Petrino learns he's not bigger than Arkansas footb...

Petrino learns he's not bigger than Arkansas footb...

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Bobby Petrino is having a difficult time holding his head up amid Tuesday's firing as Arkansas head football coach.

Bobby Petrino thought he was bigger than the Arkansas football program.

On Tuesday, he found out otherwise.

Petrino rejuvenated the Razorbacks and made them significant in the most difficult league in the country, fashioning a 21-5 record the past two seasons and leading the program to its BCS game. But off the field, his selfish actions cost him his plum coaching job.

PETRINO FIRED AS ARKANSAS FOOTBALL COACH

The school dismissed the 51-year old Petrino, saying he engaged in reckless behavior that included hiring his 25-year old mistress and then intentionally misleading his superiors about everything from their relationship to her presence at a motorcycle accident that ultimately cost him his job.

He made the decision to mislead the public and adversely affected the university and the football program, athletic director Jeff Long said at a news conference Tuesday night. He added that there was a pattern of misleading and manipulative behavior to deceive me.

Long was in tears as he talked about telling the players the news. Some of the more rabid Razorback fans, who bombarded Longs office with e-mails of support, are bound to be upset. But he had the integrity to do the right thing, the only thing he could do, given the circumstances.

Petrino, the married father of four, does not deserve your tears or your sympathy. He had the hubris to thi nk he could fly too close to the sun without getting burned. Petrino was injured in the April 1 motorcycle accident. He was put on paid leave last week after admitting he lied about the presence of Jessica Dorrell, who had been riding with him.

Long said his investigation, which took less than a week, found that Petrino had even given Dorrell $ 20,000 at one point, though he wouldnt disclose what it was for. He also said Petrino was fired with cause meaning he will not receive a multimillion-dollar buyout and there were no discussions about ways to keep the coach at Arkansas.

As for Dorrell, a former Arkansas volleyball player who graduated in 2008 and was engaged to be married to the Arkansas swim director this summer, she had recently been chosen over 159 other applicants for the job as the student-athlete development coordinator in the football office. She is destined to become a footnote in Petrinos successful but tainted career.

Petrino can requ est a review of termination. Good luck with that.

Petrino has been a vagabond who has gone through 14 jobs in the past 27 years and has a reputation for being a loose cannon who has proven time and again that he cannot be trusted.