Just how bad did Notre Dame football whip Arkansas on Saturday? Bad enough that Bobby Petrino is once again the Razorbacks' head coach.
On Sunday morning, following a 56-13 loss at home to the Fighting Irish, Arkansas announced it had fired head coach Sam Pittman. The writing has been on the wall for Pittman for at least a year, as the Razorbacks have never been able to get over the hump.
Notre Dame football dominates Arkansas and ends Sam Pittman era
Pittman even said after the loss to Notre Dame that if he were a fan, he'd be calling for his head. However, even with the writing on the wall, the college football world probably didn't really think that meant that Bobby Petrino would get a second shot as the head man of a program he's embarrassed plenty.
Petrino has been one of the most successful Razorbacks coaches in school history, so on that note, it's not a total shock he was named the interim head coach shortly after Arkansas fired Pittman. He was also the team's offensive coordinator for the last two years. One has to wonder how much he was working to plant the seed behind the scenes.
Still, there's how Petrino left Fayetteville the first time—showing up to a press conference in a neck brace and bandages after a motorcycle wreck. It later surfaced that he'd had an affair with his secretary. And yet, the Razorbacks made it clear he's a real contender for the full-time position, as they begin the search.
Don't look for an apology from Marcus Freeman. He went out of his way to absolutely dismantle and demoralize Pittman's squad on Saturday. His efforts included a fake punt when he was up by 40 points.
One has to wonder if the Notre Dame football head coach would have done things differently if he knew what it would bring.