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Here are some other notes and quotes from the newly-hired Illinois offensive coordinator that I didn’t add to the article:
UA football practice on the practice field next to Razorback Stadium cornerback Jerell Norton (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER)
Petrino thinks it’s safe to say there will be no other offense in the Big Ten quite like his, and for Arkansas fans who watch the Illini next season, it’ll look quite familiar.
“It’ll probably be very similar. Each year, by who your quarterback is, you have to adjust it just like at Louisville,” he said. “What we did with Stefan LeFors was a little bit different than what we did with Brian Brohm. Whoever your quarterback is, you build around them. The base foundation of what we do will be exactly the same.”
It will be interesting to see how Petrino’s offense works in the Big Ten, where teams run more zone and zone blitzes than the SEC’s notorious man-to-man coverages.
“You’re on your honeymoon right when you get there,” he said. “The one thing is, when the games start, you have to produce and that will determine how people feel about you.”
Coach Ron Zook was on thin ice after leading Illinois to a 3-9 season, but was guaranteed at least one more year by clearing house and hiring several new assistants.
With that in mind, the honeymoon, even for Petrino, could be short lived if the Illini don’t start seeing improvement in several offensive categories.
Why?
Because Zook is on a short leash.
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Illinois was eighth in scoring offense (24.2 points/game) and 10th in passing offense (193.1 yards/game) in the 11-team Big Ten Conference last season. Those are two areas that will assuredly get a bump with Petrino’s style of football. If not, it could be a short stay for Petrino on Zook’s staff.
“First of all, (we need to) make sure we move the ball and score a lot of points and make sure we get into a bowl game,” Petrino said. “That’s your starting goals. But, as an offensive coordinator, my goal is to always have our offense lead the Big Ten and your ultimate goal is to lead the country in offense.”
Make sure to check out WholeHogSports.com and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more coverage. You can also follow us on Twitter for breaking news updates with @bmarcello and @wholehogsports.
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