Bobby Petrino's return to college football created quite the splash last November.
Outside the state of Arkansas, the wrong kind.
Petrino left the NFL's Atlanta Falcons in a lurch after coaching just 13 of the club's 16 games, replacing Houston Nutt at Arkansas after a lackluster 7-5 season. The Razorbacks, under interim coach Reggie Herring on New Year's Day, were crushed by Chase Daniel and the Missouri Tigers 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl.
Petrino was a well-traveled offensive assistant before guiding Louisville to a 41-9 record in four seasons at that school.
Petrino's former Falcons players openly questioned his character after he hightailed it out of town and was seen on ESPN doing the "Woo, Pig, Sooie" chant at a press conference approaching the midnight hour.
"The whole situation, the timing was bad," Petrino said last month at SEC Media Days. "There's no question about that. If it could have played out any other way, I would have loved to see it."
The move was welcome in Arkansas. Razorbacks fans have embraced his aggressive offensive approach and had grown tired of Nutt's more-ground oriented scheme. Nutt replaced Ed Orgeron at Ole Miss and will face his former team on Oct. 25 in Fayetteville, Ark.
"I think we're going to surprise people with our offensive attack," Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs said.
Luigs, a first-team All-America last season, anchors an experienced offensive line. The Razorbacks also have plenty of experience on the defensive line. After that, the pickings are slim.
Casey Dick returns for his senior year as the Arkansas quarterback, but his numbers were rather pedestrian last season, with the departed Darren McFadden and Felix Jones handling the ball at tailback. Dick completed 58 percent of his passes for 1,695 yards and 18 touchdowns. He was intercepted 10 times.
Quarterback Ryan Mallett transferred down from Michigan once Rich Rodriguez took over as coach. Mallett has to sit out this season, so Dick remains the starter for now.
Alex Mortensen, the son of ESPN's Chris Mortensen, returned to Arkansas after playing eight games at Samford in 2006. He could be in the picture at quarterback, along with Dick's younger brother, Nathan.
"I think Casey Dick is going to have a breakout year," Luigs said. "He's going to take control of the team."
Of course, that's actually Petrino's job. The Razorbacks need plenty of help at the skill positions, and they lost their entire secondary, too. Most preseason publications have picked Arkansas to finish last in the SEC West, usually behind Nutt's Rebels.
Expectations are not the problem at Arkansas. Petrino and the Hogs are building from the ground floor.
"I understand that it's a process," Petrino said. "In the game of football, building and changing a program, it is a process. That's what we're working hard at... Winning games is the end of doing things right. What we need to do is everything right, leading up to that opener.'
The Hogs open the season on Aug. 30 against Western Illinois.
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