Bobby Petrino: Former Arkansas Coach's Reputation Continues to Slide

The little shred of dignity Bobby Petrino had went up in smoke on Tuesday, when the University of Arkansas fired him as its football coach.

Petrino, who's had his fair share of bad moments, was fired because he failed to tell Arkansas that he had an affair with 25-year-old Jessica Dorrell, who he personally hired as the student-athlete coordinator last month.

Petrino, married with four children, also revealed that he gave a $20,000 cash payment to Dorrell, although specifics were not given.

This was one of many blunders along Petrino's career path. He interviewed for a coaching position at Auburn University when there wasn't a vacancy, and left the Atlanta Falcons with three games remaining in the season. He didn't even face his players in Atlanta when he departed—he left notes on their lockers.

This is why you hear people tweeting "bad karma" all over the place and very few souls speaking up for Petrino. He burned bridges nearly everywhere he went, and when he had a good thing going at Arkansas, he burned that bridge, too. He finished with a 34-17 record in four seasons with the Razorbacks and was coming off a 29-16 victory against No. 8 Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.

Will Petrino find another job? Of course he will. If you win games, you will find a gig with someone, it's the reality of college football.

But Petrino's days in the NFL are likely over, and I find it hard to believe a top college football program will hire him, either. He now has three strikes against him and that is hard to ignore, no matter how good a coach he is.

Above all, no matter where Petrino lands next, his reputation is officially tarnished. He may win football games down the line, but his legacy on the football field will never be the same because of his "legacy" off the football field. They both go hand-in-hand.

Moral of the story?

You can only betray people's trust so much before it comes back to bite you.