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Bobby Petrino hired as head coach at FCS program

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Bobby Petrino will be a head coach in college football again.

Wednesday, multiple outlets reported that Petrino, who was most recently the head coach at Louisville, has been hired to be the head coach at Missouri State, a program at the FCS level. Adam Rittenberg of ESPN was one of many to report the news. A special press conference to introduce Petrino is scheduled for Thursday.

Petrino has been a controversial figure in the coaching world, primarily for how he’s departed programs. He was incredibly successful at Louisville from 2003-06, posting a 41-9 record in four seasons with the Cardinals. After that, he took a job in the NFL as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

Petrino coached the Falcons in 2007, but didn’t make it to the end of the year. With a 3-10 record, Petrino resigned and accepted the head coaching job at Arkansas, and failed to address his Falcons teams personally when he made his decision.

From 2008-11, Petrino was the leader at Arkansas, and led the Razorbacks to a 34-17 record and three-straight bowl appearances. While he was successful on the field, Petrino was involved in a motorcycle accident while a female staff member at Arkansas was with him. He later admitted to having an adulterous relationship with the woman and was later fired.

In 2013, Petrino coached at Western Kentucky for one season before returning to Louisville in 2014. His Cardinals teams were 77-35 in five seasons, but he was fired after 10 games in 2018 as Louisville posted a 2-8 record.

Missouri State finished the 2019 college football season with a 1-10 record.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB