Petrino - not riding solo (and fired at Louisville)

True, but he's not exactly off to a roaring start.

 

If you look at Petrino's recruiting, he didn't leave Bielema much to work with - especially on defense. And practically no quarterback.

Anyway, the funniest part of the Petrino press conference was when Jurich said Petrino's wife convinced him Bobby was a changed man. He said you can't fool your wife. So I guess she knew about the blondie on the back of the Harley?

 

This. UL is an A- job. No one is better than Jurich at hiring A and A+ coaches before people know they are A and A+ coaches. The downside to that is, once an A or A+ job figures that out, you are looking for a new coach. The alternative is to hire a guy who is on the back 9 of his career (think Rick Pitino) and, while he's still got it, isn't going anywhere because none of the A or A+ jobs would want him. All this stuff about trusting Petrino is a bunch of talk. He was hired because he is an incredible college football coach, and he cannot leave.

 

The last paragraph here lost me completely. The young woman Petrino was involved with was paid a nominal amount ($50,000, I think) and that was hush money, not a recognition that she had anything resembling a meritorious claim.

 

Not her, but the other - more qualified - people who weren't banging Petrino who didn't get the gig she did in the football program.

 

This.

Not only this specific job but anyone in the entire university system of Arkansas (perhaps even the state) might have a case if they were passed over for a job by someone with lighter qualifications.

Keeping Petrino could have brought potentially costly and revealing investigations by every person in the state who felt they were unjustly passed over for a government job.

 

Bielema is also not helped by the shadow of Gus Malzahn. Not at all.

Both walked into grease fires.

In his first season at Auburn, Malzahn was two minutes from a national championship.

In his first season at Arkansas, Bielema had nine losses and turned out to have an even crazier wife than Malzahn does.

Arkansas could have had Malzahn instead -- he would have gotten on a unicycle and pedaled from Jonesboro to Fayetteville 18 months ago.

Now they have a guy trying to win with Big Ten-style football in the land of future NFL stars. If Bielema ever pulls Arkansas into tight games in the SEC, then the fans will be treated to playing for overtime instead of going for the win and also losses via Hail Mary.

 

Is she crazy or stupid? She comes off as stupid, meaning her and Bret are a perfect match.

 

I'm not sure that's even illegal. Even if it is, very tough hurdle for one person to bring that suit. And I still don't see how Petrino staying at Arkansas opens the door for these suits, nor how Petrino being fired closed said door.

 

Malzahn walked into a program that he was previously involved with, inheriting a roster with many players he had a hand in recruiting to run the system he's been using for years.

Bielema walked into a program he had no connection to with a roster full of players recruited to run a system unlike the one he's been running for years.

But, yeah, other than that, the situations are identical...

 

I never understood the Bielema hiring. It's not that he's a bad coach, but I'm guessing he wasn't too well-known, or at least had very little name recognition from the kids he would be recruiting. I know Saban made a similar jump from Michigan State to LSU, but I'm guessing his time in the NFL helped too... Plus, Bielema is a long cry from Saban.

 

If Arkansas had wanted to keep Petrino it could have found a way. When they're buying out the remaining 2-3 years on Bielema they're going to wish they did.