Emptying the notebook: Petrino talks practice fields, SEC fines, offense

HARRISON — Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino spoke to boosters in Harrison as part of his tour of Razorback Clubs in the region. I had a chance to ask Petrino a few questions and you can read my update, along with some clarifications, concerning quarterback Ryan Mallett‘s broken foot. The article is free and only on WholeHogSports.com.

Below are some notes I filed from Harrison. I’m on my way back to Fayetteville for the night. Enjoy.

Petrino: Practice fields still worrisome
Coach Bobby Petrino was not too pleased when he discovered the practice fields south of Razorback Stadium were not level last season.

A slight incline was slowing his players, and even hindering their vertical jumps. The discovery led to Petrino moving the majority of practices on the artificial surface inside Razorback Stadium, leaving the two adjacent practice fields unused and in the dark during evening practices.

Possible work on leveling the fields has been discussed, Petrino said, but construction has not started.

“We’re doing kind of a plan on what it would take to get them leveled off. That’s just in the real, real early stages,” Petrino said. “I imagine we’ll be on them some in the spring, but the beauty of having field turf in the stadium is we can go in (Razorback Stadium) too a lot more.”

There’s an old story that has been handed down through the years that the practice fields are actually sitting on top of junk cars, buried underneath the dirt. Petrino referenced the story in November and believed the cars were sinking underneath. As a result, the field began to slant.

“Just go stand out there. It’s not very hard to understand,” Petrino said in November.

Just kidding
Bobby Petrino got in hot water last season when he criticized an SEC officiating crew on his TV show after Arkansas’ 23-20 loss to then-No. 1 Florida.

What resulted was a public reprimand from the SEC, which seemingly became a fad with coaches in the conference as Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin and Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen were also slapped on the wrist for publicly criticizing SEC officials.

A fan at Petrino’s speaking engagement in Harrison on Monday asked if SEC officials needed better spectacles Monday, prompting a few jokes from Petrino.

“Are you trying to get me a $30,000 fine?” Petrino asked.

Referencing back to the criticism he doled out on his TV show, Petrino said, “I said just what I thought. I didn’t really know, to be honest with you, that my TV show was fineable. That was a position where, ‘Hey, I’m just talking to the Arkansas fans.’ … But I found out that they watch the TV show.

Petrino then joked, “I think some of those guys in the SEC office need to get a life.”

Petrino later referenced a former Razorback from Harrison, who was famous for wearing thick-rimmed glasses much like that of the Coke bottle glasses worn by television star Drew Carey.

“In the world of Brandon (Burlsworth), we should have a chance to get him some glasses, right?” Petrino said of SEC officials.

Up in the box
Who will sit in the press box on game days next season to help Petrino call offensive plays?

Apparently, not the offensive coordinator as has been the case on Petrino’s staff in recent years.

Newly-hired receivers coach Kris Cinkovich will sit in the booth on game days, Petrino said.

Petrino’s brother, Paul Petrino, sat in the booth on game days but left the Arkansas staff to take the offensive coordinator position at Illinois in December. Quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee was promoted to offensive coordinator, but will most likely not sit in the box with Cinkovich.

“I’ve worked with him before,” Bobby Petrino said. “He’s always traveled around and been to our spring practices. He knows parts of the offense. He’s also been able to add some of the things he knows that we didn’t use in our offense.”

Don’t call it ‘Pistol’
The fad of the ‘Pistol’ offense has swept the nation, but just don’t expect Bobby Petrino to reference the shotgun formation by that name.

Petrino hired friend and former colleague Chris Klenakis away from Nevada this offseason and plans are in place to implement more of the formation, which the staff calls ‘Shot,” at Arkansas. The formation is much like the shotgun, with the quarterback several feet behind center. The only difference is that the running back is not lined alongside the quarterback, and instead is behind the signal caller.

“That’s the beauty of the offense here, is that there’s been a foundation set in stone and it’s been very successful,” Klenakis said. “What we’ve done is take elements of the Shot offense that you apply and you can kind of build the house on that foundation.”

Petrino, who ran implementations of the ‘Shot’ last season, hopes Klenakis strengthens the running game in the formation. Luckily for Klenakis, he has as a strong influence on doing just that as the offensive line coach. Petrino has also coached alongside Klenakis in the past, which should also help the duo.

“Coach K and myself have sat down before and written a playbook together, implemented the offense together and went through it —the hard times, the good times,” said Petrino of his former teammate at Carroll College. “We’ve known each other and the offenses that I have run from that point and time have been very similar, so it’s been a real easy adjustment for him coming in and coaching the offensive line. I like the fact he has coordinator background. He not only knows the run game and what we want to do there, he understands the pass protections and the pass routes.

“It’s a huge thing to get an extra voice in the meeting room.”

Bigger, stronger, faster
All eyes may be on the quarterback battles in the spring, but Petrino is also interested in seeing how his stable of running backs react during drills.

A battle for the No. 1 spot will commence soon, with Ronnie Wingo, Broderick Green, Knile Davis and Dennis Johnson all competing for more snaps.

Wingo weighs in at 230 pounds now, and ran under a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash last week, Petrino said. Meanwhile, Davis has gained weight and is at 220 pounds. Petrino says Davis slightly beat out Wingo’s 40-yard time.

Green returns at 245 pounds, but is “faster.” Meanwhile, Johnson, who impressed in his start and 100-yard rushing performance against then-No. 1 Florida last season, has other issues to focus on.

“We all know Dennis Johnson is very capable of having big games. He just has to get a little more consistent and be able to stay healthy,” Petrino said. “That’s one thing that hurts Dennis. He gets knicked up a little bit. He’s got a little bit of a track mentality in him, where you have to feel like a thoroughbred 100 percent before you can go. At running back, you don’t get a lot of games where you’re 100 percent because you take all the hits.

“Those four guys competing for the position, I think will be an exciting spring. There’s no question about it. “

Speaking of quarterbacks
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Wilson has taken on a leadership role with Ryan Mallett recovering from a broken foot, and a battle for the backup spot will intensify in the spring with a newcomer on campus.

Redshirt freshman Brandon Mitchell will get a shot to prove himself, but will be tested by newcomer Jacoby Walker, who enrolled in January. Mitchell has the tools to impress on first and second down with his arm and feet, but third down conversions have been a problem.

“His biggest challenge and the biggest area he has to improve is his accuracy throwing the ball and his consistency throwing the ball,” Petrino said of Mitchell. “… One of the hardest things about our conference is, (receivers) are not open by a lot.”

Mitchell ran a 4.7 in the 40-yard dash last week, Petrino said. The time is a bit slow for Mitchell, and the coaching staff doesn’t take much stock in what they call “preliminary times” before the start of spring practices.

“Next week I would imagine he would run a 4.6 or 4.62,” Petrino said.

Cutting down the big plays
Arkansas’ defense may have ranked 12th nationally in red zone efficiency, but giving up the big plays is what hurt the Razorbacks last season.

That was apparent in a 52-41 loss to Georgia early in the season, and the 80-yard touchdown the Hogs gave up after climbing within one touchdown of eventual national champion Alabama on the road last season.

“…As an offensive lineman there are times you make a mistake and nobody in the state of Arkansas knows,” Petrino said. “But when I’m back there at corner(back) and I make a mistake, everybody in America knows it because it’s on ESPN that night.”

The difference is maturity this upcoming spring, Petrino explained.

“They have to have no conscious. They have to just line up and play again with no conscious.”

Arkansas will work on defensive principles more than schemes this spring. Arkansas is focusing on shedding blocks, tackling and creating turnovers.

“We don’t say run to the ball any more,” Petrino explained. “We say, run full speed to the ball.”

Open season
Arkansas’ spring practices, scheduled to start March 30, will be open to the public.

The Razorbacks are scheduled to take part in 15 practices, concluding with the annual Red-White scrimmage on April 24 at Razorback Stadium. But don’t expect fall practices to be open to the public or media any time soon.

“If Al Gore didn’t invent the Internet, all our practices would be open,” Petrino said. “Unfortunately, when we get into the season, because of the Internet, we have to close our practices. There’s times where if you didn’t do that, we would get off the practice field and there would be things on the message boards about, ‘Ryan Mallett sprained his ankle today in practice.’ Certainly we don’t want to give our opponents an advantage.”

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.

— Brandon Marcello