FAYETTEVILLE — Bobby Petrino, the former Arkansas head coach who was fired for misconduct in 2012, was hired as the Razorbacks' offensive coordinator Wednesday.
Petrino signed a 27-month contract that will pay him $1.5 million during his first season and will increase to $1.6 million by the 2025 season.
Petrino will be paid $350,000 for his first three months on the job, then an annual salary beginning in March.
The contract was signed Wednesday by Petrino, Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman and other university leadership.
University of Arkansas Board Policy 405.6, written in 2013 and updated in 2019, prohibits rehiring employees who have been dismissed for cause, but states exceptions can be made with the approval of UA System President Donald Bobbitt. Bobbitt authorized the move Tuesday.
Petrino has remained popular figure in Arkansas since he was fired as the Razorbacks' head coach April 10, 2012, five days after an Arkansas State Police report revealed he was involved in a motorcycle accident with a female staff member, Jessica Dorrell.
Then-Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long wrote at the time Petrino “engaged in a pattern of misleading and manipulative behavior designed to deceive me and members of the athletic staff, both before and after the motorcycle accident” that occurred nine days before he was fired.
An investigation by Long discovered an extramarital relationship between Petrino and Dorrell, who had been hired to a support staff position for the football team.
Petrino coordinated a Texas A&M offense that ranked fifth in the SEC with 34.2 points per game and eighth in total offense at 403.8 yards per game this year.
Former Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher was fired after 10 games. The Aggies hired former Duke coach Mike Elko to replace him this week, leaving Petrino’s future there uncertain.
Arkansas has been in the market for a new offensive coordinator since Oct. 22 when Dan Enos was fired. Enos signed a three-year contract earlier this year and was owed up to approximately $2.8 million in buyout funds at the time of his firing.
Neither Pittman nor Petrino were quoted in the release announcing the hiring, but Petrino wrote to his Twitter account, "Proud to be coming home. Now let’s bring the Hogs a Championship!!"
In an interview with ESPN, Petrino called it a "dream come true" to return to Fayetteville.
"I'm more excited than anything, just to be able to go back and give back to all the great people of Arkansas," Petrino said. "I can't do anything about the past, but I know how hard Coach Pittman and his coaches have worked. It was great to see when he first got there and the way he changed the culture and then had that good season his second year and won the bowl game.
"I've always been a Razorback fan and rooted for them and know how hard this last season has been for all of them, so when Coach Pittman had the idea of me coming back, I was immediately interested. Like I said, it was almost a dream."
Since he was fired at Arkansas, Petrino served as the head coach at Western Kentucky in 2013, Louisville from 2014-18 and Missouri State from 2020-22. At Louisville he coached quarterback Lamar Jackson to the Heisman Trophy in 2016, but was fired less than two years later after a 2-8 start to the season.
In 17 seasons as a college head coach, Petrino has a record of 137-71. His teams have won three conference championships, including the 2020 Missouri Valley Conference title at Missouri State.
Petrino left Missouri State to become offensive coordinator for head coach Barry Odom at UNLV last December, but resigned from that position after less than three weeks to take the same job at Texas A&M.
“Coach Petrino is one of the best offensive minds in the game, and we respect him a lot,” Pittman said in September prior to the Razorbacks' game against the Aggies.
Petrino was 34-17 as Arkansas’ head coach from 2008-11. His 2010 team went 10-3 and lost 31-26 to Ohio State at the Sugar Bowl, and his final team finished 11-2 with a 29-16 victory over Kansas State at the Cotton Bowl in Petrino’s final game.
The 2011 team was ranked fifth in the final Associated Press poll — the Razorbacks' highest final ranking since 1977.
Long, who was transitioning into his role as Arkansas’ AD, hired Petrino in December 2007 after a 13-game stint as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Petrino was introduced as the Razorbacks’ head coach at a late-night news conference one day following a Monday Night Football loss to the New Orleans Saints that dropped his NFL record to 3-10.
He made a name for himself as Louisville’s coach from 2003-06 when he led the Cardinals to a 41-9 record and Orange Bowl victory as a member of the Big East Conference. He was less successful in his second go-round in Louisville – 35-26 in five seasons – after the team transitioned to the ACC.
Petrino led Missouri State to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs twice and had an 18-15 record in three seasons as the Bears’ coach. His final Missouri State team went 5-6, including a 38-27 loss at Arkansas when the Razorbacks rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter in Fayetteville.
Pittman sang Petrino’s praises that week, as well as this year prior to the Razorbacks’ 34-22 loss to Texas A&M with Petrino as the offensive coordinator.
“Last time Arkansas was relevant relevant was when Coach Petrino was here,” Pittman said in 2022. “We’re very grateful for his time here and what he did for the program.”
Arkansas is the third SEC program to hire Petrino as an offensive coordinator. He coordinated Auburn's offense in 2002.
Pittman hired an offensive coordinator for the second consecutive offseason. He hired Enos after Kendal Briles left for a coordinator position at TCU earlier this year, but fired Enos eight games into the season when his offense was unproductive.
Hiring an offensive coordinator was at the top of the priorities this offseason for Pittman, who is 23-25 in four seasons at Arkansas. Pittman faced job-security questions during the 2023 season, but received a public statement of support from athletics director Hunter Yurachek before the Razorbacks' season-ending 48-14 loss to Missouri.
Correction: Terms of Petrino's contract were initially incorrect and have been corrected.