Jessica Dorrell Resigns: Arkansas Is at Square One in Wake of Scandal

The Arkansas Razorbacks have washed their hands of the pair that are at the center of the Bobby Petrino scandal, and it is going to set their football program back. 

First, they fired the headliner. Petrino was canned last week. Now Jessica Dorrell, Petrino's alleged mistress, has resigned (via Yahoo). 

Petrino was fired after it was revealed that he and Dorrell had an undisclosed relationship prior to him using his job as the football coach to hire Dorrell as the student-athlete development coordinator

Arkansas has not hesitated to distance themselves from this scandal, and that action will definitely come at the detriment of the football team. 

This all couldn't have come at a worse time. Had it happened during the season, they simply could have appointed an interim coach from the staff, kept the same system and used it all as a rallying point.

Arkansas will have to bring in a new coach. They could promote someone from Petrino's staff. This would greatly reduce the amount of change the players would have to adjust to, but this is not a school that needs to hire an up-and-comer. 

They deserve a big-name coach, and if they want to recruit in the packed SEC they are going to need one. 

Whoever they hire, the coach will want to implement his own system, and he will do so without having had a chance to recruit any of the types of players that will fit his system. 

He also will have to do so without the benefit of spring football. This team is going to have a crash course in the fall, and the steep learning curve is going to cost them victories. 

Arkansas starts off their season with two easy opponents. That will give them a little time to have a soft landing under the new coach, but then in game three they face defending national champions Alabama. 

Arkansas was not left with much of a choice but to fire Petrino. It's just unfortunate for them it happened when it did.