Hogs' New OC Bobby Petrino's Press Conference
New Arkansas Razorbacks offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino reflecting on how things have changed in decade since he was last here and it will be his offense in place with Hogs.
Transcript
00:00 I was curious about the phone call from Coach Pittman,
00:03 how that went with you.
00:05 And your agent reached out first.
00:07 Is that still Russ Gamble?
00:08 I know that was 12 years ago.
00:10 No, actually my agent is Christina Phillips.
00:12 And she didn't tell me about that.
00:15 I just learned that today.
00:19 But I appreciate her.
00:22 She reached out to me when I was at Missouri State.
00:24 And she said, hey, let's get you back in the game.
00:26 And I said, Christina, I think I'm just
00:30 happy doing what I am right now.
00:32 And she was on me about, no, you can't do that.
00:35 We'll work at it.
00:36 It might take us a while, but we'll keep going.
00:39 And she convinced me, OK, let's work at it
00:42 and see if we can get back in the game.
00:44 And it's been a process, but it's a lot of credit to her.
00:48 I listened to you on the podcast this morning that you did.
00:52 You've been going through, looking at players,
00:54 looking at film and stuff.
00:55 Have you seen anything that's jumped out specifically,
00:57 any players or anything like that?
00:59 Yeah, I haven't been able to get into it enough,
01:01 just because also looking at recruits
01:04 and anticipating portals.
01:07 But I've been able to watch some of the individual players.
01:11 And then I've had guys come in and talk to me.
01:13 And the names start going, who's that now?
01:15 Who is that again?
01:16 Who is that again?
01:18 But it's a process.
01:20 And I did have a good meeting yesterday
01:22 with the offensive group as a whole.
01:25 And that was fun.
01:26 I enjoyed it.
01:28 Now that you're back in the game,
01:31 any trepidation coming back here?
01:33 And just what do you want to do?
01:35 What do you want to get done here
01:37 the next few years of your life?
01:39 Yeah, I want to win.
01:40 I want to see us--
01:42 I came back here to support Coach Pittman in winning.
01:48 I appreciate him a lot when he did send that message
01:52 that, Coach, this is Coach Pittman.
01:55 I'd like to talk to you.
01:57 The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
02:00 I was like, that's going to happen?
02:01 Really?
02:03 And then we talked for a short amount of time.
02:05 And he said that he had an interest.
02:07 And we set a time to talk where we both had time later on.
02:13 And that was exciting.
02:14 I felt, hey, maybe this is really going to happen.
02:17 Could it possibly happen?
02:19 I talked to my family and stuff.
02:20 That could possibly work.
02:22 And then we had a great talk, great conversation.
02:25 I think it was over an hour some, maybe longer than that.
02:29 And then when I got off the phone, I said,
02:32 man, he didn't offer me the job.
02:36 I was a little bit surprised about that.
02:38 I thought, man, maybe I need to do a better job interviewing
02:41 again.
02:43 But it was a process he was going through
02:45 and taking his time.
02:46 And I was just anxious to talk to him again.
02:51 So your offense at A&M last year, how much of it was you?
02:55 And then you got to see Arkansas in Arlington.
02:59 What did you think of what was going on
03:01 and the personnel Arkansas has?
03:03 That's a loaded question there.
03:07 You know, when I took the job at A&M,
03:12 Jimma wanted to keep the same terminology.
03:15 And call things the same way they did.
03:19 It was hard.
03:20 It was hard on me.
03:21 I was staying up all night.
03:22 I can remember the first scrimmage.
03:25 I was up at 2 AM in the morning, woke up at 2 AM in the morning
03:28 to get ready to call plays for the first scrimmage,
03:30 just understanding what the terminology was,
03:33 what the formation was.
03:35 And it was a different-- it was not only calling the plays
03:39 different, but the formations, the way
03:42 they called the formation is probably
03:43 different than anybody else that I've ever been around.
03:48 You know, normally you call the strength
03:49 where your tight end's going to align.
03:52 And there, it's where your slot receiver is going to align.
03:56 So just getting the connection to be able to do that
03:59 was very difficult. But I worked hard at it.
04:03 And I thought we had a pretty good year.
04:05 We went through a couple quarterbacks, which was hard.
04:08 But I really enjoyed it.
04:10 And I think that's the one thing that--
04:14 when that happened, when Jimbo lost his job,
04:18 I thought I want to still coach, just because how much I enjoyed
04:22 being in the classroom with the quarterbacks,
04:26 spending time with the offense, just coaching football,
04:30 teaching.
04:31 It was fun being back in the meeting room and teaching.
04:35 I started getting in this profession as a teacher.
04:38 So it was really fun to get back and do that.
04:40 Reading some of the quotes that have come out
04:45 since you accepted the job, you've
04:46 talked about always wanting to come back
04:48 and this being a dream.
04:49 I'm just curious, was there ever a time
04:50 since you left where maybe there was some anger
04:53 towards this place?
04:54 And when did that anger maybe turn into a desire to return?
04:58 No, there never was any anger at all.
05:01 You know, I was always a Hogs fan.
05:03 You know, I watched--
05:04 people would ask me, are you going to watch the game?
05:06 Are you going to watch them play?
05:07 And I watched as many games as I could.
05:09 I cheered for them.
05:10 I rooted for them.
05:12 You know, love the players.
05:13 Coach, I know you returned to the Little Rock Touchdown
05:20 Club a few years back.
05:21 And it was well-received and everything.
05:23 But could you have ever imagined at that time,
05:26 you said you always loved the Hogs,
05:28 could you have imagined getting this opportunity to come back
05:30 and coach like this?
05:32 Well, like I said, I thought about it and dreamed about it.
05:34 And I didn't know if it would ever happen.
05:38 So certainly, I can't tell you how excited
05:40 I am to be back here.
05:41 It's going to be a lot of fun.
05:42 And I truly do love Arkansas, the university, and the state,
05:48 and the people.
05:49 You know, I think it's the most special place I've ever been.
05:52 And you mentioned getting to kind of see some
05:54 of the individual players that Arkansas has on the roster.
05:56 I know it's still a fluid situation.
05:57 But given your history, I was wondering
05:59 about if you had any particular thoughts on the quarterbacks
06:01 that Arkansas has here, Jacoby Criswell, Malachi Singleton,
06:04 if you've had a chance to look at them
06:06 and see what you thought about them.
06:08 Yeah, I've had a chance to watch their video
06:10 and see some of their practice video, some of their game
06:13 video, and see things that they can do.
06:15 And obviously, you like the talent that you see there,
06:19 arm strength, and mobility, and different things they can do.
06:23 You really don't know a lot until you get out
06:25 on the practice field and start practicing with them.
06:28 So we'll look forward to that.
06:29 And the rules are as such now where
06:32 we have time to meet with them when we come back from Christmas
06:35 and get in the classroom with them.
06:39 So it'll be fun to see how much they understand
06:42 about the game of football.
06:44 Bobby, last night, 20,000 people yelling your name.
06:49 How does that make you feel?
06:52 It was exciting.
06:52 Yeah, I felt good about it.
06:55 And again, I got to say it's a credit to Sam
06:58 to be able to bring me there and allow that to go on.
07:05 I think it's just a credit to him.
07:07 You can see the confidence that he has in himself as a man
07:11 and how much he loves the university
07:13 and wants to do what he believes is best for us to go forward
07:17 to win is a real credit to him.
07:20 It's been over 10 years.
07:22 How are you different now than you were in 2011?
07:26 Yeah, I mean, everybody's different.
07:27 You know that.
07:28 And you're different than you were back then.
07:30 So hopefully I've grown as a coach, as a teacher,
07:34 as a husband, as a father.
07:37 I believe totally that I have.
07:41 Hopefully I'm better tomorrow than I am today.
07:45 Bobby, I remember going to the groundbreaking for the Smith
07:47 Center.
07:48 I think it was maybe a Friday before a home game.
07:50 But you never got to get in that building.
07:52 I assume you've been in there now.
07:53 Just kind of, well, what's your thoughts on that building?
07:55 And finally getting to work in there.
07:58 Yeah, it was fun to walk through it and see it.
08:02 And yesterday I took my own tour, I guess,
08:07 rounded up one of the young guys and said,
08:09 hey, take me through the building here
08:10 and show me it around.
08:11 So it was exciting to see it.
08:13 They certainly did a good job with it.
08:15 And it'd be fun to start working in there.
08:19 And have you decided if you're going to be on the field
08:21 or in the press box?
08:23 I haven't even thought about it.
08:25 You guys are way ahead of me.
08:26 Coach talked about having to learn new terminologies.
08:33 Sam, I'm going to turn you loose on--
08:36 Yeah, what we talked about was be able to come in and run
08:40 the offense and put the offense in and do that.
08:42 And one of the things I've learned throughout my career
08:46 is that you utilize everybody and you
08:50 try to get everybody's input.
08:52 And certainly I want to see the assistant coaches have
08:55 their input.
08:55 And when I interviewed with Coach,
08:58 we talked about certain things.
09:00 If he walked in the room and asked me about this,
09:03 asked me about that, what do I think about that?
09:07 And I'd say, well, I'd welcome it.
09:09 There's a reason he's known as the best offensive line
09:12 coach in America.
09:15 And if he has certain thoughts that he
09:17 wants to do on short yardage and goal line,
09:20 I communicated to him that when I was calling plays at Arizona
09:23 State, Bruce Snyder ran short yardage and goal line.
09:28 That's what he wanted to do.
09:29 That was something he was very, very proud of and very, very
09:33 fond of.
09:34 And if Coach wants us to do something
09:38 on short yardage and goal line or third down,
09:42 we're definitely going to work on doing it.
09:45 And I think that's how it has to work.
09:47 That's how it goes.
09:48 He's the head coach.
09:49 And we're going to do as much as we
09:51 can to keep him satisfied and happy.
09:54 And as an assistant, what you try to do
09:57 is keep the head coach happy and not chewing you out.
10:01 So that's one of my goals.
10:03 Let's make sure he's not chewing me out every day.
10:06 This is not football.
10:08 So tell me about Northwest Arkansas.
10:11 You look forward to hitting some balls in the bushes
10:14 at Blessings or Beaver Lake.
10:15 What goes through your mind that I'm back in Arkansas?
10:21 I got a lot to learn, man.
10:22 I can't even find my way around.
10:24 It's changed.
10:25 It's really changed.
10:26 The roads are a little bit different.
10:28 The way you get places are a little bit different.
10:32 I drove up in front of this building right here.
10:34 And I'm like, wow.
10:36 They redid that, too.
10:38 So first thing I got to do is find out where I'm at.
10:42 Definitely like going to the lake.
10:43 That's something that we've always enjoyed as a family
10:46 and love to do.
10:47 And it's on my bucket list to be able to slalom
10:51 when I'm 70.
10:52 So I've got to keep working on that,
10:55 make sure I'm in good enough shape to be able to--
10:57 I don't get up anymore on one, to be honest with you.
11:00 I get up on two and drop, just because it's
11:03 so hard to grind to get up on one.
11:05 And nobody skis anymore.
11:07 My kids have totally went away from me.
11:10 And they don't ski.
11:11 They surf and wakeboard.
11:13 And I don't even see the fun in that.
11:15 You go so darn slow.
11:16 I don't know how it's fun.
11:17 But I'm still going to water ski.
11:21 I've lost a lot of balls at Blessing.
11:23 So maybe if I get to play that sometime,
11:25 I'll find a few of them that I left out there.
11:27 I have to drop a ski, too, man.
11:33 I don't have to.
11:34 I choose to.
11:36 I'm kidding.
11:37 I can't get up on one.
11:39 You're signaling.
11:40 I wonder what you thought of the signaling, sign-staining flap
11:44 this year, and how does that apply to you, maybe?
11:48 Or what's the future of signaling as well?
11:52 Do you think helmet devices are--
11:54 Yeah, I think that they should have done that a long time ago.
11:59 And I don't know anything about Michigan and what they did,
12:02 or any of that.
12:03 I honestly didn't pay any attention to it.
12:06 But I do know when you went and played Clemson,
12:09 that they were going to have your signals.
12:11 Guys on the sidelines standing there
12:13 with the sheet of paper with your signals on it.
12:16 And that was tough.
12:17 And the SEC and the ACC have talked for years
12:23 about putting the piece in the air.
12:25 And one of the issues that you always have in the NCAA
12:30 is everybody has a vote.
12:32 So there's a lot of schools that play football that
12:35 can outvote the major conferences that
12:38 don't have the money for that technology
12:40 to be in their helmets.
12:41 So that's why they've got to do something about it.
12:44 But it's become more and more relevant
12:48 throughout the years that I've been in about people
12:50 stealing signals and calling defenses and offenses that way.
12:55 Speaking of money, just your thoughts on Arkansas Edge
12:58 and how that might help you in the portal and things
13:01 like that.
13:02 Yeah, I got some reading up to do on that.
13:06 I've been kind of in a whirlwind.
13:07 So I haven't even been able to check up.
13:10 I know Coach told me that he was excited about the new NIL
13:14 deal that's going on.
13:15 And at A&M, the assistant coaches knew nothing.
13:20 We weren't involved in any part of the NIL.
13:23 I didn't know what anybody on the team got or didn't get.
13:28 So I haven't paid enough attention to it yet.
13:30 I got some work to do.
13:31 I remember that '08 LSU game where
13:36 you guys threw deep in a short yardage situation.
13:39 And you were like, well, this is the last time
13:40 their corners are going to be cheated up on us.
13:42 And you've always kind of done stuff like that,
13:45 maybe not even so much just about the plays
13:47 that you're calling, just about when you call them
13:49 and your feel and stuff.
13:50 What has changed the most about your offense
13:52 since you were here last?
13:54 I honestly don't think a lot has changed simply because I
14:01 don't think it's about plays.
14:03 I don't think it's about what you do.
14:04 I think it's about how you use the players that you have,
14:08 how you get the ball to a Jarius Wright, Joe Adams,
14:12 how you get the ball to Dennis Johnson,
14:16 and how you work the different situations of the game.
14:20 So what I love to do is utilize players and then
14:25 be really good at the situations of the game
14:27 and the players really understand
14:30 what we're going to see in third and short, what we're
14:33 going to see in fourth and short,
14:34 and what we're going to see in the red zone
14:37 or what blitzes they run from the 15-yard line in
14:40 and get everybody on the same page
14:43 and then practice the heck out of it.
14:45 And then when you're on the left hash 35-yard line,
14:49 first and 10, you want to take a shot at the end zone,
14:52 everybody knows what we've done, what coverage we expect,
14:55 and then what to do if we don't get that coverage.
14:58 Or what are you going to do on fourth and one, left hash,
15:03 game on the line.
15:05 We ran the ball the previous two times,
15:07 and got knocked right in the mouth.
15:09 So let's give us a little play action in there
15:12 and see if we can get it.
15:13 So I kind of like to really work on situations and players.
15:18 We saw your messages after Ryan Mallett's passing,
15:21 and I know you loved him.
15:22 And I always remember also, people
15:27 used to say that Ryan Mallett was the perfect quarterback
15:29 for your system.
15:30 And then you went to Louisville and you had Lamar Jackson,
15:33 and I was thinking, well, what's Lamar Jackson then?
15:35 What kind of quarterback do you like?
15:37 I mean, and Tyler Wilson was a different quarterback for you.
15:40 What type of system, quarterback, I guess,
15:42 in your system would you like to have the most?
15:44 Yeah.
15:45 I mean, Ryan was pretty perfect because Ryan was as smart
15:48 as you could possibly be.
15:51 He understood the game.
15:52 He understood his players around him.
15:56 He understood when you made a call what you were thinking.
16:00 He was really a guy that you could anticipate
16:05 what he was going to do.
16:07 When you saw the coverage and the play call,
16:10 he would probably go the way he did in practice.
16:15 Lamar was the same way.
16:17 Lamar was a guy that really studied the game plan,
16:20 really knew what he wanted to do,
16:21 what we wanted to do as a staff.
16:24 Both of them could get you out of a bad play.
16:27 You're not always going to hit the call as a play caller.
16:30 And you can be really, really aggressive
16:33 when your quarterback can come out there and say,
16:35 oh, yeah, this play action isn't going
16:36 to work because they're blitzing two guys off the left side
16:39 and change the play or the protection for you.
16:44 And that's what those guys allowed you to do.
16:45 You could just call it up and have
16:47 a lot of freedom in your thoughts of being aggressive.
16:51 And then if it wasn't worth a darn,
16:53 they can get you out of it and get from a bad play
16:56 into a good play.
16:57 And the freedom they give you as a play caller really helps.
17:02 Two more.
17:02 Brett.
17:03 Go ahead.
17:03 Coach, I noticed I couldn't help but get a little emotional
17:05 when you're asked about why this is like a dream.
17:08 And you said you love this state.
17:10 Expand on that.
17:10 Why is that?
17:12 It's obviously more than just a job, isn't it?
17:15 Yeah, I think the relationships that I was able to have
17:19 and make and then even continue after I left
17:23 was something that's always been special.
17:26 Obviously, you know that some people are concerned and say,
17:28 maybe you don't deserve a second chance with the university.
17:32 What do you do?
17:32 I've been told winning cures all ills.
17:35 But it seems like there's more than that.
17:37 What do you say to that?
17:38 Yeah, I'm kind of on the--
17:41 I'm not really sure what words to use on it.
17:44 But my beliefs are that it's OK for people to disagree,
17:49 have different thoughts, have different opinions.
17:52 There's no add will to it.
17:54 Nobody should have that.
17:56 This is-- I grew up where this is in the United States
17:59 of America.
17:59 And everybody can have their own thoughts, their own religion,
18:02 their own feelings on everything.
18:05 And you know what?
18:06 That's OK.
18:06 We don't have to do anything about it.
18:08 There isn't going to be anything done about it.
18:10 That's just how it is.
18:11 And I think that's one of the greatest things about a football
18:14 team is guys come from everywhere,
18:16 every different walks of life, different colors,
18:18 different religions.
18:20 And then you come together, and you love each other,
18:22 and you go out and compete hard together
18:24 and give each other a chance to win.
18:27 So I don't have any ill feelings towards anybody that disagrees.
18:31 Or I just wish it was that way for everybody.
18:34 Last one, John.
18:35 Top priority, winning?
18:38 You know, winning is the end result. Winning
18:40 is the end result of doing everything right.
18:42 So the top priority is to teaching the players,
18:46 teaching them not only the playbook, but how to compete,
18:50 how to be tough, how to have passion.
18:54 It's different now than it used to be,
18:55 because you have a shorter window to do it.
18:58 You know, with the nil and the transfer portal and all that,
19:01 you used to be able to build it for a year, three years.
19:05 And that's what we had.
19:06 We had those guys that were together,
19:08 grew up as little kids, got beat up on when they were freshmen.
19:12 You know, I remember Joe Adams saying,
19:15 they're just not beating us.
19:16 They want to kill us.
19:18 And two years later, he was like,
19:19 that's what we're going to do to everybody.
19:22 But now you don't have that window.
19:23 You got to do it in a shorter period of time.
19:25 So it's just a different challenge
19:27 that you have to attack.
19:28 - Coach, so a lot of the former players
19:31 that you had here at Arkansas post on social media,
19:33 they're all excited and approved.
19:35 Have you had any comments, text messages
19:37 from former players that are here?
19:38 And what have those comments and conversations been like?
19:40 - Yeah, I've had a lot.
19:41 So it's pretty cool.
19:44 It was fun when we came here and played.
19:46 You know, I got into the locker room
19:48 and all of a sudden I got out of the shower
19:50 and there's Joe Adams and Colby Hamilton standing there.
19:53 And I said, how did you guys get in here?
19:55 You know, they snuck in the locker room to say hello.
19:57 So it's been pretty cool.