It may come as a shock to some, but Bama doesn’t care who hires Bobby Petrino

Most people—including a sizable majority of my fellow Alabama fans—believe that Bobby Petrino will somehow redeem himself and soon get another opportunity to coach a major college football team. His offensive schemes are too good and he’s been a winner everywhere he’s been at the college level. Guys with credentials like his are just too hard to overlook. Yes, Petrino the man is a character risk but Petrino the coach may make some program willing to take a shot.

With coaching hotseats warming in Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee, there has been a natural rise in the chatter level over Petrino’s chances of returning to the SEC. Arkansas will also likely replace their interim coach, but that door is permanently closed.

The chatter coming from fans of two of the potential candidates (you can probably guess which two) seem to believe that Alabama will somehow pull strings at the SEC office and keep their program from hiring Petrino.

It’s some serious tinfoil hat stuff.

Like most conspiracy theories, this whole notion falls apart when cast in the light of logic and truth.

Petrino was the head coach at Arkansas. That is the only SEC program in a state of about 3.0 million. It is by far the most powerful major college athletics program in that state, in much the same way that LSU dominates Louisiana, and there is no professional football in the state, much like the state Alabama. In Arkansas, UA is king.

That means they get the most donations, they’ve built the best facilities and get the best recruits. They have a long football tradition and have thrived in the SEC.

Yet in four years in Fayetteville, despite all of those resources, recruits and facilities, he went 0-4 against Alabama. His total record with the Razorbacks was 34–17 and 17–15 in the SEC.

In 2008, he lost 49-14 against Alabama at home. It was 35-7 in 2009. In 2010 he lost a close one 24-20. It was back to the blowout 38-14 in 2011. His combined score in those four tries; 146-55. We’ll take 37-14 every year.

Kentucky is a basketball school that keeps football around until November. If they hire Petrino, they’ll be a threat to Tennessee, South Carolina and Mizzou, but never an SEC East contender.

Tennessee is in a state not known for a strong recruiting base and facing some financial issues in the short term. But if they hired Petrino and somehow cobbled the money up to hire a staff, expect the same results that you saw at Arkansas, with annual losses to more physical teams.

Auburn has the disadvantage of being the second SEC program in a state with about 4.0 million. Alabama gets most of the fan following, with surveys perennially showing that football fans in the state holler ROLL TIDE by about a two-to-one margin. If Petrino couldn’t win consistently against powerhouses as the only dog in the state of Arkansas, what makes anyone believe he could do so at a school that’s in the shadow of Tuscaloosa?

Petrino may be a heck of a coach. He may get his life in order and get back on the field. But don’t count on anything other than a “bring it on, y’all” from the Bama Nation. We don’t care where he goes.

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Dear Hog and Vol fans: Forget Bobby Petrino

Dave Hart of Tennessee and Jeff Long of Arkansas are both men of integrity and high professional standards. As such, neither is likely to hire Bobby Petrino to replace your currently embattled head coach.

I’ve seen and heard speculation that both programs have “reached out” to the former Razorback coach and could be in talks to have him come in and rescue their programs. It’s not happening and that’s all so much wishful thinking from impatient fans with active imaginations.

One program, perhaps both, will be in the head coach market at season’s end.

Derek Dooley isn’t a “dead man walking” yet because despite Saturday night’s disappointing loss to the Florida Gators, Tennessee does appear to be an improved team. After two straight embarrassments at Arkansas, John L Smith is certain to take his $800,000 paycheck with him to US Bankruptcy Court.

But Bobby Petrino ain’t walking through that door.

Or, back through that door in the case of the Razorbacks.

To put it bluntly, there isn’t a program that’s had Petrino as its head coach would be willing to take him back. Not Louisville. Not Atlanta and certainly not Arkansas. What should have been a legitimate run at a conference and possibly national titles was totaled along with the Harley-Davidson Petrino dubbed “Hawg Wild” on April Fools Day, 2012.

Arkansas’ 1-2 start isn’t John L Smith’s fault. It’s the fault of a man who put himself before his family, his employer and his team. You don’t want him back and neither does your athletic director.

Tennessee’s previous athletic director might have stooped that low. After all, he’s the same guy who hired Bruce Pearl and Lane Kiffin. But Dave Hart is no Mike Hamilton. Winning is important to Hart, but not at any cost and certainly not with the risks associated with hiring men of known character problems.

Bobby Petrino has a brilliant offensive mind. He is a good football coach who knows how to recruit and develop very good quarterbacks. Somebody somewhere will give him another chance. They’ll roll the dice and sign him up. He will invariably win some football games and then leave his Good Samaritan program holding a bucket of warm spit. He’s done that everywhere he’s been.

Jeff Long has already held that bucket. Dave Hart doesn’t ever want to.

So, Bobby Petrino will coach someplace else next year.

Bank it.

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Sean Payton to Arkansas?

Could Sean Payton be a serious candidate for the Arkansas job as an interim coach?

CBSSports.com’s Will Brinson discusses the possibility with Jon Rothstein on the Tim Brando show, earlier today.

 

Rothstein asks a key question: Why would Arkansas—in the middle of an ugly PR crisis—hire a coach to teach life lessons for one year, when the coach himself is in the middle of perhaps the biggest PR crisis in the history of the NFL?

My sense is that Arkansas briefly considered the possibility and dismissed it because of that very question.

That doesn’t mean athletic director Jeff Long won’t bring in another coach with NFL creds. Another name being tossed around is former 49er and Lions coach Steve Mariucci.

There were reports earlier this week that Long was prepared to name a coach next week, perhaps as early as Monday. Those reports also suggested that Long would promote one of Petrino’s assistants to an interim slot and conduct a full search at the end of the 2012 season. But which assistant would take on the interim tag, risk a disastrous season, and therefore risk his marketability as a future head coach?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to bring in an experienced coach who’s currently out of work, let him attempt to salvage the 2012 season and start anew in December? I don’t see Payton being that guy, but that seems to be the most reasonable approach right now.

Or, maybe Long should go ahead and take my advice and hire Mike Shula.

Full text of Bobby Petrino’s dismissal letter

Presented only for the purposes of posterity.

April 10,2012

VIA PERSONAL DELIVERY

Robert P. Petrino
4518 Bridgewater
Fayetteville, AR 72703

Dear Mr. Petrino:
The purpose of this letter is to notify you that I am terminating your employment as Head Football Coach for cause, as provided in Section 14(f) of your Employment Agreement, effective immediately.

As you know, Section 14(f) provides that your employment may be
terminated for cause for the following reason:

"Otherwise engaging in conduct, as solely determined by the
University, which is clearly contrary to the character and
responsibilities ofa person occupying the position ofHead
Football Coach or which negatively or adversely affects the
reputation of the University or UAF's athletics programs in any
way."

As required by the dismissal procedures attached as Exhibit H to your
Employment Agreement (please see attached copy), I met with you in my
office this morning. At that time, I shared the reasons that I believe exist to
terminate your employment for cause and provided you with an opportunity to
respond to them. At the conclusion of our meeting, I told you that I would
consider your responses and reflect upon the information I gathered during my
review that began on April 5, 2012.

In my professional judgment as Vice Chancellor and Athletics Director, I
believe your conduct has been clearly contrary to the character and
responsibilities required by your position as Head Football Coach, and your
actions have negatively and adversely affected the reputation of the University
of Arkansas within the State of Arkansas and on a national level. Specifically,
I base my determination upon the following facts:

• In a meeting with me, you recommended hiring Jessica Dorrell as
the Student-Athlete Development Coordinator, but you
deliberately failed to tell me that you had engaged in an extramarital
affair with Ms. Dorrell over a period of several months
leading up to your recommendation to hire her. As such, you used
your University position to advance your personal interests in
violation of the University's policies on conflict of interest. If you
had been forthcoming with me about the true nature of your
relationship, I would not have approved the hiring of Ms. Dorrell
for this position.

• Immediately following your accident on Sunday, April 1, 2012, I
believe you deliberately failed to disclose that an employee under
your supervision, Ms. Dorrell, had been a passenger on your
motorcycle, under circumstances when it was incumbent upon you
to be forthcoming about the full truth ofthe matter. Following
your release from the hospital on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, you
insisted on conducting a press conference and attending football
practice afterwards. At the press conference, however, I believe
you were deceitful with our fans and the citizens of the State of
Arkansas in order to conceal the true nature of your relationship
with Ms. Dorrell. In response to a question from a member of the
media as you were leaving the press conference, you falsely
confirmed that no other person was with you at the time of your
accident. In my judgment, you deliberately attempted to create the
impression that no other person was with you at the time of the
accident, and you did nothing to ensure that the public or the
University administration was informed of the truth relating to the
accident.

• In light ofthe fact that Ms. Dorrell was an employee in the
University's football program at the time ofthe accident, I believe
it was highly inappropriate to take her for a motorcycle ride given
your previous intimate relationship. Your actions reflected poor
judgment.

• Despite having multiple opportunities to inform me that Ms.
Dorrell, a current University employee under your direct
supervision, had been a passenger on your motorcycle, you waited
until 3:12 p.m. on Thursday, AprilS, 2012 - just minutes prior to
the public release of the accident report by the Arkansas State
Police - to tell me. Again, your actions reflected a deliberate
failure to be forthcoming about this matter, and you informed me
only when you knew I would learn about it through the release of
the report.

• You admitted giving $20,000 cash to Ms. Dorrell as a "gift." Ms.
Dorrell used the money to purchase a black Acura during the first
week that she worked for the football program. Among other
concerns relating to this "gift," you should have disclosed this fact
to me when you recommended hiring Ms. Dorrell in the football
program, but you failed to do so.

• Your conduct and actions in this matter have generated
volwninous negative media stories and opinions, within Arkansas
and nationally, that have harmed the reputation of the University of
Arkansas and our athletics programs. We are now faced with the
task of restoring the reputation of our institution and our athletics
programs that many individuals and teams have worked hard to
build over the years.

All ofthese facts, individually and collectively, are clearly contrary to the
character and responsibilities of the person occupying the position of the Head
Football Coach - an individual who should serve as a role model and leader
for our student-atWetes. Moreover, all ofthese facts, individually and
collectively, negatively and adversely affect the reputation of the University
as well as our athletics programs. For all of these reasons, therefore, I must
terminate your employment for cause effective immediately. As you will note
in Exhibit H to your Employment Agreement, you have the right to seek a
review ofthis decision. If you wish to do so, please follow the steps outlined
in Exhibit H. In the event additional information becomes available, I reserve
the right to supplement this letter and the grounds for termination.

Due to the compelling public interest in this matter, the University requests
your consent to release this correspondence to the public immediately. Please
call or text me to let me know whether the University may release this letter to
the public immediately.

Obviously, I was very excited when we completed your most recent
Employment Agreement, and I looked forward to a bright future. I recognize
that you are a very talented football coach, but the University may not
disregard your conduct or sacrifice its integrity, reputation and principles. As
a personal matter, I certainly wish you and your family the best in the future.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey P. Long
Vice Chancellor
Director of Athletics

cc: G. David Gearhart, Chancellor

The ridicule of Arkansas fans needs to stop

In the wake of Jeff Long’s firing of Arkansas Razorbacks’ former coach Bobby Petrino, column after column has crossed my Feedly page, castigating that portion of hog fans who rose up in support of the disgraced offensive genius and the program on the cusp of a legitimate challenge for Southeastern Conference and national championship honors.

The worst was from FOXSports’ Thayer Evans, which you can read right here.

Evans—among others—wants Arkansas fans who thought Petrino should be retained to be ashamed of themselves.

People who write garbage like this don’t deserve your clicks because they either (1) fail to understand the passion of the college football fan bases or (2) understand it all quite well and are simply trolling for traffic.

That is intellectually dishonesty, ladies and gentlemen. And don’t let them tell you that they aren’t really fans of any program, any conference, or any sport. People who don’t cop to their biases have no business earning your business.

If that was their school whose coach was facing a crisis threatening his job and their aspirations for championships, there’s a 50/50 chance that they’d fall into the lunatic camp they want to ridicule. There is absolutely no difference between the folks who showed up at last night’s pro-Petrino rally and the sanctimonious writers who pointed and laughed, and they know it. But for the Grace of God, there they go.

In 2003, when Alabama was set to fire Mike Price for his little Arety’s Angels sexcapade, the Bama Nation was divided straight through the middle on whether to keep him or fire him.

In 2004, when Ron Zook was set to be fired at Florida for failing to live up to the expectations set by  legendary predecessor Steve Spurrier, the Gator Nation was divided about halfway.

In 2007, when Alabama was set to fire Mike Shula (the man who replaced Mike Price), how was the fan base divided? About half.

In 2008, when Auburn was set to fire Tommy Tuberville? About half.

In 2011, when Ohio State was set to fire Jim Tressel? Half again.

Penn State’s fan base on keeping or firing Joe Paterno? A little less than half wanted him gone.

I could go on, but I think you get the point.

To this day, there are about two percent of the fans of the schools listed above who think the programs made the wrong decisions. Those fans deserve to be ridiculed and they are, but they’re ridiculed by the people who count—their friends, relatives and fellow message board posters. On an Ohio State message board, I saw a post not long ago from an old schooler who thinks Woody Hayes’ sideline altercation was no big deal.

People like that are a miniscule portion of college sports’ fan bases. No amount of factual basis or logical reasoning ever gets through to them. But the majority of the fans recognize why the decision-makers fell the way they did. They accept the facts, they accept the consequences and they move on even if they disagree with the ultimate outcome.

Arkansas fans are no different and the vast majority of them will have moved on as soon as Petrino’s replacement is named by Long and/or his search committee.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting a winning program, and there will always be people willing to rationalize even the worst behavior if it means keeping the program on a winning trajectory. There’s also nothing wrong with wanting stability even if the trajectory of the program is not quite as vertical as they’d expected. Rationalizing again, they fear the devil they don’t know worse than the devil they do. It’s human nature.

Who could be worse than Mike Shula? Houston Nutt? Tommy Tuberville? Ron Zook? Joe Paterno or Bobby Petrino? The other side asks, who couldn’t be better?

I was one of those who thought Long would at least try to find a way to keep Petrino as the coach. Saddle him with debilitating penalties and pledge to reevaluate the situation at the end of the 2012 season. A lot of Arkansas fans agreed with me. A lot didn’t.

The split was about half.

The difference between me and the knuckleheads who ridiculed those who disagreed is that I knew that but for the Grace of God, there go I.

Would that the Thayer Evans’ of the world ever learn such wisdom.

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Ten reasons why Arkansas should hire Mike Shula

With the firing of head coach Bobby Petrino this week, The Arkansas Razorbacks football program is now in the market for a new head coach.

Jeff Long must hire Mike Shula, and do it yesterday.

The man has been down this path before. He knows how to step in after spring training and take over a team. Not only that, he’s followed in the steps of a philanderer who embarrassed himself and his employer. He’s been there, done that and got the T-shirt. Aside from that no-brainer, Here are ten other reasons why the only logical, sane and obvious choice for the job is former Alabama head coach Mike Shula.

10. Pay no attention to his deer-in-the-headlights performance at his introductory press conference in 2003. The man does coach speak like no other and will articulately explain how Arkansas is “almost there.”

9. Joe Kines is just what the Arkansas defense needs to step up to the next level. Ya just gotta stop that little inside trout.

8. Bob Connelly—aka “Bucket Step Bob”—can come in and immediately show the offensive line how to move their feet and get the hell out of the way. No one bullrushes anymore, right?

7. He’s a players’ coach. He only suspends them when they’ve been really, really bad and gives out ice cream cones after they serve suspensions against lollipop opponents.

6. Dude, have you seen his wife? Jessica Dorrell is small time compared to Shari Shula. He’ll keep his britches on.

5. Knile Davis. Jumbo package. Can’t miss. They’ll have a lot of success with that formation. Trust me on this.

4. He is the son of legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula. No further qualifications needed.

3. He will take the Razorbacks to glorious places. Like Hawai’i. And, Shreveport.

2. Arkansas won’t have to worry about beating Auburn or LSU. It will lose with class, but get its signature wins against Florida.

1. Only Mike Shula and Gerry DiNardo can pave the way for Nick Saban to take over. And Gerry DiNardo ain’t walking through that door.

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Razorbacks’ dance with the devil ends poorly

On Tuesday, the University of Arkansas fired head coach Bobby Petrino, with athletic director Jeff Long explaining that the coach was fired with cause, in part because he engaged in "a pattern of misleading and manipulative behavior."

That behavior included giving his apparent mistress a $20,000 “gift” and hiring her to the Razorback staff outside of normal university hiring procedures. Long held back tears in his evening press conference, saying that “No single individual is bigger than the team, the Razorback football program, or the University of Arkansas."

Long also said Petrino had "multiple opportunities over a four-day period to be forthcoming, and he chose not to."

Give Long a little credit here—Petrino’s run of success had brought tens of millions into the program and made his job as an AD a lot easier. But at the end of the day, Long weighed the deceitfulness against the success and found the former outweighed the latter.

He had to know that this day was coming. No one plays with fire and escapes being burned. When you dance with the devil—and Long certainly did—the price you eventually pay is always steep. Petrino leaves Arkansas much the same way he arrived. He came in under a cloud of controversy and he leaves under one.

Petrino’s actions left Long little room but he does bear some of the blame for creating the environment that let the coach do whatever the hell he wanted. How do you hire a thief and not put controls in place to keep the thief from stealing you blind? How do you not know what he’s doing?

While a lot of people will point to the philandering and lying as the firing pins for the explosion, the real reason why Petrino was canned was the fact that Arkansas had no legal basis for keeping him. Not after the revelation that he hired his mistress over hundreds of other presumably well-qualified candidates for the position of Student Athlete Development Coordinator. Not after the revelation that this wasn’t a one-night stand but a ongoing “inappropriate relationship.” Not after the discovery of a $20,000 gift also made outside of university protocol. The entire web of deceit created such a conflict of interest environment that it put the university at risk.

Petrino’s actions opened the university up to so many different avenues of litigation that there was simply no way to close all of them,protect the institution from financially, politically and publicly damaging litigation and keep the sociopathic offensive genius as the coach.

Petrino thought—like many powerful men do—that he was above reproach. He threw away all of that power, all of that money and all of that opportunity for greatness. He threw it all away for one pretty piece of ass, and he threw it all away long before he laid that Harley down on a lonely, Arkansas country road.

Arkansas and Bobby Petrino are both spinning through the air this week. My bet is that the Razorbacks land on their feet first. Petrino will get another coaching job. He’s a coin-flip’s chance of having really learned from this experience, but somebody desperate for that shot of adrenaline will hire him and take the risk.

The Razorbacks are a well stocked football team. The assistant coaches are top notch and there’s a lot of potential for success going forward, even for the 2012 squad. Whoever steps in—be it an interim named from existing staff or an outsider—walks into a program that’s set to win.

Arkansas football really is a better program than the one Petrino found. Whether it can maintain that success is in serious doubt. They face the same dilemma Alabama found itself in in Spring 2003, when Mike Price was fired for his own set of thinking dominated by the little head. At the time, Alabama was in the depth of NCAA sanctions and there weren’t really many good coaching candidates willing to take on that project after signing day and spring training.

Razorback fans can only hope that the program doesn’t dance with another devil.

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Arkansas can keep Bobby Petrino

Welcome to the United States of America, the land of opportunity and second chances.

As we all are well aware, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino made a series of horrible choices in the weeks (or months) leading up to his fateful motorcycle crash last Sunday evening. He compounded his mistakes by making another set of poor decisions in the aftermath.

Petrino created a job for a knockout 25-year old former Arkansas volleyball player, with whom he was engaged in an “inappropriate relationship.” That young lady was on the back of the motorcycle that Petrino crashed on a lonely country road in Arkansas. In the fog of war and confusion immediately afterwards, Petrino sought to conceal the fact that his honey pot was involved in the accident, even allowing his boss to issue a public statement to the effect that no one else was involved in the crash.

Yesterday’s publication of the official accident report threw everything into the light of day and the folly of Petrino’s choices was laid bare. Petrino was not only dipping his tater tot in the wrong bucket of sauce, he was trying to cover it up.

Looking at things from all sides here: Could the effects of injuries—including pain, shock, fear and even medication—have clouded Petrino’s judgment in the hours after the crash Sunday night? Who can say exactly how they would react in that situation? This is not excuse-making. It’s allowing for mitigating factors that could have led to the man making poor decisions. The crisis was of his own making, but fairness dictates we evaluate mitigating and aggravating factors in weighing the severity of infractions.

Such infractions deserve punishment. In 2003, Alabama President Robert Witt fired new coach Mike Price for somewhat similar indiscretions involving strippers during a golf weekend in northwest Florida. Just a few years before, then Alabama head coach Mike Dubose admitted to an “inappropriate relationship” with a member of the administrative staff. Dubose kept his job and went on to win the 1999 SEC Championship before being dumped in 2000. Alabama docked Dubose two years’ pay and shortened his contract as punishment.

These two incidents provide Arkansas athletic director with all the precedent he needs to either keep Petrino on board, or fire him for what is clearly a terminal offense.

However, this is the land of second chances and despite Petrino’s well-documented character as an  untrustworthy coach, no one ever saw something like this coming. The short-leash attitude towards Petrino always involved him jumping ship to another program. It never envisioned him jumping the bones of a 25-year old hottie.

Petrino may be a coach with a questionable moral center, but he’s a heckuva football coach. He’s a winner, and people tend to give winners second chances. This is especially true when the first offense truly is a first offense. Lots of men in their 50’s start feeling their mortality and succumb to temptations they’ve avoided for most of their adult lives. It happens everywhere, even in a Bible Belt that buckles itself in Fayetteville.

Petrino can be punished—severely—but still be allowed to return. Long can fine the coach hundreds of thousands of dollars. He can issue a reprimand and place him on probation. He can shorten Petrino’s contract and eliminate bonuses. He can make Petrino responsible for the woman’s legal bills (and those won’t be small) and require him to undergo counseling. Those would be harsh, humiliating penalties but they would allow Petrino to remain as the coach while he does his penance.

Arkansas certainly can keep Petrino and my gut feeling is that if there’s anyway Jeff Long can justify keeping the coach he risked so much to hire, he’ll do so. Neither of the dispositions in the cases of the two Alabama coaches’ indiscretions ultimately ended well for the Crimson Tide. But neither of the two coaches had the chops Petrino does. We love second chances, but second chances are for winners.

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Petrino has a Dubose moment

 

Arkansas Bobby Petrino has had a Mike Dubose moment. Late Thursday, he issued the following statement after details emerged regarding his Sunday evening motorcycle crash.

“The state police report today provides an accurate description of my accident, which includes details that had not publicly come to light prior to the report being issued. I regret that I have not publicly acknowledged a passenger on the vehicle. I have been in constant pain, medicated and the circumstances involving the wreck have come out in bits and pieces. That said I certainly had a concern about Jessica Dorrell’s name being revealed. In my press conference, I referred to her simply as ‘a lady’. My concern was to protect my family and a previous inappropriate relationship from becoming public. In hindsight, I showed a serious mistake in judgment when I chose not to be more specific about those details. Today, I’ve acknowledged this previous inappropriate relationship with my family and those within the athletic department administration.

I apologize to my wife, Becky, and our four children, Chancellor (David) Gearhart, Jeff Long, the Board of Trustees, University administration, my coaching staff, student-athletes and the entire state of Arkansas. I have been humbled by the outpouring of concern and get-well wishes. I apologize to the Razorback Nation for the attention my actions have brought to the University of Arkansas and our program. I will fully cooperate with the University throughout this process and my hope is to repair my relationships with my family, my Athletic Director, the Razorback Nation and remain the head coach of the Razorbacks.”

The school has placed Petrino on administrative leave while athletic director Jeff Long conducts an investigation.

"I'm at the beginning of the review. I don't know what I'm going to find," Long said in his own comments.

Welcome to another crazy offseason, y’all. I can certainly sympathize with the Razorback Nation. Bama fans have been there. Twice.

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Nick Saban’s Motorcycle Story

He says he loves adrenaline rushes. Watch him tell a story about the last time he ever rode a motorcycle.
The comments come in response to a question about Bobby Petrino’s motorcycle accident Sunday evening.

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Gus Malzahn spreads the billboard war to the state of Arkansas

Gus Malzahn and his Arkansas State Red Wolves want you to know that they are not fazed by the ongoing billboard hostilities in Mississippi.

Via Chris Bahn at ArkansasSports360.com we have this chilling report:

Gus Malzahn wants increased visibility for the Arkansas State football program.

Recruiting well and winning big will help. And the Red Wolves have something else in mind too.

Billboards positioned above some of the busiest roadways in Arkansas have been unveiled featuring Malzahn and the Red Wolves. It is another facet of an aggressive media and marketing push by ASU as Malzahn begins his first season as coach.

Advertisements have been erected featuring the slogan “Game On” with the “stAte” logo and words “2012 | Red Wolves.” Locations include Stadium Drive in Jonesboro, the 1-40/1-55 split in West Memphis, the Highway 67/I-40 split in Little Rock and the I-30 bridge in Little Rock. Fort Smith and Texarkana are also targeted for ads.

Your move, Bobby Petrino.

Bama secondary vs. Hog receivers should be marquee match-up (Blogger roundtable)

My second installment on al.com’s Blogger Roundtable.

Question 1: What are the key match-ups for Saturday's Alabama-Arkansas game?

The key to Saturday's matchup between Alabama and the visiting Arkansas Razorbacks will come down to how Alabama's secondary matches up to Arkansas' talented wide receivers and how the Arkansas offensive line handles the multiple blitz packages Nick Saban and Kirby Smart have drawn up. The Razorbacks' receiving corps is widely regarded as some of the best in the country. So is the Crimson Tide's secondary. It's going to be a war.

Alabama will have to get pressure on Arkansas sophomore quarterback Tyler Wilson. In last Saturday's game against Troy, Wilson showed youth and inexperience with rushed throws into coverage, giving up a pick-six and throwing errantly on key downs. He's got to make smart throws, get rid of the ball before the pocket collapses and take advantage of receivers in one-on-one coverage.

On the other side of the ball, Alabama needs to win the battle at the line of scrimmage. Bama's offensive philosophy depends far less on the QB than Arkansas' does. The linemen are expected to get to the second level and engage linebackers, opening lanes for Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy. Alabama throws the ball best when it wants to throw, not when it has to throw. Staying ahead of the chains on first and second down are the key.

If Alabama's defense can rattle Wilson and keep him from settling into the pocket, and both Richardson and Lacey have good days running the football, Alabama can beat the Hogs handily. If Wilson gets comfortable throwing the ball and Arkansas somehow bottles up the Tide's TB duo, it's going to be a long day.

Question 2: The wide receiver position is still in flux with the wait for Duron Carter's clearance. What do you expect to see there for the remainder of the season? Will Carter play this year? Can Darius Hanks, Marquis Maze and company carry the load?

The Carter story is puzzling, to say the least. At this point, it's unlikely that he sees the field in a Bama uniform and he ends up taking a redshirt. It's disappointing too, because Carter was expected to shoulder some of the burden carried by Julio Jones last year. Hanks and Maze are both talented, speedy receivers with good hands. Hanks looks like the better receiver and looks like he's blocking a little better than Maze. Recall that one of the strengths Julio brought to the table was his downfield blocking ability on running plays. Bama needs physical receivers who can take it to the DB's and get the runner into the open field.

In passing situations, Alabama likes to spread the ball around. Tight end Michael Williams has been outstanding as a blocker and as a receiver. H-Back Brad Smelley has also performed well. If Arkansas chooses to double Hanks or Maze on deep routes, it's going to leave Smelley or Williams open or in a mismatch against a linebacker. Alabama also likes to throw the ball to the TB coming out of the backfield. It's an offensive system that doesn't rely on one particular position or player to make plays, but to take what the defense is giving and get the ball to whoever the defense can't get to on the play. Having another potential playmaker like Carter would only make it that much easier to do so, but if he's not able to play there are opportunities for other guys.

Look for Alabama to get the ball to freshman DeAndrew White. His teammates had nothing but glowing praise for him during fall camp and he has played sparingly. He played in the opener against Kent State, did not make the field against Penn State and only saw a few snaps against North Texas. Those who think Bama may be "holding something" back for use in bigger games might want to keep an eye on the speedy, sticky-handed receiver.

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