KNOCK ON WOOD : What will Petrino do with Mallett this season?
Posted on Sunday, July 20, 2008
Ryan Mallett may very well be the Arkansas Razorbacks' next great quarterback, but what do the Hogs do with the redshirting star-in-waiting this season ?
Do you send him to the scout team to run opponent's plays for the defense, or do you have him stay with the offense to observe plays to get the hang of the offense, while Casey Dick and whomever turns out to be his back-ups take the snaps in practice ?
I'm not sure how firstyear Razorbacks head football coach Bobby Petrino and Razorbacks quarterback coach Garrick McGee will answer that question, but I'm sure they've put more than just a little thought into it.
Here's another question: Will the Hogs operate with traditional scout teams like the Razorbacks have used in the past ?
During spring practice, Petrino pitted his first-team offense against his firstteam defense and No. 2 s vs. No. 2 s and so on almost exclusively until the Red-White Game. The idea, as Casey Dick informed me, is that steel sharpens steel.
Petrino said his starters would work against each other regularly every day, but I'm guessing the Hogs will divide the team into varsity and scout teams, to simulate plays.
Certainly working against an arm like Mallett's would help the defense, but he might be better off learning the Hogs' new scheme for use in the 2009 season and working with the players who are returning than trying to mimic the opponents' offenses. Or maybe not. With this being Petrino's first season, there are dozens of these type of questions for the curious to ponder until the Hogs begin preseason workouts on Aug. 3.
No Grudge ? Bobby Petrino said he didn't pay attention to the abuse the national media heaped on him after leaving the Atlanta Falcons' head coaching position with three games left in the NFL season to accept the Arkansas Razorbacks' head coaching position.
Petrino wasn't fibbing or he's one of the more forgiving guys around because at 2: 30 p.m. Tuesday, he is scheduled to be a guest on ESPN's "College Football Live," according to an online promo. Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel will be the program's Monday guest according to the promo.
ESPN led the charge in verbally eviscerating Petrino for his decision to leave Atlanta. It will be interesting to see if the network is a bit more balanced in its treatment of Petrino after learning how Falcons owner Arthur Blank played ESPN and other media for sympathy so the sting of losing the head coach wouldn't fall on the franchise.
On Friday, Dec. 7, Blank was OK with his first-year coach moving back into the college game, but when the Federal prosecutors sentenced Michael Vick to 23 months in the pen on Monday, Dec. 10, Blank decided to hold Petrino in place so his organization wouldn't take a second public relations hit in consecutive days.
That's why the Falcons took such a Shermanesque approach in dealing with Petrino's departure.
While it was dirty politics on the part of Blank and the Falcons, I suppose they should be given credit for duping the national media into making the situation into a one-sided story.
Through all of the criticism, Petrino has taken the high road and elected not to speak publicly about the situation, preferring to talk about the future and not the past.
For more background on the story, go to http: // nwanews. com / blogs / slophouse / 2008 / 06 / 05 / petrinoto-arkansas-how-it-reallyhappened /.
SEC on TV If you really want to know what can draw 700 or more sports reporters out of their summer hibernation to Birmingham, Ala., each year, tune into ESPNU Wednesday through Friday this week. ESPNU is televising the coaches' press conferences from SEC Media Days. Florida, Mississippi State, LSU and Vanderbilt are scheduled for interviews beginning at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee are scheduled for their interviews beginning at 8: 30 a.m. Thursday.
Auburn, Kentucky, Arkansas and South Carolina are scheduled for their interviews beginning at 8: 30 a.m. Friday morning.
The Razorbacks should be on the podium at around 10: 40 a.m. Friday morning.
Terry J. Wood is the sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times.
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