	W
11/22/08	Mississippi State	Starkville, MS	W
11/29/08	LSU	Little Rock, AR	L

	Coaches Hot Seat Prediction		8-4

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

Just when you thought the SEC West couldn't get any tougher Bobby Petrino shows up in Fayetteville, Arkansas yelling Woo Pig Sooie! There are some big personalities in the head coaching ranks of the SEC West, but the best offensive football coach of the bunch is Bobby Petrino. Imagine Steve Spurrier without the Heisman Trophy and open mouth and you have Bobby Petrino, and that is why his career skyrocketed before crashing and burning in the moving disaster zone that is the Atlanta Falcons football club. Petrino has an unique ability to both create and then be able to translate to 18 to 22 year olds, an offensive system that seems to always be one-step ahead of the opposing defenses. The sure sign of a great offensive playcaller is unpredictability, which causes the defenses to always be guessing about what is coming next, and in the college game even having one player out of position can mean big plays and lots of points. The talent at the NFL level neutralizes most great offensive playcallers (Spurrier comes to mind again), which sends the pro game into the murky world of individual on the field match-ups and the supreme importance of talent at every position. In college football though, a playcaller that has not lost his edge (has Spurrier?) is always a step ahead of the game, and will thus keep a less than talented team in every contest. For Bobby Petrino to win he needs four things: 1. A decent QB. 2. Three decent receivers/tight-ends. 3. Two decent running backs. 4. A decent defense. Petrino has all of those things at Arkansas, because Houston Nutt recruited fairly well in recent years, and that spells bad news for the rest of the SEC in year one of Petrino at Arkansas. If Petrino ever gets top-notch players at key positions and gets a top 10 type defense, then the sky will be unlimited for the Arkansas football program.

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Bobby Petrino and Arkansas will have a 8-4 record in 2008. Petrino wanted to be in the SEC several years ago when he hoped to replace Tuberville at Auburn, and what a schedule he has for his first run through the SEC! The SEC is tough enough, but throw in Texas in Austin and Tulsa at home and Arkansas will be playing one of the most difficult schedules in the country in 2008. As always in the SEC, the importance of protecting the home field will be vital if Arkansas hopes to have a successful 2008 season, but with Florida, Auburn, and LSU coming to town there will be some losses in Fayetteville this fall. The transition from Houston Nutt to Bobby Petrino will be a huge one for the Arkansas players, but if they do buy into what Petrino and his staff are selling, there is a very good chance that the program that Petrino built at Louisville could show up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The last thing in the world opposing SEC coaches want to see is what Petrino had going in Louisville suddenly in the their conference, and there will be a lot of energy expended in the first few years to try and make sure that Petrino doesn't gain a foothold in the South.

The 2008 Arkansas schedule is filled with big games, beginning with the trip to play Texas in Austin in the 3rd week of the season. Texas should be loaded in '08, but this game will be a good gauge of whether Petrino's very particular brand of football has gained any traction, and even a decent showing against the Longhorns will help as Arkansas heads towards SEC play. After Texas, Urban Meyer and Florida come calling followed by Nick Saban and Alabama, and then on October 11 the grudge match of Arkansas at Auburn, Petrino vs. Tuberville, which should be as much fun to watch as Saban/Miles in the coming years. Who would have thunk it, that Petrino and Tuberville would meet in a SEC West match-up, but here it is and the Arkansas/Auburn games in the coming years will have a big say in who is the SEC West champion. Another fascinating game on the schedule is the Tulsa visit on November 1 to Fayetteville, with Guz Malzhan at the controls of the Tulsa offense, and Gus surely wanting to put on a show for his hometown friends and foes. The season ends like ever season has ended for Arkansas in recent years, when LSU and machine that Les Miles is running comes to Fayetteville to end the regular season slate. What does all of this add up to? We believe an 8-4 record is how it will shake-out, but there could be many swings along the way for Arkansas in 2008, and we will be watching with great interest to see how Petrino's first year in Hog country plays out.

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction: 8-4

Will Petrino be back for the 2009 season? YES