Razorback report
said. “It’s on my bucket list to be able to slalom when I’m 70, so I’ve got to keep working on that and make sure I’m in good enough shape.”
Petrino said golfing is still in his plans.
“I’ve lost a lot of balls at Blessings, so maybe if I get to play that sometime I’ll find a few of them that I left out there,” he said.
‘Max’ing out
Sophomore punter Max Fletcher posted a 46.9 yard average on 59 punts to rank sixth in the nation and third in the SEC. The 6-5, 174-pound sophomore from Melbourne, Australia, had the secondbest single-season average in school history, trailing only Greg Horne’s 47.2-yard average in 1986. Fletcher’s averaged edged the 46.5 yard average in 1980 by Steve Cox, a current member of the UA Board of Trustees, for second place.
Sign stealing
Asked for his opinion on the sign-stealing flap that raged through college football this season, Bobby Petrino dropped this little nugget.
“Honestly I didn’t pay any attention to it,” Petrino said of this year’s scandal involving Michigan. “But I do know when you went and played
Clemson they were going to have your signals. Guys on the sideline standing there with the sheet of paper with your signals on it. And that was tough.”
Petrino said hearing devices in helmets for signaling in plays should have been implemented a long time ago.
“The SEC and the ACC have talked for years about putting a piece in the ear, and one of the issues you always have in the NCAA is everybody has a vote,” he said. “There’s a lot of schools that play football that can outvote the major conferences that don’t have the money for that technology to be in their helmets. It’s become more and more relevant throughout the years that I’ve been in about stealing signals and calling defenses and offenses that way.”
‘Most special’
Bobby Petrino said he dreamed about being back at Arkansas following his dismissal for cause in 2012.
“I didn’t know if it would ever happen, so certainly I can’t tell you how excited I am to be back here,” Petrino said.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun. I truly do love Arkansas, the university and the state and the people. I think it’s the most special place I’ve ever been.”
Special center
Bobby Petrino was involved in the ground-breaking ceremony for the Fred Smith Football Center but he never had an office in the building after his firing in April 2012.
Petrino took a tour of the building on Wednesday.
“It was fun to walk through it and see it,” he said. “I took my own tour, I guess. I rounded up one of the young guys and said, ‘Hey, take me through the building here and show me around.’ ”
Props to Barry
Coach Sam Pittman gave a shout-out to his former defensive coordinator Barry Odom, who left last winter to take over the head coaching position at UNLV.
The Rebels captured a three-way share of the Mountain West Conference championship with Boise State and San Jose State and faced the Broncos in Saturday’s MWC championship game.
“Obviously, congratulations to him,” Pittman said when talking about how Bobby Petrino could be someone to lean on like Odom. “You know, they’re playing in the championship game. Just really happy for him.”