Tag: Bobby Petrino

All Hogs: ‘Petrino must be licking his chops’ over facing Texas

One Arkansas writer could have misplaced confidence in the Razorbacks exploiting the Longhorns secondary.

The Southwest Conference’s longtime rivalry between the Texas Longhorns and Arkansas Razorbacks resumes in the Southeastern Conference in 2024. One Arkansas writer is confident in the Razorbacks exploiting the Longhorns’ secondary.

All Hogs’ Kent Smith shared the following thoughts on new Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino attacking the Texas secondary he saw in the Orange-White game.

“Despite the vanilla nature of what the starters are being asked to do, (Bobby) Petrino must be licking his chops because there are weaknesses all over the secondary that can be exploited no matter what Texas does to try to cover it up.”

It’s worth noting how mightily Arkansas’ secondary struggled against Boise State transfer Taylen Green, but the Texas defensive backfield is a cause for concern in its own right. The Longhorns have work to do in the transfer portal and in bringing current defensive backs up to par.

In spite of the bravado coming from Smith, Arkansas probably isn’t the team to exploit Texas. Petrino might relish the opportunity to face Texas, but it’s doubtful the Razorbacks have the firepower to get it done.

Much of the misplaced Razorback confidence comes from starting quarterback Taylen Green’s spring game. He has something to prove.

Green completed 57.1% of his passes last season with 1,752 yards and 11 touchdowns to nine interceptions. Perhaps in 2024 he transforms into a good quarterback.

Green will be asked to lift one of the worst offenses in the country into the top half of college football. Last season with a more proven KJ Jefferson at quarterback, Arkansas averaged 326.5 yards per game with a 187.5 yard average through the air.

The first two series of the Orange-White game are probably more indicative of what Texas will look like in the secondary in the upcoming season. Arkansas would be wise not to throw at Longhorns starter Malik Muhammad. Nickel corner Jahdae Barron, Clemson safety transfer Andrew Mukuba and the winner of the other starting spot at safety between Michael Taaffe and Derek Williams can be counted on as dependable starters next season.

It’s uncertain if reserve cornerback Gavin Holmes will be asked to start or if Texas will fill the other starting cornerback role with a portal addition, but whoever it plays should be able to slow down the Arkansas passing attack.

In contrast, the late season matchup will reveal if the Razorback defense can keep up with the Longhorns’ speed at receiver. Judging by the team’s own lack of speed, the Razorbacks might not be getting many stops of their own.

Even Arkansas’ offensive line is getting a Bobby Petrino look about it

Most of the Arkansas team needs a makeover. Bobby Petrino is providing one on offense.

No one who follows Arkansas football needs to told – again – how bad the Razorbacks’ offensive line was.

The question is whether Bobby Petrino, Arkansas’ new offensive coordinator, can change it, too.

Petrino has been considered a brilliant offensive play-caller since he burst onto the scene, as it were, with Nevada as the Wolfpack offensive coordinator in 1994. UNR finished second in Division I-A, now called FBS, in total offense. Petrino has since 13 different jobs. Arkansas’ faithful are hoping that rate of change slows down now that he’s back with the Razorbacks.

Much of that will hinge on how good his offenses are, and in 2024 that begins with fixing the offensive line, which gave up 47 sacks last year and allowed Arkansas’ rushing attack to average just 139 yards a game, 87th in FBS.

With four spots on the line having changed starters this spring from last fall, Petrino is getting to work.

“I’m excited about it,” he said. “When you look at the makeup of the team, it’s always is going to start with the offensive line. And I feel like the three guys we got out of the portal and them working with the ones, and the ability they have helps that right away.”

Addison Nichols, Keyshawn Blackstock and Fernando Carmona all entered from the transfer portal and immediately took starting gigs. Like Petrino, they’re new to the team and carry none of the baggage that hurt last year’s team.

Petrino knows new starters are all that’s required, though. He wants to makeover the whole unit. Probably a good idea.

“We’ve got to develop some depth there,” Petrino said. “I think right now we feel like we maybe have eight guys that we feel good about. And we’ve got some young guys that keep getting better, and then take a step back, keep getting better.”

New Arkansas football coaches Smith, Fouch definitely Petrino disciples

Sam Pittman and Bobby Petrino are building their football staff the way they want it.

Kolby Smith and Ronnie Fouch both know where the bread is buttered, so to speak.

Smith, Arkansas’ freshly named running backs coach, and Fouch, the Hogs’ new wide receivers coach would not be on the Arkansas staff if it weren’t for one man.

Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman hired Bobby Petrino as the team’s offensive coordinator in the fall and, in turn, Petrino brought along some of his disciples when jobs presented themselves as available on the Arkansas staff. Last year’s wide receivers coach, Kenny Guiton, left for Wisconsin and Fouch hopped onboard in late winter. Smith took over Jimmy Smith, who left in March for the same job at Texas Christian.

Fouch coached with Petrino when the two were at Missouri State and Louisville. Smith played for Petrino when he was running the Louisville program. Petrino greased the wheels for both of them to join him at Arkansas.

“I received a text from coach (Petrino) saying ‘Hey, there may be an opening,'” Kolby Smith said. “And then he said ‘I can get you on the phone with Catch Pittman, and you’ve just got to sell yourself from there.'”

Fouch’s story is much the same. Petrino floated his named to Pittman and both Fouch and Kolby Smith impressed the Arkansas head man enough to get the gig almost independent of Petrino’s recommendation.

Their work is cut out for them, certainly. All three of the new faces. Arkansas is coming off a 4-8 season in which the Razorbacks ranked 107th out of 133 FBS teams in total offense.

Opinion: Lack of interest around Arkansas football actually good for team

Little fanfare emanates from the Smith Football Center and its surrounding buildings this spring

Sam Pittman seemed shocked sometimes last year during Arkansas’ 4-8 season at the sorts of ways he and his players were treated by so-called fans of the program. By the time that year was done, he had lost several players from the roster, hired a new offensive coordinator many believe is preparing to vulture the head gig and learned patience and sanity are not chief characteristics of Razorbacks’ faithful.

Especially in the monied corners.

Of course they have only tacit acknowledgement the game isn’t the same as it was when they inherited their millions 30, 40 years ago. It’s not even the same game as it was 10 years ago. Look at how many lament targeting ejections, the NIL, the transfer portal and the death of the hip drop tackle.

That’s beside the point for now, though. Little fanfare emanates from the Smith Football Center and its surrounding buildings this spring. In fairness, it’s yet another the way the game has changed: 10 years ago, schools were clamoring to pack the houses for spring games before eventually the fans wisened and stopped showing up in record numbers upon realization they were glorified scrimmages tasting of vanilla.

Frankly, the lack of a spotlight is a good thing for Pittman, Bobby Petrino and a football program that could use some time alone to get its act together. The Hogs have to find a quarterback to replace a school legend, a running back to replace the second best the team has had in the last 20 years, a competent offensive line, some linebackers, depth in the secondary, a new kicker and, oh, nevermind, you get it.

Little time remains for the football Razorbacks to stay out of the public’s consciousness. Arkansas baseball being ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation helps tremendously, as does that changing of how spring is handled from a public-relations standpoint. But the Hogs also run the risk of staying nationally irrelevant by avoiding limelight.

The whole thing is a Catch-22. A fan base that badly wants to be in the national conversation (or, at least, not a national joke) but a team that needs to avoid putting itself out there in order to powder its nose and cover its flaws.

As Arkansas enters its sixth, seventh and eighth practices of the spring, the clock is ticking.

Report: Arkansas to hire Petrino disciple Kolby Smith as new RB coach

Arkansas’ coaching staff appears to be shaping up very Petrino-like.

According to a report from 247Sports’ Brandon Marcello, Arkansas has already found its new running backs coach.

Kolby Smith, 39, who has spent the last four years with the Miami Dolphins and who played for Petrino at running back at Louisville, is reportedly set to take over for Jimmy Smith. Jimmy Smith resigned earlier in the week, reportedly to take the same job at Texas Christian where former Arkansas offensive coordinator Kendal Briles runs the Horned Frogs offense.

Kolby Smith isn’t unfamiliar with Fayetteville. He worked as a grauate assistant at Arkansas in 2012 before leaving to work with Petrino at Western Kentucky until 2018. From there, he spent one season as the running backs coach at Rutgers before making his way to the NFL.

Arkansas’ running back room has a lot of bodies, but not a lot of recent production. Rashod Dubinion and Dominique Johnson both return from last year’s roster, but they combined to rush for just 427 yards. The Hogs brought in Utah transfer Ja’Quinden Jackson from Utah and he is expected to be the primary back.

Kolby Smith played three seasons in the NFL, mostly on practice squads, after being taken in the fifth round of the 2007 draft.

With spring football just starting, Arkansas looks to replace RB coach

After four years at Arkansas, running backs coach Jimmy Smith has decided to take TCU job.

Just two days into spring football practice and there is already more turnover on the Arkansas coaching staff.

Jimmy Smith, who has coached the Razorbacks’ running backs since Head Coach Sam Pittman hired him in 2020, has announced that he is leaving for the same position at TCU.

With the obvious connected between Smith and former Arkansas offensive coordinator Kendall Briles, who departed Fayetteville to fill the Horned Frogs’ OC position before last season, the move is understandable.

The loss of Smith is a setback for a Razorbacks program that went just 4-8 last season. But, expectation for an improved offense are rising heading into the 2024 season, as former head coach Bobby Petrino returned to Fayetteville as the offensive coordinator, and hand-picked 6-foot-6 Boise State transfer quarterback Taylen Green out of the portal.

But the value of Smith will be tough to replace, especially with his close ties to Georgia, where the Razorbacks have found success in recruiting the past four years. He is credited with bringing in the Hogs’ likely starting tailback, Rashod Dubinion, a 4-Star recruit out of Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove High School.

Smith also helped land two more 4-Star tailbacks, in redshirt-freshman Florida-native Isaiah Augustave, as well as the recently departed A.J. Green, out of Oklahoma. He was also key in helping develop former Razorback Raheem “Rocket” Sanders into one of the SEC’s top ball-carriers.

Pittman gave Smith his first Power 5 job, after he served one season as the running backs coach at Georgia State. He had previously been the head coach at Cedar Grove High School.

Arkansas will begin an immediate search for Smith’s replacement.

Ranking every SEC offensive coordinator ahead of spring football practices

Ahead of spring football practices, new offensive assistants coupled with returning veteran look to cement their scheme ahead of the 2024 season

The 2024 college footbal season, headlined by an exciting SEC schedule, changes are upon us, led by the expanded 12-team playoff structure which will create much needed parity within a sport that a handful of team has dominated throughout the last decade.

Led by the conference’s expansion, with Texas and Oklahoma set to join the SEC in July, recruiting, NIL, and the transfer portal will make their usual impact, and outside of every head coach, key assistants, especially the offensive coordinator will be depended on the steer the ship when called upon.

This offseason, a bevy of assistant changes throughout the SEC have been made, including new Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko hiring former Kansas State offensive coordinator Collin Klein to the same position, taking over for Bobby Petrino, who departed after Jimbo Fisher’s firing.

Even more entertaining, Petrino has returned to Arkansas as the program’s new OC, where, as you all remember, he served as the Razorbacks head coach for four successful seasons.

Taking a more comprehensive look at the entire conference, here are our complete SEC offensive coordinator rankings ahead of spring football practices this month.

NOTE:Ā Mississippi State has yet to hire an offensive coordinator, and new head coach Jeff Lebby will likely serve in that role.

Arkansas football officially welcomes Bobby Petrino disciple as wide receivers coach

Arkansas officially welcomed Bobby Petrino disciple, Ronnie Fouch, as the program’s next wide receivers coach on Monday.

[autotag]Arkansas football[/autotag] officially welcomed their new wide receivers coach, Ronnie Fouch, to the coaching staff on Monday evening.

Fouch was announced with a post from the team’s official Twitter (X) account with the caption, “Let’s get to work!!!”

The news comes after reports surfaced last week that Fouch would be in line for the vacant position at Arkansas. While Fouch is a relative unknown on a national level, he previously worked with Razorback offensive coordinator [autotag]Bobby Petrino[/autotag] at Louisville and Missouri State.

Fouch joined Missouri Stateā€™s staff in 2020 where he coached running backs. Before that he was a quarterbacks coach in the AAF and quality control assistant at Louisville from 2015-18. During college, he played quarterback at Washington and Indiana State.

The move comes after former Arkansas wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton left to take the same position at Wisconsin under Luke Fickell.

This marks the final hire for [autotag]Sam Pittman[/autotag]’s staff ahead of a critical 2024 season in which the fifth-year head coach is firmly on the hot seat.

Arkansas tabs Petrino disciple as next wide receivers coach, per report

Ronnie Fouch is reportedly set to become Arkansas’ next wide receivers coach.

Bobby Petrino appears to bringining in his guy.

Arkansas is reportedly set to hire Missouri State co-offensive coordinator Ronnie Fouch as wide receivers coach for the Razorbacks. Fouch worked Petrino, Arkansas’ offensive coordinator, both with the Bears and at Louisville.

The hire was needed after Wisconsin reportedly hired Arkansas wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton in late December. Guiton played for Badgers head coach Luke Fickell when Fickell was an assistant at Ohio State. Guiton’s hiring in Madison has not yet been made official.

Nor is Fouch’s at Arkansas. The initial news was first reported by 247Sports.

Fouch joined Missouri State’s staff in 2020 where he coached running backs. Before that he was a quarterbacks coach in the AAF and quality control assistant at Louisville from 2015-18. He played his college football as a quarterback at Washington and Indiana State.

Petrino was named Arkansas’ offensive coordinator just after the 2023 season ended. Head coach Sam Pittman will be going into his fifth year.

Former Texas A&M sophomore WR Jordan Anthony transfers to Arkansas

Sophomore wideout Jordan Anthony announced via X on Tuesday afternoon his decision to play football and run track at Arkansas next season.

Former Texas A&M sophomore wide receiver Jordan Anthony has found his new home in the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Anthony announced his decision via X on Tuesday afternoon to remain in the SEC and play for the Arkansas Razorbacks next season.

The sophomore wideout let all naysayers know while shouting out his beloved mother in the post. Anthony reunites with former Aggies offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, who returned to Arkansas in the same role following the firing of former Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher.

Per ESPN college football senior writer Pete Thamel, Anthony plans to play football and run track for the Razorbacks. He previously did so at Kentucky before transferring to Bryan-College Station in 2023.

Anthony appeared in four games for the Aggies last year, allowing him to take a redshirt season. He transfers to Arkansas with three years of collegiate eligibility remaining.

The Tylertown High School graduate is 5-foot-10, 160 pounds and was a 4-star recruit coming out of Mississippi in 2022. Anthony entered the portal again on Dec. 23 “due to family health issues.”

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