New Arkansas OC Bobby Petrino wants to 'make it right' after messy exit - ESPN

Only in his dreams did Bobby Petrino think he'd ever return to Arkansas to coach football. More than a decade after being fired as head coach for cause, however, he's returning as the Hogs' offensive coordinator.

«It's something I hoped would happen. Wasn't sure if it ever would, but it is a dream come true to be able to go back to the University of Arkansas and do anything I possibly can to make it right this time,» Petrino told ESPN on Wednesday. «I'm grateful to coach [Sam] Pittman and [athletic director] Hunter Yurachek for making it happen.»

Petrino, as Arkansas' head coach from 2008 to 2011, guided the Razorbacks to their most successful two-season stretch since the Frank Broyles days in the 1960s. The Hogs won 10 games in 2010 and 11 games in 2011 and capped that season with a Cotton Bowl victory and No. 5 ranking in the final polls.

It's the only time since Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992 that it had put together back-to-back winning records (6-2) in SEC league play.

But that next April, a motorcycle crash involving Petrino revealed an extramarital affair he was having with a female staffer that he had hired in the football office. After an investigation, Petrino was fired for cause when then-athletic director Jeff Long said Petrino lied to school officials during the process.

Petrino, who received a three-year contract and will make $1.35 million in 2024 and $1.6 million in 2025 and 2026, understands that much will be made about his ugly exit now that he's back, but he told ESPN that he sees this as a chance to help make amends to all the people he let down.

«I'm more excited than anything, just to be able to go back and give back to all the great people of Arkansas,» Petrino said. «I can't do anything about the