By Harry King

LITTLE ROCK — The white button-down shirt with the tasteful red hog over the pocket got his money’s worth.

Late arriving, the man and his companion settled into straight-back chairs behind a couple of media members to hear Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino address the Little Rock Touchdown Club. He had heard Petrino before, the man said, but he forked over $10 because “he might drop one nugget I need to know …”

Per nugget, the cost was about $1.

Petrino was entertaining when recounting his work history in high school and college, positive about the future at Arkansas, evasive about details of his game plans and specific about what he expects in the season opener against Missouri State.

He left several minutes for questions and answered them confidently and articulately, often interjecting humor. He was also thoughtful enough to repeat the question for those in the record-breaking audience of 700-plus.

He did all that although one of the first things he said was that he is “not big on talking.” Petrino offered that self-description after explaining that he had coached in some openers and played in some openers, but never had he talked as much about an opener as the one in Little Rock.

The first game, he said, “is really about us.” He did not elaborate, but his Razorbacks are a heavy favorite.

He recited the duties of the offense, including throwing the ball deep, and enumerated the principles of good defense, including shedding blocks, tackling well, stripping the ball and running to the ball.

Later, in response to a question, he guaranteed that the defense would be improved. Then, he added, “Part of me thinks we can’t help but be better on defense.”

Petrino spent a few minutes talking about working his way through college in the dairy business in Montana. He would bail out of his truck and deliver while “there’d be stuff moving in the bushes,” Petrino said.

He shared the time that he exited the passenger door, made a delivery, and then chased the truck after the emergency brake failed. He caught up — he could still run some in those days, he said — but he was on the driver’s side and the door was locked. He watched the vehicle take out a telephone pole.

Reminiscing about those days, he said, without elaboration, “Don’t eat cottage cheese.” Before the dairy, there was the burger joint where he said flipped “Papa Burgers, Mama Burgers, and baby burgers.”

The scrimmage late last week was called a “mock game,” because it sounds better, he said.

Somebody else asked about a tight end screen and when Petrino repeated the question, he said, the person doing the asking “wondered if there are any other secrets I’m willing to give up and the answer is no.”

Another person wanted to know how the quarterback can tell each of his teammates what to do during a brief huddle.

“They can get wordy,” Petrino said, tossing out something that included wing right, flip, fly, a three-digit number, naked, and right rocket.

“That’s kind of a simple one,” he said. “A lot of time, if there are too many syllables, we just throw the play out. The idea of dumb athletes is way gone.”

That was one remark that elicited laughter; the applause was loudest when he said, “We have what it takes to build a team to compete for the national championship.”

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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.