|
|
| |
| Sun, Nov. 23, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Petrino, Panthers' coach to speak Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 By Harry King LITTLE ROCK - Bobby Petrino listened to a brief explanation of the Arkansas High School coaching clinic and quickly agreed to talk offense to the group. In the aftermath, there was some conversation about who would do defense for the coaches and the leading candidate was presented as Bo Pelini, the new coach at Nebraska. On Friday, Mike Gillhamer, who coaches safeties for the Carolina Panthers, will do the honors. Gillhamer, who was with Petrino at Louisville in 2003, is also likely to consult with UA coaches about what they are doing. If Petrino X-ed Pelini, good for him - that fence around the state keeps intruders out as well as keeping athletes in. ___ Petrino's passion for preparation has been recited often and here are a couple of examples. You won't drop in on him unannounced. His weekly itinerary is prepared a week in advance and it's full. In his column in the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, David McCollum noted a moment when assistant coach Tim Horton stopped by Petrino's office and the new coach asked him to look through a large binder on his desk. Horton thought it was the playbook. He discovered it was a minute-by-minute outline of the schedule for the Razorbacks' spring practice. I asked Petrino about the genesis of his obsession with preparation and he said, with a laugh, "That's what I believe in." "You have a plan for the week and you work the plan," he said. In light of his preparation, has he ever been surprised by something on the football field? "There's always times when you play teams and they try to come out and do something different and try to change up what they've been doing," he said. "We always felt like there's times on offense when you're doing things right and teams try to do that, and that it helps you because they've only been practicing it for 2 1/2 days as opposed to all through spring ball." ___ Charlie Fiss, now vice president of communications for the Cotton Bowl, was in the UA women's sports information office in 1980-84 - the early years of John McDonnell. In 1982, at Provo, Utah, he was supposed to gather results and dispense them to the media. He also doubled as a photographer although, the 1,500 meters was at night and Fiss did not shoot the moment that Frank O'Mara won. "None of us could believe that we actually won a national title," Fiss said. "It was such a major achievement for the program. Now, looking back, it's sort of like the Beatles recording their first song. We had no idea that this moment would become the start of the Arkansas track dynasty ..." ___ Oops. Reggie Ball will not be the Georgia Tech quarterback as mentioned on Sunday in a column about Petrino's affinity for the option. Ball has completed his eligibility. ___ Before leaving the U.S. Open, one more compliment for setup of Torrey Pines by the U.S. Golf Association Introduced a couple of years ago, the graduated rough is progressively more penal - a very fair concept. The idea of using alternative tees adds some spice. Moving up the 14th to a tempting 267-yard par-four on Sunday offered all sorts of possibilities. So did shortening the par-five 18th almost 50 yards to 527 so that anybody in the field could get home in two if they could only find the fairway. Best of all was softening the sand in the bunkers. Week to week on the PGA Tour, players play comfortably and brilliantly from bunkers with very little sand. Bunkers are supposed to be hazards. They were last week. ------- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
