Petrino and Gundy Been Around a Long Time but Have Never Coached Against Each Other
STILLWATER – This is not Bobby Petrino’s first rodeo. The head coach that has a career record of 124-61 as a head coach. He has been the head coach at Louisville twice, coached a Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Lamar Jackson. He has been the head coach at Arkansas, and he was a head coach in the National Football League with the Atlanta Falcons. Last fall at Missouri State his team went 0-3 including a wipe out loss at Oklahoma before coming back in the spring and going 5-2, tying for the Missouri Valley Conference Championship and making the Division I FCS playoffs. Believe me that is not an easy turnaround.
Petrino has had his downs with the issue of the young blond female staff assistant and the infamous motorcycle accident. There was the sudden departure out of Atlanta and the letter of regret left in player’s lockers. However, Petrino can coach football. He has spent the past three weeks shaping up his team for another challenge of playing a Division I FBS team in their stadium.
“We have guys that have been through the process, and we have guys that are working hard at perfecting their craft,” Petrino said of the difference between the first game at OU last year and the more prepared team going to Oklahoma State this Saturday. “We get better each day with our technique and our fundamentals. Like I said, we are way ahead at understanding our offense, understanding defenses, and understanding our defense.”
Petrino was still handling some depth chart issues on Monday at his weekly press conference.
“Jason Shelley will start the game for us,” Petrino said at quarterback. “I feel like he had a great camp.”
Shelley is a former FBS Division I quarterback at both Utah and Utah State before transferring to Missouri State after being dismissed from the team at Utah State for violation of team rules. Petrino now has players, quite a few of them that feel like winners.
“We feel there are a lot more than the 11 starters on the team than the 11 that trot out there for the first play,” Petrino said of finishing off some spots where there is still competition on the depth chart. “We are looking forward to the preparation and I feel like our team is excited about the challenge.”
He also has a comfort zone of family around him with his son, Nick, as his offensive coordinator and his son-in-law, Ryan Beard, as his defensive coordinator. For viewers of the television show Bluebloods on CBS where Tom Selleck is the NYC police commissioner and his sons are cops, his dad is a cop, and his daughter is a prosecutor. The show always seems to end with Sunday dinner, and you can guess the subject at the table.
I asked Petrino if that is the way family dinners roll with all the family on his staff. He first had to tell me he isn’t like me and doesn’t watch much sports on television. It turns out he watches Selleck on Bluebloods.
“I’m probably the opposite of you, when I turn the TV on, I don’t watch SportsCenter and so-called experts out there,” he explained. “I sit down and enjoy NCIS, Bluebloods, Yellowstone, shows that are entertaining. We don’t talk a lot of football when we are at the dinner table. It’s one of those things you get away from and enjoy the grandkids. That is what I do, mainly is enjoy the grandkids.”
Fair enough. The head coach on the other side of the field on Saturday in Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy was asked about Petrino and he said he has a healthy respect for the Bears mentor.
"You know I have a lot of respect for him with what he’s done,” Gundy said as he owns a somewhat close 137-67 career record. “I think there’s certain guys across the country that over an extended period of time have proved that they can win and have success. Now, his is a little different in the different places he’s been, but for the most part, everywhere he stopped he’s been successful on offense, his quarterbacks have played well, and he’s won games.
“And he’s done it over an extended period of time,” Gundy continued. “I don’t even know how long he’s done it. You all would know before me, I just know that he’s been coaching, he’s been a head coach for a long time. He’s obviously doing the right things because he’s continued to be a head coach. That’s really what I think of when I hear his name."
Saturday will be the first meeting between the two and that is interesting because they have been going a long time.