Bobby Petrino has wasted little time showing Razorback fans and the rest of the college football world why he ranks among the most successful coaches in NCAA Bowl Subdivision football.

Entering his sixth season as a collegiate head coach and his second at Arkansas, Petrino has compiled a remarkable 46-16 record. His .742 winning percentage ranks seventh among all active Bowl Subdivision coaches.

Petrino's collegiate head coaching resume includes leading his teams to four bowl game appearances, including a victory in the Bowl Championship Series' 2006 FedEx Orange Bowl in his ultra-successful four-year tenure at the University of Louisville.

Petrino blends 22 years of collegiate coaching experience with stints in the National Football League as both a head coach and assistant coach to total 26 years of coaching experience. In addition to Louisville, Petrino's college experience includes stops at Arizona State University, the University of Nevada, Utah State University and Auburn University. His NFL coaching tenures have come with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Atlanta Falcons.

Long before his first game as head football coach at the University of Arkansas, Petrino's positive impact on a tradition-rich Arkansas program and a passionate Razorback fan base was abundantly evident. From the boisterous welcome offered from assembled fans at a late-night nationally- televised press conference announcing his hiring, to the record attendance numbers at Razorback Clubs in all corners of the state, there was no question that Petrino's arrival in Fayetteville energized and unified the state behind their beloved Razorback football program.                       

Petrino's fingerprints on the Razorback football program were also recognizable on the field in his first season as the Razorbacks' head coach. Arkansas showed vast improvement in all phases of the game from the season opener to the memorable season finale.

Petrino's commitment to an aggressive offensive approach, execution, balance, discipline and the sound principles of defense had clearly taken hold at Arkansas.

In 2008, Petrino faced the prospects of rebuilding a team and re-structuring a program after the loss of 13 starters, including arguably the two most prolific offensive players in school history. Petrino responded by guiding the Razorbacks to a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents (No. 20 Auburn and No. 19 Tulsa) and a thrilling come-from-behind win over the defending national champions (LSU) at the conclusion of the toughest schedule in school history.

In the process, Arkansas set six school passing records, boasted the most productive tight end in Razorback history, John Mackey Award semifinalist D.J. Williams, and featured a 1,000-yard rusher in Michael Smith. Arkansas quarterbacks produced four 300-yard passing games in 2008. Only nine times in the 114-year history of Razorback Football had the feat been previously accomplished.

Petrino's reputation for engineering high-octane and quick-strike offenses is well deserved. His teams have consistently ranked among the nation's best in total offense and scoring. Although sometimes perceived as a coach that focuses primarily on the passing game, in reality Petrino adheres to the philosophy of balance between offensive production on the ground and through the air. Consider that in the last 11 years of his college coaching career spent as a head coach, an offensive coordinator or both, Petrino's offenses have boasted 76 100-yard rushers and 45 300-yard passers. That equates to 121 defining offensive individual performances in 132 total games.

In his coaching career, Petrino has worked with countless players who went on to play professionally, including an impressive list of NFL quarterbacks. As a head coach, he helped develop quarterbacks Stefan LeFors (2003-04) and Brian Brohm (2004-06) at Louisville. As a coordinator or assistant, he tutored Jason Campbell at Auburn (2002), Chris Redman at Louisville (1998), Jake Plummer at Arizona State (1993), and Doug Nussmeier (1990-91) and John Friesz (1989) at Idaho.

On Dec. 11, 2007, Petrino was named the 30th head coach in Razorback football history. The announcement marked Petrino's return to college football, the very landscape that put him on the coaching map.

Prior to his tenure as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons during the 2007 season, Petrino coached four seasons (2003-06) at Louisville. His teams posted a combined record of 41-9 in his tenure for a winning percentage of .820.

In 2006, Petrino guided the Cardinals to a 12-1 record, including a 24-13 win over nationally-ranked Wake Forest in the BCS FedEx Orange Bowl. Louisville vaulted to as high as No. 3 in the polls during the season and finished with a final No. 6 national ranking in the Associated Press poll, the highest ranking in school history. Louisville had three victories over top-15 ranked teams, including wins over No. 15 Miami (31-7), No. 3 West Virginia (44-34) and No. 12 Wake Forest (24-13). The 12 victories also set a new school mark, breaking a record Petrino had held in part previously with 11 wins in 2004. The Cardinals won their first Big East Conference title, ranked second in the nation in total yards (475.3 yards per game) and fourth in the nation in scoring offense (37.8 points per game). Louisville also led the Big East in pass offense average (290.0) and first downs (296). Seven Louisville players earned first-team All-Big East honors, the most of any league school.

In 2005, Petrino led Louisville into the Big East Conference and guided the Cardinals to a 9-3 record and their first New Year's Day Bowl game since 1991. Louisville ranked ninth in the nation in total offense (482.1) and third in the nation in scoring offense (43.4). The Cardinals scored at least 30 points in 11 of 12 games, including eight games of more than 40 points, four games of 50 or more points and three 60-point outings. Seven Cardinals earned All-Big East honors in the school's first year in the league, including Bronko Nagurski and Ted Hendricks Award winner Elvis Dumervil. Dumervil led the nation in sacks (20) and forced fumbles (10) on his way to consensus All-America honors. Running back Michael Bush led the nation in scoring (14.4), scored 24 touchdowns and became the school's first 1,000-yard rusher since 1999.

Petrino's 2004 Louisville team went 11-1, won the Conference USA championship and beat No. 10 Boise State in the Liberty Bowl, 44-40, to end the season ranked No. 7. The Cardinals led the nation in total offense (539.0) and scoring offense (49.8), surpassed 40 points nine times, scored 50 points seven times and set an NCAA record by scoring 55 or more points in five-straight games.

Petrino tied a then-school record for most wins in a season and had a perfect 8-0 record in league play. The Cardinals outscored their conference opponents 453-156 on their way to the school's third Conference USA crown. In the process, school records fell in points scored (597), points per game (49.8), total offense (6,448), touchdowns (80), rushing yardage (3,005), rushing touchdowns (47) and completion percentage (71.3). Under Petrino's tutelage, quarterback Stefan LeFors led the nation in completion percentage (73.5) and passing efficiency (181.74), narrowly missing NCAA records in both categories. The gaudy offensive production also allowed placekicker Arthur Carmody to set an NCAA single-season record with 77-consecutive extra points. Defensively, Louisville led the league and ranked No. 15 in the nation in total defense. The Cardinals were one of only three teams to rank in the top 15 nationally in both total offense and total defense. Louisville had the best combined ranking of any team when taking into account both sides of the ball. For his efforts, Petrino was named the 2004 Conference USA Coach of the Year. The groundwork for the record-setting success to come was laid in Petrino's first season as a head coach at Louisville in 2003. Taking over a team that had finished 7-6 the season before, Petrino guided the Cardinals to a 9-4 record and a GMAC Bowl berth. The nine wins were the most by a first-year Louisville coach. It didn't take long for Petrino to set the tone in his first collegiate coaching stint. In his first career game as a head coach, Petrino led Louisville to a 40-24 win over arch rival Kentucky. Louisville led the league and ranked among the nation's best in total offense, rushing and scoring. The Cardinals ranked fifth in the nation in total offense (488.9), 10th in rushing (228.2) and 15th in scoring offense (34.6) in Petrino's inaugural season. Louisville set six Conference USA records including the mark for total yards after the Cardinals raked up 779 yards, including 445 rushing yards, in a 66-45 win over Houston.

Prior to Louisville hiring him as its head coach, Petrino served one season as the offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2002. In his one season with the Tigers, Auburn went 9-4, including three wins over top-10 ranked opponents, and won a share of the SEC Western Division title. The Tigers led the Southeastern Conference in pass efficiency and third down conversions, and were third in scoring, rushing and total offense. Petrino's influence on Auburn's offensive fortunes resulted in significant improvement as the Tigers improved to No. 31 nationally in scoring offense (31.3) and No. 38 in total offense (358.8) after finishing No. 86 and No. 73 in the same two categories, respectively, in 2001. Auburn completed its season with a victory over No. 10 Penn State on New Year's Day in the Capital One Bowl.

Before going to Auburn, he spent three seasons in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was the quarterbacks coach in 1999 and 2000, and the offensive coordinator in 2001. While with the Jaguars, he worked with quarterback Mark Brunell, who threw for 3,640 yards in 2000, which was the second-highest total in team history, and 3,309 yards in his 2001 season as offensive coordinator. In 1999, Jacksonville advanced to the AFC Championship Game. In his first stint at Louisville, he was the offensive coordinator for the Cardinals in 1998. In that one season, Louisville was the top-ranked NCAA Division I-A team in scoring and total offense while recording the biggest turnaround in the nation. The Cardinals improved from 1-10 in 1997 to 7-5 in '98.

Petrino and quarterback Chris Redman helped the Cardinals set school records for points scored (444), scoring average (40.4), touchdowns (62), passing yards (4,498), passing touchdowns (33) and total yards (6,156). Redmen passed for 300 yards or more eight times on the season while reserve quarterback Mike Watkins also topped the 300-yard passing mark once. Louisville scored 60 or more points three times that season (wins over Cincinnati, 62-19; Western Kentucky, 63-44; and East Carolina, 63-45).

The Helena, Mont., native was the offensive coordinator at Utah State for three years (1995-97) before going to Louisville. While in Logan, Utah, he helped Utah State set school records by averaging 468.5 yards of total offense and 317.5 yards passing during the 1996 season. Prior to his arrival, USU averaged just more than 300 yards per game in total offense. In 1996, the Aggies also racked up a school-record 273 first downs, an average of nearly 25 first downs a game.

In 1994, he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Nevada. The Wolfpack ranked second in the nation in passing (330) and total offense (500) per game, and was third in the nation with 37.6 points a game. During his one-year stint at Nevada, the Wolfpack boasted 10 100-yardrushing performances and six 300-yard passing efforts.  Nevada posted a 9-2 record and won a share of the Big West Conference title.

In 1992 and '93, he was the quarterbacks coach at Arizona State where he assisted in the development of future All-American and NFL star Jake Plummer. While with the Sun Devils, Petrino also worked with then-ASU quarterback and current UA quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee.

Prior to his two years at Arizona State he was the quarterbacks coach (1989) and offensive coordinator (1990 & 1991) for three seasons at the University of Idaho. He was the wide receivers coach at Weber State in 1987 and '88.

Petrino literally grew up in the coaching profession. His father, Bob Petrino Sr., coached at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., for 26 seasons, earning 163 victories and 15 conference titles. As a child, Petrino Jr. would race after school to the practice field to observe his father during his legendary career.

Bobby Petrino officially started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for his father at Carroll College in 1983. After a graduate assistant stint as quarterbacks coach at Weber State in 1984, Petrino returned to be the offensive coordinator for his father in 1985-86. Carroll had the top-ranked offense in the NAIA ranks in both of his seasons, thanks in large part to the play of Bobby Petrino's younger brother Paul, who was a four-year starter at quarterback at Carroll College. Paul Petrino now serves as Arkansas' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Before Bobby Petrino coached for his father, he played football for him at Carroll College. Petrino played quarterback and twice earned NAIA All-America honors. He led the Fighting Saints to three straight Frontier Conference championships and was named the league's most valuable player in 1981 and 1982. He also played four years of basketball at Carroll. Petrino earned a bachelor's degree in physical education with a minor in mathematics from Carroll College in 1983.

Born March 10, 1961, Petrino and his wife, the former Becky Schaff, have four children: Kelsey, Nick, Bobby and Katie. Nick and Bobby are members of the Razorback football team.