Bobby Petrino wanting to make Arkansas players 'marketable' in remaining games

The way Bobby Petrino described it, the Arkansas football team meeting on Monday had some awkward moments. After all, head coach Sam Pittman had been fired a day earlier and Petrino fired three defensive coaches after being named interim head coach. 

Still, as he explained, it was a net positive moving forward for the Razorbacks.

“I thought it went very well,” Petrino said Wednesday on the SEC Coaches Teleconference. “Got a lot on the table. There were actually some hurt feelings, obviously, with Coach Pittman not being here anymore, couple of the defensive guys not being here anymore. 

“I understand that and the players understand that they need to move on and have a great finish to the next nine weeks so that they can be marketable.” 

Up Next: No. 15 Tennessee vs. Arkansas, October 11

No. 15 Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC) is how Arkansas (2-3, 1-1) will have to move on, with the Razorbacks facing the Vols next Saturday (4:15 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium after both teams have open dates this week. 

The next step, wherever that may be, in Petrino’s goal for the roster he inherited. 

“Whether that’s going into the NFL, staying here or transferring,” he said, “they need to have a very, very productive nine weeks as do I and the assistant coaches. We’ve just been trying to focus on that.”

Pittman hired Petrino, the former Arkansas head coach, as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach last season. 

On Monday Petrino fired defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson.  He promoted assistant defensive line coach Chris Wilson to defensive coordinator and running backs coach Kolby Smith as offensive coordinator, while retaining offensive play-calling duties himself. 

‘The effort and attitude was there and I was encouraged by what I saw’

Arkansas has lost three straight games, with the 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame proving to be too much for Pittman to overcome. The Razorbacks trailed 42-10 in the second quarter and gave up 420 yards of total offense, a week removed from giving up a 28-10 lead in a 32-31 loss at Arkansas. 

The losing skid started with a 41-35 loss at Ole Miss.

“Went out yesterday,” Petrino said, “and I felt like we had a good practice. There was a great attitude out there. Guys were going full speed. Still got a lot of things to work on, a lot of things to get better at, but the effort and attitude was there and I was encouraged by what I saw.”

Arkansas is splitting time during the bye week, with the Razorbacks both working on themselves and preparing for the Tennessee game next week. 

“Part of practice (on Tuesday) was vs. Tennessee,” Petrino said. “I always like to, on bye weeks, go back and work some ones vs. ones, twos vs. twos, and then also have a couple segments a day that are vs. Tennessee. It allows you to just work on one emphasis.”