Sep 6, 2025; Little Rock, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino prior tot he game against the Arkansas State Red Wolves at War Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Bobby Petrino is back as the head coach on the Arkansas football sidelines — at least, on a short-term basis.

On Sunday, Sept. 28, Razorbacks athletic director Hunter Yurachek announced that Petrino, the team's offensive coordinator, will serve as the program's interim coach after the program fired Sam Pittman.

"The goal for our football program is to be highly competitive within the Southeastern Conference and compete for a national championship," Yurachek said in a statement. "... We will begin a national search for our next head coach immediately and that search will include Coach Petrino, who has expressed his desire to be a candidate for the full-time job.”

Arkansas, which was humbled by Notre Dame 56-13 on Saturday, Sept. 27, will next play at No. 15 Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 11 after a Week 6 bye. It will mark the first time Petrino will coach the Razorbacks since his infamous exit from the program well over a decade ago.

Here's a look back at Petrino's motorcycle scandal at Arkansas:

Bobby Petrino scandal at Arkansas, revisited

Petrino was fired for cause at Arkansas following a scandal that began unfolding on April 1, 2012.

As noted by the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network, Petrino crashed his motorcycle on a two-lane highway about 20 miles southeast of Fayetteville, Arkansas. He suffered four broken ribs, a cracked vertebra in his neck and numerous facial abrasions.

In a news conference, Petrino said the sun and wind caused him to lose control of his motorcycle. The university said no one else was involved in the accident. A police report, however, revealed that Petrino had someone else on his motorcycle with him: former Arkansas volleyball player Jessica Dorrell, who was 25 years old at the time.

She had recently been hired as the program's player development coordinator.

Then-Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said Petrino — a married father of four — was having an inappropriate relationship with Dorrell for a "significant" period of time, and that he had gifted her $20,000. Petrino was also deemed to have violated the university's affirmative action policy in hiring Dorrell, as the university required a job opening to be posted for at least 30 days before candidates could begin interviewing for the position.

Neither his relationship with Dorrell nor his $20,000 gift were disclosed to Arkansas.

After confirming his relationship with Dorrell and gifting her $20,000, Petrino was placed on administrative leave by Arkansas. He was then fired for cause by Arkansas on April 10, 2012.

"He made the decision, a conscious decision, to mislead the public on Tuesday, and in doing so negatively and adversely affected the reputation of the University of Arkansas and our football program," Long said in a statement. "In short, Coach 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.

"Our expectations of character and integrity in our employees can be no less than what we expect of our students. No single individual is bigger than the team, the Razorback football program of the University of Arkansas."

In a statement following his firing — which kept him from an $18 million buyout he otherwise would have been eligible for — Petrino apologized for his "selfish decisions."

"The simplest response I have is: I'm sorry. These two words seem very inadequate. But that is my heart," Petrino said in a statement. "All I have been able to think about is the number of people I've let down by making selfish decisions. I've taken a lot of criticism in the past. Some deserved, some not deserved.

"This time, I have no one to blame but myself. I chose to engage in an improper relationship. I also made several poor decisions following the end of that relationship and in the aftermath of the accident. I accept full responsibility for what has happened."

When did Bobby Petrino return to Arkansas?

Petrino returned to Arkansas in November 2023 when Pittman hired the former Razorbacks coach to be the program's offensive coordinator. He served as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator for the 2023 season under Jimbo Fisher before Fisher was fired by the Aggies.

Bobby Petrino record at Arkansas

In four seasons at Arkansas from 2008 through 2011, the Razorbacks went 34-17 overall under Petrino. Here's a year-by-year breakdown of how Arkansas fared under Petrino:

  • 2008: 5-7 (2-6 in SEC play)
  • 2009: 8-5 (3-5 in SEC play)
  • 2010: 10-3 (6-2 in SEC play)
  • 2011: 11-2 (6-2 in SEC play)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bobby Petrino motorcycle scandal revisited as Arkansas names him interim coach

Reporting by John Leuzzi, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY

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