As if things couldn’t get any weirder in College Station, ex-Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino is emerging as a serious candidate for the open offensive coordinator position at Texas A&M.
Missouri State HC Bobby Petrino has emerged as a candidate in Texas A&M's offensive coordinator search, sources tell @247Sports. He's expected to interview with the Aggies in the coming days. https://t.co/nkHMSypzLT
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) December 9, 2022
From a PR perspective, this would be far from the wisest hire, but Texas A&M is at the point where they don’t care. They are desperate to win football games following a dreadful 5-7 season. Bobby Petrino has had some failed stints as a head coach and even more questionable off-the-field decisions; however, there’s no denying his gifted offensive mind.
Petrino made a name for himself at Louisville, where he served as the offensive coordinator and then head coach in two separate stints. As a head coach for the Cardinals, Petrino turned Louisville into one of the most exciting teams to watch in the country, winning more than ten games on two separate occasions. All of this led to him signing a 10-year contract extension to stay at Louisville, which is where the negative stuff begins.
Less than six months after signing that extension, he bolted for the NFL to become the head coach of the Falcons, who had Michael Vick at quarterback. However, this was the offseason that Vick would be arrested, leading to his departure from the team, and Petrino evidently wanted no part of a rebuild. So in the middle of the season, he decided to quit by famously leaving a note in the players’ lockers, which to this day, is the most cowardly move I have ever seen from a head coach.
A few days later, Petrino was named the Arkansas head coach, where the downward spiral continued. He actually did a brilliant job building the program back up, but a few years in, a motorcycle incident revealed he was having an affair with someone he had hired to work for him, which resulted in his firing.
Petrino would return to Louisville a few years later, helping Lamar Jackson win the Heisman, but the team would fall off after that, and he was eventually fired again. Since 2020, he’s been the head coach of a successful Missouri State program.
As a Falcons fan, there are few people in the sport I despise more than Bobby Petrino, but he’s a damn good offensive mind at the collegiate level. If Texas A&M doesn’t mind that he’s one of the scummiest human beings on the planet, Petrino might actually do some good for an offense that was anemic this year.
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Photo: Andy Altenburger/Icon Sportswire
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