Bobby Petrino will be reuniting with Arkansas as Sam Pittman’s offensive coordinator next season.

Petrino joined Hogs Plus to talk about the phone call that led to his return to Fayetteville. Jimbo Fisher had Petrino on staff at Texas A&M this season as OC.

Pittman reached out to Petrino asked to speak, and at first Petrino wasn’t sure if Pittman was really interested. However, Petrino noted that the thing that they both had in common was a love for Arkansas football.

“Then all of a sudden, a message comes across my phone that said, ‘Hey coach it’s Sam Pittman, I’d love to talk to you.’ At first, I don’t really know if he does have interest in me,” said Petrino. “But he really was. The thing that we have in common is that we both love Arkansas.”

Petrino said that he’s always been a fan of the Arkansas head coach. He liked how Pittman gave the Razorbacks an identity as a football program.

“I’ve always been a big fan of Coach Pittman and what he did when he came here and how he changed it around and establish an identity of a football team,” said Petrino. “When we played him, it was a lot of fun, I enjoyed that. He’s a good man.”

Just because Arkansas had a down year doesn’t mean that Pittman was doing a good job in Petrino’s eyes. Petrino can’t wait to get started and help Pittman.

“He’s the right man for the job here and he’s doing a good job. Obviously, set back this year, but sometimes when you have setback years like that you’re still doing your best job of coaching,” said Petrino. “There’s just things that happen that don’t end up on the scoreboard. I’m excited to get started and help him.”