From the Bench

Annual Report Card: Petrino Barely Passes

Robert T. Shields

With the firing of Houston Nutt (and I was years ahead of the mob in calling for his firing, by the way), new coach Bobby Petrino came in with high expectations from the fans for a dynamic aerial assault. What we got was a 5-7 team with a defense that gave every other team a great opportunity to pad its offensive stats. While the sports columnist of the statewide daily and the marks on the Internet paint a sunshine-pumping picture, let’s be honest that Petrino’s first year was not a success. In my annual tradition, it’s time to let the grades roll on Petrino...

Player Development: C-
Player development this year was a real mixed bag. You have to admit some players like Alex Tejada inexplicably took a step back and others who contributed last season completely disappeared. Starting quarterback Casey Dick seemed the same even with Petrino’s tutelage in the spring and beyond. Others like Dennis Johnson improved as the season ended. DJ Williams looked great at times. London Crawford at times seemed to improve, but that’s just because he was catching the ball. Others like Jerry Franklin and Ramon Broadway also seemed to improve. The enormous amount of freshmen having to play and basically only getting to start practicing with the team just a few weeks before the first game limits the time to develop anyone. Next year will be a better gauge.

Fundamentals: D-
This grade would be higher if you could throw out the special teams. Special teams haunted this team all season up to and including its final kick-off that almost cost the Razorbacks the LSU game. Special teams this season muffed and shanked punts, ran into kickers, missed field goals, and you can go through the whole gamut. Arkansas made some other horrible mistakes such as the interception before halftime against Ole Miss and the late fourth-quarter fumble against Kentucky. This team was never too far away from shooting itself in the foot, and that is not surprising playing 17 freshmen.

Play Calling: C+
When you go 5-7, the play calling has not been the greatest in the world. There were times this year that one could easily have thought “now that’s what I am talking about,” and then there were other times that just left you scratching your head, such as the fourth-quarter four-down series at Kentucky’s goal line that ended up in a field goal when a touchdown would have sealed the game. The same can be said for a failed series against Alabama at the goal line. The Hogs did not hang great numbers on other teams and should have against the likes of Western Illinois. You can partially blame this on play calling. At the same time, it was great play calling that pulled out the LSU game that was aided by a very determined senior quarterback who had been benched the previous game.

Image: C
This was not Petrino’s fault, but it goes on his report card. The circus that followed Nutt’s firing and into his hiring was brutal. The national media wrongly or rightly hammered Arkansas on this hiring and branded Petrino as a wanderer. He was not proven to be a miracle worker this season. It also did not help that the Hogs were embarrassed a couple of times on television by Alabama, Texas, and Florida early in the season. He still has next season to prove that he can work miracles. And he better.

Success: D
You can’t have below a .500 season and expect anything above a D when it comes to success. This grade will anger some who like Petrino on a personal level. It may even anger Wally Hall, who gave Petrino an A for this season. I bet if you asked Petrino what he would give this season, it would not be a high mark. With this season behind him and it not being stellar, it will provide Petrino the ability to manage more realistic expectations of the average Hog fan. For a season, at least.

Management of the Athletic Director: A
In the days of Frank Broyles, this was a very important category. I am not sure that it means that much anymore and may be discontinued in the future. Petrino seems to have a good relationship with Jeff Long. In fact, he doesn’t seem like he takes orders from anybody, fans included.

Hiring Assistant Coaches: C
This is hard to know. His staff was put together quickly last year. His first choice of defensive coordinator (Ellis Johnson) jumped ship and Petrino was scrambling again to find a defensive coordinator. His staff apparently will stay in place. This is good for stability. It also may mean the staff gets along very well, and that is also good. Or, it may be a bad sign that no one else wants anybody on his staff.

Leadership: B
Discipline always seemed to come fast from the top. I say seemed because he sure did wait a long time before Freddie Fairchild was dismissed from the team only after the UA said he couldn’t enroll as a student. The suspension of a couple of defensive linemen cost the Hogs dearly for the Mississippi State game. The last coach who suspended a player for a game at Mississippi State and lost was eventually fired.

Overall grade: D+
Again, you cannot go 5-7 and have a losing record and not go to a bowl game and expect anything greater than a D. The case could be made that Petrino’s sudden benching of Casey Dick for the younger brother cost the team a win at Starkville and a sixth win to get to a bowl. This team was a few seconds over and over again from being 0-12. But you can look at the positives and think at least won five of them. The Hogs lost three close ones that it easily should have won. If you’re a positive kind of person, I will tell you it’s a C- as the team ended on about as upbeat of a note as one can end on with this type of losing season.

Bonus grade
Stadium: D
The loss of all SEC games at home in Fayetteville was staggering and most of the losses were in ugly fashion. The lone home SEC win came in Little Rock. To become competitive, the Hogs must start winning SEC games in Fayetteville. Thus Petrino will need an A in this category next year to probably raise his overall grade.


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