Bobby Petrino Fired: How This Affects the SEC West in 2012

With 15 returning starters from a team that finished 11-2 and ranked fifth in the nation in 2011, this season was supposed to be the year that Arkansas finally broke through in the notoriously tough SEC West.  

After all, the only teams to defeat the Hogs last season were division foes Alabama and LSU—the two teams that squared off in New Orleans for the national championship—and both the Crimson Tide and the Tigers will visit Fayetteville this fall.  

However, all of those dreams took a massive hit with the firing of head coach Bobby Petrino in the aftermath of the investigation surrounding his motorcycle accident last week—and his relationship with 25-year-old staffer Jessica Dorrell.  

Now, after athletic director Jeff Long’s swift decision in removing Petrino, fans in Fayetteville are left to wonder if a season filled with promise can be restored—and more importantly, who will be in charge of putting the pieces back together? 

The timing of the move couldn’t have been any worse for the Razorbacks—with their own spring game just over a week away and the coaching pool seemingly devoid of any quality candidates capable of exciting a fan base that is metaphorically gasping for air at this point.  

Ironically, if Arkansas takes the interim coaching route, a pair of new assistant hires—defensive coordinator Paul Haynes and assistant head coach Taver Johnson—are the most prominent candidates from within the program, and both were on the Ohio State staff last season after the fallout from the Jim Tressel saga.  

So what does this mean for the SEC West race this fall?  

More than likely, it turns a three-horse race among Arkansas, Alabama and LSU into yet another duel for high stakes between the Crimson Tide and the Bengal Tigers. 

If Arkansas collapses (like the aforementioned Buckeyes, who finished 6-7 in 2011), a team like Auburn—that returns 18 starters from last season—could grab their spot and challenge Alabama and LSU. 

Regardless of what happens going forward, the Arkansas program will need time to heal and cleanse itself of the images and headlines caused by this scandal. 

Arkansas still has a talented squad led by first-team All-SEC quarterback Tyler Wilson, and they will have a little over four months to get adjusted to whatever changes come. 

However, it is hard to imagine the Razorbacks finishing what Petrino started with the architect of its renaissance departing.  

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