I don't know if you meant it, but I find extreme irony here.
JR - I see where Nutt's teams finished as high as 17th in a couple of years. Petrino just surpassed that easily the last 2 years. I defended Nutt, but what Bobby did the last 2 years was more than what Nutt did.
"Relevant" is subjective I guess. Nutt managed to win the west once, and tie for 1st 2 other times. Petrino has won more games, but yet to be "relevant" in the west beyond one "tie for 2nd".
He also consistently has at least 3 wins built in in non-conf. play. At Ark: W. Ill., La Monroe, Tulsa, Missouri St. x2, E. Mich., Troy x2, TN Tech., UL Monroe, UTEP New Mexico account for 12 of his 32 wins there. Then he's got Ole Miss, MSU, and So. Car every year, and account for 8 more wins over that time. Not always gimmes, but, you get the picture. He's beaten the following ranked teams: 2008- #18 Tulsa and #23 Auburn (2-3 vs ranked teams), 2009: #17 Auburn (1-4 vs Ranked teams), 2010: #6 LSU, #18 So. Car., #22 MSU (3-3 vs ranked teams), 2011: #14 aTm, #10 So. Car. (3-2 vs Ranked teams). Of those "ranked teams" I can think of 3 that wound up .500 teams or worse by the end of the season.
Bobby Petrino is a good football coach. He's, IMHO, over-performing based on his recruiting. He manages to get a key player or 2 to make plays on an otherwise nameless roster. But he's not beating the big boys, and not yet competing for the west, and I don't think he ever will with his recruiting. He's set up to win 10 games a year, and go to a decent bowl every year, but he'll never be "relevant" beyond that at Ark.
In a way, he's kind of doing it with smoke and mirrors much like what Tubs did at Ole Miss, only Ark is a step above Ole Miss as a program.
He's got them as relevant as they'll ever be. Oh by the way, LSU and bammer aint backing down anytime soon, and Auburn is getting better quick. It won't get any better for him.
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