Handing out the Grades: Arkansas

With the end of each college football season, there comes the hiring and firings as schools evaluate their program and whether they meet their expectations. Hiring a new coach is a dicey process and making the right or wrong hire will determine the success of the program over the next 10 years. Let’s look at this winter’s changes and hand out the grades.

Arkansas (8-4)
- Despite going 8-4 this season, following at 10-4 campaign in 2006, Arkansas felt it was time for Houston Nutt to move on after 10 seasons with the Razorbacks. The Arkansas faithful feel that they are the program where dreams come true, and obviously Houston Nutt wasn’t bring home the back, to back, to back AAU National Championships that Tom Emanski had promised them. So after a coaching search that turned up rejection from the likes of Butch Davis, Tommy Bowden, Tommy Tubberville, and Jim Grobe, the program that enjoys drama more than any other, settled on their own controversial candidate, Bobby Petrino.

Petrino is a great hire for the Razorbacks, who will be able to recruit in the competitive SEC, and will be able to bring some balance to the spread running attack that Arkansas used this season. Well, Petrino will be a great hire for the three years he will spend at Arkansas before moving on to greener pastures. The program should be more stable under Petrino’s guiding hand, and if the Razorbacks start the search for a replacement while Petrino is still their coach, it should work out perfectly.

Grade: B+