SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Bobby Petrino, a coach with a track record of on-the-field success and off-the-field embarrassments, will be the next coach at Missouri State.
The Springfield-based university said Wednesday that Petrino, 58, will be introduced at a news conference Thursday. He will replace Dave Steckel, who was fired last week after winning just 13 games in five seasons.
Petrino has a 119-56 record in 14 seasons at Arkansas, Western Kentucky and Louisville. He also spent part of one season coaching the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, where he coached 13 games in 2007 before abruptly resigning.
Petrino was 31-9 at Louisville from 2003-06 and took the Cardinals to the Orange Bowl. He left to coach the Falcons, lasted less than a season and took the job at Arkansas. Petrino was 34-17 in four seasons at Arkansas, leading the school to the Sugar Bowl following the 2010 season and a No. 5 final ranking the following season.
That job ended in 2012 when Petrino was fired after a motorcycle accident exposed an extra-marital affair with an athletic department employee and Petrino's lies to his boss.
He made another comeback, resurfacing at Western Kentucky for the 2013 season. The Hilltoppers were 8-4 in his only season there before Petrino returned to Louisville.
Petrino was 36-26 in his second stint with the Cardinals, but it didn't end well. Louisville was 2-8 and in the midst of a seven-game losing streak when he was fired in 2018 following a 54-23 loss to Syracuse. His exit was expensive — Louisville still owed him $14 million.
Missouri State was just 13-42 under Steckel, who previously served as defensive coordinator for Gary Pinkel at Missouri. The Bears play in the Missouri Valley Conference and are part of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision.
Arkansas is scheduled to play Missouri State on Sept. 17, 2022, in Fayetteville.