Everyone gets hung up on secondary issues here. Like whether hiring someone like Petrino would be an embarrassment to the school.
I think there are 2 real, practical issues from that linked article.
First, you can't trust him. You can't believe anything he says. if you can't trust someone, can't believe their own words, where does that leave you?
"Favorite Petrino story: He was Jaguars' OC in 2001 when I covered them. Sneaked away to Auburn after season without telling Coughlin. (1/2)
— Bart Hubbuch (@HubbuchNYP) January 8, 2014
Coughlin wasn't aware Petrino had left until Auburn announced his hiring. Coughlin was furious, supposedly never spoke to him again. (2/2)
— Bart Hubbuch (@HubbuchNYP) January 8, 2014"
"Petrino lied about having any contact with Auburn officials -- until two reporters for The (Louisville) Courier-Journal confronted him with documentation of the private plane that brought the university president and athletic director into Petrino's backyard. I was one of the two reporters. And even when faced with the evidence, Petrino resisted telling the truth until Auburn issued a statement owning up to the whole affair. Boxed into a corner, Petrino asked forgiveness and chalked it up to the inexperience of a "young coach." Louisville forgave him because he was 9-3 and his offense blew up scoreboards."
"One player, Lawyer Milloy, responds by writing "coward" in red Sharpie on his copy and displaying it for reporters. Three years later, Petrino's defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer, calls Petrino a "gutless bastard."
on and on and on go the examples.....
Second, when he does inevitably leave, you have a mess to clean up. He's only coached at two schools, both had Bobby messes to clean after he left:
Jurich, the Cardinals AD, on the ongoing process of cleaning up Petrino's Louisville mess:
Bobby went to areas where he thought he was strong recruiting and some of them panned out and some didn't. That's the nature of it. But listen, we had to clear out a lot of discipline issues. And our numbers suffered. We cleared 21 kids out of here, and that's a lot. That's a big hit for anybody to take, Eric. I don't know anyone that has. But we want to do things the right way.
Anonymous SEC coaches on the ongoing process of cleaning up Petrino's Arkansas mess:
They are going to be slim in a lot of spots. It's going to take them three years to get a good foundation. It's a product of bad recruiting - which is typical of a Bobby Petrino school. It's the same thing that happened at Louisville that got Steve Kragthorpe fired. Petrino didn't leave him any players. It's the same thing at Arkansas. They have no players on defense. Petrino would load up on offense and leave the cupboard bare. That's why he can't ever get over the hump."
Fool me 600 times, shame on everyone....
