August 17, 201511 yr Three years ago, Arkansas was the most dysfunctional team in college football, the epicenter for all that can go wrong when egos go unchecked and selfish, reckless behavior supersedes all. Now it might just be the blueprint for all that can be — and should be — in the game. Three years ago, the Arkansas coach was a self-absorbed dictator, a man who drove his Harley and his career into a ditch — and dragged what looked like a surging Hogs program down with him. They were a shell of a Top 5 program before Bobby Petrino was fired in April of 2012 to begin the downfall, a façade of winning that shrouded a slowly rotting mess. Now after climbing out of the hole that Petrino dug, that John L. Smith subsequently cratered, Bielema has a team that won just two SEC games in the last two seasons believing they can win the whole damn thing. When Bielema arrived, players were flunking out, missing class and changing majors to find the easiest roads to staying eligible. There was a saying within the football team: “Ds get degrees.” “I worked in the academic advisement office when I first got here, and what I saw, frankly, was shocking,” says Aaron Henry, a former All-Big Ten defensive back at Wisconsin under Bielema and current Arkansas graduate assistant coach. “Our academic report was horrendous. We had a bunch of guys with sub-par GPAs, guys who wouldn’t go to tutoring appointments, who wouldn’t even push a button to log in to the system. They couldn’t even do that.”
August 17, 201511 yr While I can appreciate the author's admiration for Bielema's style and while I fully acknowledge Petrino's history and personality, the article takes a few liberties. Did he "drag the program down along with him"? Sure he did. But half the reason there was anything to drag down was because of him as well. Did Arkansas have some nice seasons under Houston Nutt? Sure. But did they go 10-3 or 11-2 anytime recently before Bobby? They did not. Arkansas had arguably two of their best seasons ever in 2010 and 2011 and could have played for a national title if not for being in the same league as Alabama and LSU during their periods of excellence. Arkansas made a deliberate choice in hiring that dictatorial mercenary of a coach that's so put upon in the article. To my mind, when AD's and university boards hire a guy like Petrino knowing full well who he is, they don't get to play the victim. Congratulations to Bielema and his rebuilding project. No doubt it was a mess. It sure was around here in 2007 and stayed that way a whole lot longer than it did at Arkansas. But they don't get to play the unwitting victim any more than we do here in Louisville when or if he does it again.
August 17, 201511 yr While I can appreciate the author's admiration for Bielema's style and while I fully acknowledge Petrino's history and personality, the article takes a few liberties. Did he "drag the program down along with him"? Sure he did. But half the reason there was anything to drag down was because of him as well. Did Arkansas have some nice seasons under Houston Nutt? Sure. But did they go 10-3 or 11-2 anytime recently before Bobby? They did not. Arkansas had arguably two of their best seasons ever in 2010 and 2011 and could have played for a national title if not for being in the same league as Alabama and LSU during their periods of excellence. Arkansas made an express purpose of hiring that dictatorial mercenary of a coach that's so put upon in the article. To my mind, when AD's and university boards hire a guy like Petrino knowing full well who he is, they don't get to play the victim. Congratulations to Bielema and his rebuilding project. No doubt it was a mess. It sure was around here in 2007 and stayed that way a whole lot longer than it did at Arkansas. But they don't get to play the unwitting victim any more than we do here in Louisville when or if he does it again. I'm 100% in agreement with you here. It's hardly a secret as to Petrino's style and character. If you have the checks and balances in place to absorb and/or curb his practices, then good for you. The guy can coach football. If you choose to turn a blind eye to his shenanigans, then shame on you and take your medicine.
August 17, 201511 yr Author While I can appreciate the author's admiration for Bielema's style and while I fully acknowledge Petrino's history and personality, the article takes a few liberties. Did he "drag the program down along with him"? Sure he did. But half the reason there was anything to drag down was because of him as well. Did Arkansas have some nice seasons under Houston Nutt? Sure. But did they go 10-3 or 11-2 anytime recently before Bobby? They did not. Arkansas had arguably two of their best seasons ever in 2010 and 2011 and could have played for a national title if not for being in the same league as Alabama and LSU during their periods of excellence. Arkansas made a deliberate choice in hiring that dictatorial mercenary of a coach that's so put upon in the article. To my mind, when AD's and university boards hire a guy like Petrino knowing full well who he is, they don't get to play the victim. Congratulations to Bielema and his rebuilding project. No doubt it was a mess. It sure was around here in 2007 and stayed that way a whole lot longer than it did at Arkansas. But they don't get to play the unwitting victim any more than we do here in Louisville when or if he does it again. They didn't seem to be complaining when Petrino was there. Winning causes people to often look the other way Edited August 18, 201511 yr by Watusi Rule 8
August 21, 201511 yr Defenders of Petrino always amuse me. How is saying "he is what he is" defending him?
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