Bobby Petrino with the Razorbacks in 2011. Credit: Brian Chilson

Rumors started swirling on Tuesday that the University of Arkansas might be looking to hire former Arkansas Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino to be the school’s next offensive coordinator. By late afternoon, an ESPN report said a deal was being finalized.

Early this afternoon, Pete Thamel of ESPN tweeted that the university was vetting Petrino for the job. That tweet gained 3.1 million views in about two hours on X, formerly Twitter. Thamel later posted a story, saying Petrino has been “seriously considered by school officials,” although a school official declined to comment, according to the report.

Petrino previously coached at Louisville and was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL before departing the team after 13 games to take the job at Arkansas, where he coached from the 2008 season through 2011. He found almost immediate success running his high-flying offense through quarterback Ryan Mallett. Under Petrino, the Hogs played in the 2011 Sugar Bowl where they lost to Ohio State, and in the 2012 Cotton Bowl where they defeated Kansas State.

In perhaps the most infamous disaster in Arkansas sports history, Petrino crashed his 2007 model Harley Davidson on April Fools’ Day in 2012. He was fired about 10 days later for lying about the circumstances of the accident after it was revealed that he’d had a passenger on the bike with him. That passenger turned out to be his girlfriend, whom he hired over more than 100 other applicants as a staff member without disclosing their relationship to the university.

The matter is a sore subject for many fans given the Razorbacks have gone 24-74 in SEC play since Petrino was dismissed.

Petrino spent the 2023 season as offensive coordinator at Texas A&M.

Rhett Brinkley is the food editor at the Arkansas Times. Send restaurant tips and food selfies to rhettbrinkley@arktimes.com