By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — When Florida coach Urban Meyer stepped away from his post for a brief period last December, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino’s name was mentioned among possible replacements.
Meyer stepped down for good Wednesday. And it didn’t take Petrino’s name long to surface as a possibility on Florida’s list once again.
It was not known if Petrino was a candidate Wednesday night, but media reports mentioned the coach being on Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley’s radar. He wasn’t alone, joining others like Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops and Louisville’s Charlie Strong.
Mark Buffalo • Arkansas News Bureau
The Sporting News said in a story Wednesday night Petrino is “at the top of the list” after being a finalist for the job Meyer won in 2004. ESPN college football analyst Mark Schlabach also made a strong statement regarding Petrino during a television appearance earlier in the day.
“I think his offense would be a nice fit in Florida,” Schlabach said. “I think there would be a bunch of coaches around the SEC and across the country that wouldn’t be too thrilled to see Bobby Petrino in Florida with all those athletes.”
Attempts to reach Petrino were unsuccessful Wednesday.
The coach, who is 64-23 in his career with stops at Louisville and Arkansas, wrapped up his third regular season with the Razorbacks by guiding them to a 10-2 record and the Sugar Bowl. It will be the first BCS game in school history and Petrino became just the third coach to lead two different programs to BCS bowls. He has described the successful season as one of the most enjoyable in his coaching career.
“It’s a tremendous accomplishment for our football team,” Petrino said Sunday night. “Something when we came here as a staff three years ago that was one of our goals. We worked extremely hard.”
Petrino is currently under contract through the 2014 season, earning roughly $2.85 million annually. A report in Wednesday’s USA Today showed Petrino is ranked 10th among highest paid coaches in the NCAA. Meyer, who earned $4 million in 2010, was the fourth-highest paid coach.
Foley said during Wednesday’s news conference the search for Meyer’s replacement will begin immediately. He hopes the process will be wrapped up in two, two-and-a-half weeks.
If Florida were interested in Petrino, luring him from Arkansas could be costly with his buyout set at roughly $3.1 million. But The Sporting News quoted Foley as saying Florida “won’t be scared off by contract buyouts.”
Arkansas has shown more commitment to Petrino and the football program in the last couple of months, unveiling plans for a football operations center with a price tag of roughly $25 to $34 million.
There also were reports of Petrino receiving a contract extension after the LSU win as well. Long did not confirm the reports, though, issuing a statement through the media relations department.
Arkansas referred to the statement once again Wednesday.
“We are proud of the tremendous job Coach Petrino has done at the University of Arkansas,” Long said. “Coach Petrino is focused on preparing for our upcoming bowl game, recruiting and building on the ongoing success of the program. We are excited about the achievements and direction of Razorback Football and look forward to continued success in the years to come with Coach Petrino leading our program.”
