Thanks to Kentucky’s Open Records Act, the Louisville Courier-Journal has obtained more than 250 emails sent last fall regarding the football program at Kentucky. The emails sent to A.D. Mitch Barnhart reveal that several people wanted Bobby Petrino to replace Joker Phillips in Lexington.

According to the paper, Barnhart received more than 60 emails about Petrino with the vast majority of them supporting the hire.  About a dozen opposed the move. Here’s one mail from a Petrino supporter:

“I am praying night and day that you hire Bobby Petrino. He has made mistakes in the past, but who hasn’t? The Bible says that we are ALL sinners in need of forgiveness. … We are not trying to hire a minister or a social worker. We are hiring a FOOTBALL COACH. … PLEASE Mitch. Be our hero!”

The first email supporting the hire of Mark Stoops showed up in Barnhart’s inbox in October – weeks before Phillips was fired.  A 13-year old fan was the first of two emails backing Stoops.

“I have been to 78 straight UK home games,” wrote the teen, whose name and contact information were redacted by the school. “Please don’t right (sic) me off, I know my stuff.”

Former Kentucky governor John Y. Brown Jr. also got in the act, originally supporting former North Carolina coach Butch Davis.  In one email, he even went so far as to attach Davis’ coaching credentials and references.

“Your selection is a great opportunity to have a new start after nine straight losing coaches and fifty years of losing.  You got a chance to be a hero again so go get the best and give our fans something to be proud of.”

Brown sent another email to UK Board of Trustees Chairman Britt Brockman who forwarded the message to the university president.

“No disrespect to coach (former UK coach Rich) Brooks. He brought a lot of pride to the program, but second-class bowls are not the agenda for my school. … Confidence and attitude and self-esteem are so important for a state, and sports has a lot to do with that. You see what Calipari has done with basketball. It’s just lifted the whole state.

“I think having a great role model as coach and a winning program has more effect than who the governor is.”

Later, Brown appeared to back off his support for Davis, saying the coach’s troubles at North Carolina were “more serious than I was aware.”

A list of minority candidates suggested to Barnhart by the Black Coaches and Administrators included former Oakland Raiders coach Hue Jackson, former Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell and former Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggert.

Barnhart replied to few of the emails sent his way but one name that did catch his eye was former Texas A&M offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who’s now the head coach at Texas Tech.  It’s clear that Barnhart liked what he read.

“Impressive. Just getting started. Your letter gives me some insight into Kliff. May reach out to you to get a number for him.”

The emails cover the period from October 1 through mid-November. Kentucky made the hire of Mark Stoops official on November 27th.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com catches up with Bobby Petrino in Bowling Green, Kentucky where the former Arkansas coach is now in charge of the Western Kentucky program.  It’s a long piece that you can see here.  As you undoubtedly know by now, Petrino was forced out at Arkansas after having an affair with a 25-year old staffer and crashing his motorcycle with her onboard.  As Dodd frames it, Petrino went from “an SEC program with a top-five national ranking to a fifth-place program in the Sun Belt.”

Here were a few of the quotes that caught our eye.

What if he had immediately confessed the affair to Arkansas A.D. Jeff Long?

“There were a lot of things going on that didn’t allow me to do that. I was in the hospital, medicated.”

On son Nick, a student coach at Arkansas last year.  

“I thought it was the hardest thing for him more than anything else. I took something away from him.”

On communicating with his replacement at Arkansas – John L. Smith

“I tried to stay away. I’d send him a text.”

On the kind of program he can create at Western Kentucky

““We can be Boise State. Why not?. We beat them all the time when I was at Idaho.” (That was 1989-91 when Petrino was an assistant)

“My vision for the program is to go to a bowl game every year. I figure I’ve got 14 more years left to go.”

Western Kentucky AD Todd Stewart on Petrino

“We’ve got a guy in the prime of his career. He’s 51 years old and has been to the Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Sugar Bowl in the last six years. Sometimes a school will get somebody like that, but they are 20 years removed.”

Stewart had a binder prepared with 75 candidates when former coach Willie Taggart left for South Florida.  But Petrino was his first choice.  ”He called back in five minutes.”

Petrino’s Hilltoppers are scheduled to open against Kentucky and then face Tennessee the following week this fall.

Former Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino says his facilities at Western Kentucky are “way better than what we had at Arkansas”
Mississippi State has hired former Florida and LSU assistant Billy Gonzales
Georgia is cutting back on the number of football tickets allotted to students for each home game
Now with 14 schools, the SEC broke the seven-million mark in attendance for the first time ever
Kentucky C Nerlens Noel diagnosed with a torn ACL after twisting his knee last night against Florida
Florida pounded Kentucky 69-52 in Gainesville to break the Wildcats’ five-game winning streak
Alabama defeated Georgia 52-35 in Tuscaloosa to snap the Bulldogs’ five-game winning streak
Alabama has suspended four freshman football players who face charges of robbery and/or fraudulent use of a credit card
Georgia football coach Mark Richt will get pay raise boosting his salary to $3.2 million per season
SEC hoops action Wednesday night: Ole Miss at Texas A&M… Tennessee at Vanderbilt… Missouri at Mississippi State… Arkansas at Auburn
Follow the SEC all year long at MrSEC.com and twitter.com/mrsec

We’ll go about today’s catch-ya-up a little bit differently than we have our past coach-search updates.  As so many coaches are on the lists for Arkansas, Auburn and Tennessee, we’ll actually give you some news on each coach rather than on each search.  That might make things easier to follow.

Larry Fedora, North Carolina – An industry source tells MrSEC.com that Fedora feels he was misled by the UNC administration regarding the school’s NCAA issues and academic requirements.  He or his agent began to float his name in connection to a couple of searches and it’s believed he would seriously consider ditching Chapel Hill after one season.  Tennessee is expected to interview one candidate today and both industry and sources in Knoxville tell us Fedora will be that interview.

Jimbo Fisher, Florida State – Expected to be high on the lists of both Auburn and Tennessee, it now appears that Fisher will stay put in Tallahassee.  He had an interview set up with the Volunteers yesterday, but that meeting never occurred.  The reigning ACC champ might have earned himself a raise and a bit more power in Tallahassee simply by having his name tossed about in connection with the AU and UT jobs.  This isn’t a huge surprise as it’s incredibly rare for a traditional national power to lose its coach to another school (unless that school is the coach’s alma mater).  Speaking to an Auburn source this morning, we were told that Fisher was never as high on Auburn’s list as it was once suggested because the school didn’t expect Fisher to move.  (Of course, another Tiger source told MrSEC.com that he was a top candidate, if he would listen.)

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In a move that surprises almost no one, Arkansas made it official today – John L. Smith is out as coach of the Razorbacks.  For the second time in less than a year, Arkansas will be searching for a new head coach.

The Razorbacks finished the season 4-8 under Smith, hired in April to replace Bobby Petrino.

Here are the official statements from A.D. Jeff Long and Smith.

The University says Smith will remain in the department as a consultant through the completion of his 10-month contract. He will assist with the transition to the new coaching staff once a new head coach is named. All assistant coaches have the option to remain a part of the football staff pending the hiring of a new head coach.

CBSSports.com is reporting that Arkansas is expecting to have its new coach in place within the next 10 days.

Aside from Jon Gruden, Bobby Petrino might be the hottest name in the SEC this offseason.  The ex-Arkansas coach who crashed his motorcycle and his career this past April, is getting mentioned in connection with the open job at Kentucky, potential jobs at Auburn and Tennessee, and even at — wait for it — Arkansas.

Ex-Razorback player, ex-Dallas Cowboys coach and current FOX analyst Jimmy Johnson told Jack Arute and Gino Torretta on SiriusXM radio yesterday that perhaps it’s time for Arkansas to re-hire their ex:

“Some people might laugh but I’m serious about it.  If they want an outstanding coach they ought to bring back (Bobby) Petrino or hire Butch Davis (and ex-Johnson assistant and Arkansas native).  And people say, ‘How in the world can you bring back Petrino?’  I said, ‘Listen, you forgave Bill Clinton.’  Forgive the man.  Forgive the man for making a bad decision.  Give him an opportunity to coach again…

He wants to get back into coaching and he’s a great coach and he made a mistake.  This whole country, it’s build on forgiving people and giving them second chances.  And I think the fanbase would love to bring him back.  But if they don’t bring him back?  Butch Davis, give him an opportunity.”

For the record, Davis would be a bit of a reclamation project, too, considering the mess at North Carolina that took place on his watch.

This writer’s all for forgiving Petrino.  He messed up.  Millions of us mess up everyday and many mess up in the same exact way Petrino did.  I’m not big on casting stones at “sinners.”

But the problem is this — If you’re Arkansas AD Jeff Long and this guy could have cost you your job with his actions, would you be quick to hire him and trust him again?  Oh, I don’t think so.  Long might forgive Petrino, but that doesn’t mean he’ll bring him back to Razorback Stadium anytime soon.

That’d take more than forgiveness.  That’d take a near miracle.

Then again, if a few Hog boosters get involved…

Cruel or funny?

I’m guessing if you’re connected to the families of Bobby Petrino or Jessica Dorrell, you’re probably filing this year’s hottest Halloween costume under “cruel.”  And it probably is.  Two adults made a mistake that millions of other adults make, but because one of the mistake-makers was a football coach, their mistake is the joke of jokes for 2012.

While I feel bad for Petrino, Dorrell and their loved ones for having to relive their very public mess-up, I once attended a Halloween party shortly after the death of John Denver with a broken guitar, broken glasses, and a tattered cowboy hat.  So it’s hard for me to call folks out over gallows humor like that displayed by ArkansasSports360.com.

More after the page turn…

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When fans start leaving a game in the second quarter, it’s not a real good sign.  And that’s just what happened during Alabama’s thrashing of free-falling Arkansas.  What’s it mean?  According to Doc Harper of ArkansasSports360.com, it means AD Jeff Long needs to start worrying about the psyche of the Razorback fanbase:

“In a matter of eight days, events have resulted in fans blaming Athletic Director Jeff Long, former coach Bobby Petrino, the current coaches, and some have even blamed players. One has to wonder how much more the Arkansas fan base can absorb. After spending several seasons passionately pining for the removal of Houston Nutt, fans seemed to have the answer to all of their questions in Petrino. After a brief taste of the high life in college football, the program feels like it’s back at square one.”

So it only takes some Arkansas fans eight days and two losses to jump from their beloved cardinal-and-white (and now black and silver, too) ship?  Yes.  Is that an indictment of a fanbase made up frontrunners?  Not really.  It says more about today’s culture than it does about Arkansas fans.

With the prices fans have to pay to go to games, the smallest reason to stay home often leads many to do just that.  In an instant gratification society, the gratification needs to be both instant and constant.  Or else.

Don’t believe me?  Let Nick Saban lose back-to-back games and there would be a few Alabama fans who’d start barking about complacency.  Guaranteed.

As Harper astutely points out, the current situation in Fayetteville could impact who Long brings in as the school’s next coach:  “Now, if the new coach fails to generate instant enthusiasm, will fans have the patience to wait for success?”

The key word in his closing sentence?  Instant.

Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin tried to warn folks.

Even at SEC Media Days Texas A&M’s first-year coach told several reporters that if folks want to make his offense out to be a pass-crazy system, he’d be happy for them to do so.  That’s because he likes to the run the football, too.  Despite the big passing numbers at Houston, Sumlin’s offense does not ignore the run.  And with a mobile quarterback like Johnny Manziel, the pass-run ratio might look a whole lot different than what most SEC fans and media members expected.

Ask Florida’s Will Muschamp:

“You get the illusion that these guys are a passing team, but really they are not.”

In fact, in Saturday’s 20-17 loss to the Gators, the Aggies ran the ball 38 times and threw it just 31 times.  Granted, Manziel — who Muschamp said Texas recruited to play safety — was a redshirt freshman making his first start.  But it’s unlikely A&M will near Houston’s pass-run ratio of 682-to-420 at any point this season.  Not with the Aggies’ deep stable or running backs and Manziel’s mobility.

Bobby Petrino’s offense at Arkansas was viewed as pass-happy, too.  Certainly, the pass set up the run and no one can deny that.  But a fast check of last year’s stats shows that the Razorbacks passed the ball 471 times and ran it 412.  That’s balance (to keep the defense off-balance).  Don’t be surprised if Texas A&M’s numbers at the end of this season more closely resemble Arkansas’ 2011 pass-run ratio than Houston’s 2011 ratio.

Sumlin tried to tell us that all summer.

1. Jim Kleinpeter: “The Honey Badger’s days at LSU are done.”

2. John DeShazier: Mathieu ”doesn’t hold moronic exclusivity because he created a way to get kicked off the No. 1 team in the nation. But it doesn’t take long to call roll in his class.”

3. Scott Rabalais: “Overwhelming gloom and doom is to be expected at times like this, but unfounded.”

4. Stewart Mandel: The LSU offense “could be the difference between being No. 1 in the country or No. 4 in the SEC West.”

5. Glenn Guilbeau: “I am not changing my vote. LSU, which is No. 1 in the preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, is still No. 1 on my ballot.”

6. Bruce Feldman:  ”I still see the Tigers as a top-five team but I’m moving Alabama in front of LSU now.”

7. Tommy Tomlinson: “As great as Mathieu is, the Tigers might go undefeated without him.”

8. Dennis Dodd: “In a preseason poll this close, in a conference this talented, Mathieu absolutely made a difference.” 

9. Mark Schlabach: “LSU lost one of its best players on Friday, and college football fans lost one of the sport’s greatest entertainers.”

10. Matt Hayes: “We build them up, and they eventually fall down. We make them stars, and they eventually are humbled.”

11. Jon Solomon: “At this rate, there could be an All-SEC castoff team. Bobby Petrino would coach once his apology tour ends.”

12. His LSU timeline.

13. Who will fill the void?

14. Other prominent players to receive the boot at LSU.