What Arkansas interim head coach Bobby Petrino said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference

What Arkansas interim head coach Bobby Petrino said Wednesday during his appearance on the SEC Coaches Teleconference, ahead of next week’s game against No. 15 Tennessee at Neyland Stadium:

Opening Statement

“We had a team meeting Monday. I thought it went very well. 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. Whether that’s going into the NFL, staying here or transferring, 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. Went out yesterday 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.”

If he’s going to tinker with the Arkansas defensive schemes

“I don’t know if tinker is the right word. What we’re working on is things that we have in the system that we can make our base and get players to understand it better. Get players to play faster. Get all 11 guys on the same field to do their job on every single play and have it all work together. There was a lot of defense-in, there was a lot of assignment errors and confusion, and we’re really working hard at making sure that goes away and we can get lined up, get in a great stance, get our eyes where they belong and play together as a unit.”

If he’s close to making on-field hires

“I’m working hard on it. Moving, working on it now for a couple days. I think I got the guy that I want, but I haven’t had the stamp, okay, move ahead, let’s go yet. But working hard on it.”

Midseason coaching changes, the advantage of making early moves

“I’m not sure you’re asking the right guy on that one. I’m not a big fan of it. I think when you start something, that you try to finish it. You always have to keep the players in mind. But it’s not really up to us as coaches to do that. We’re trying to make sure here that we have our players come into the building every day, have a great attitude, have a great work ethic, enjoy themselves, have fun with it and give them a way that we can win football games. That’s all I know.”

Who is handling coaching linebackers at practice

“We’ve got a couple young guys that have been working there. Obviously, Coach Wilson is splitting some time between the d-line and the linebackers. We’ve got two young graduate assistants that are helping him. Right now, between the two positions, we’ve got three guys and him overseeing it. Sometimes, it’s really good to meet together with the front and the linebackers. One of the huge things we’re working on right now is our run fits. So the ability to install that, watch the video, see how it all works together is not a bad thing. It’s kind of a good thing to have them all in the same room and go through those run fits.”

How the Arkansas staff is handling recruiting

“We’re just trying to continue the relationships that we had. I feel like we did a really good job of recruiting here. We have a good, good group. We do understand that we’re going to lose some guys. That’s the nature of the business. I know there was a guy a couple days ago or the next day that really, really wants to come here, is really interested in this, but mom and dad don’t want him to be left out in the cold, so he decommitted from us. It’s life for them, too. A lot of unanswered questions, we’re just going to continue to build the relationships we have and continue to understand to the young men, it’s about the University of Arkansas and how much you liked it here when you were on your visit and going to school and getting your degree and the football part of it will take care of itself.”

The balance between challenging and providing comfort to the team

“I don’t really know what the balancing act is. I try to let them understand that everybody in the room is feeling some of the things that hurt and don’t feel right. Something that I came here to coach the quarterbacks and coordinate the offense. I came here because Coach Pittman was a man that reached out to me and I developed a really close friendship with him and respect him tremendously, and I woke up and he’s no longer here. So I have the same feelings that a lot of people in the room had. And then we have to understand it, then you try to go out and do something positive for somebody and then get back to what’s important to you before it happened. That’s kind of how I’ve always handled a crisis. Make sure you mourn properly, make sure you do something positive for somebody, then get back to what was important to you before.”

Conversations with QB Taylen Green and other leaders

“Yeah, we’ve had a lot of one-on-one conversations, too. And not just with me. Everybody is trying to get their players in and visit with them one-on-one. The leaders, everybody on the team, really. I was very impressed with the attitude we took the field with yesterday and the work ethic that we had on the field.”

If anybody has transferred

“No. No, we had everybody in the weight room all day yesterday lifting. And everybody was out on the practice field. Everybody attended meetings on time. I think they all understand, and that was one of the things I tried to address with them right off the bat, there’s actually no benefit of going into the transfer portal right now. The only thing it can hurt is you, financially and no ability to go in and play right away and no video on tape to make your transition if you’re going to transfer somewhere marketable. There’s really no reason for anyone to go into the transfer portal and I think once I laid it out that way for the players, they understood it.”

When he will dive into Tennessee preparation

“We got a start on that Sunday evening, early Monday morning. We’ve been working on it. Part of practice yesterday was vs. Tennessee. I always like to on bye weeks go back and work some ones vs. ones, twos vs. twos, and then also have a couple periods a day that are, segments a day I should say, that are vs. Tennessee. It allows you to just work on one emphasis. Like today’s emphasis is going to be third-and-short and third-and-medium. Yesterday was first-and-10 and blitz. It’s just how you break it up and try to get better as individuals and then try to make sure we get a head start on the preparation for the game.”