Charlotte coaching search: Major update emerges on Bobby Petrino as candidate

The Charlotte 49ers search for a head coach is ongoing. There is, however, one less name that is going to be on that search, as Arkansas Razorbacks offensive coordinator Booby Petrino has withdrawn his name from consideration, per On3’s Pete Nakos.

Prior to his decision to withdraw his name from consideration, Petrino had discussed the job with officials from the school.

Bobby Petrino, now 63 years old, has been an FBS coordinator for the last two seasons with Arkansas and Texas A&M. Prior to that, he had been the head coach at FCS Missouri State. He has also been the head coach for two stints at Louisville and one stint at Western Kentucky, Arkansas, and the Atlanta Falcons. His record as a college head coach is 137-71 while his NFL record is 3-10.

In 1983, Petrino first got into coaching as a graduate assistant at Carroll College, working his way up as an assistant spending time at both college and NFL levels.

Charlotte is searching for a new head coach after making the decision to move on from Biff Poggi during the middle of the 2024 season. In just under two full seasons there, he had a record of 6-16. That came as Charlotte was transitioning into the AAC. Prior to Poggi, the program was led by Will Healy, then seen as an up-and-coming coach, though he struggled to a record of 15-24 in just under four seasons there.

The Charlotte football program first played a game in 1946 but the team was disbanded in 1948. Decades later, in 2006, a push to revive the program began, and in 2013 the program began playing again as an FCS program before making the jump to FBS in 2015. 2019, going 7-6 under Healy, was the only winning season in program history.

With the decision to withdraw from consideration, Bobby Petrino will presumably stay with the Arkansas Razorbacks as the team’s offensive coordinator. However, there are several other open jobs if he is considering another change in his offseason. If he were to stay, it would be the first time he spent multiple seasons as an assistant at the same school since he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 1999-2001.