Bobby Petrino will be the next offensive coordinator at UNLV

After four years outside of the FBS since Louisville interim athletics director Vince Tyra relieved him of his duties in November 2018, Bobby Petrino is finally making it back to the big stage. But this time the 61-year-old veteran will be headed to the Mountain West.

The UNLV Rebels named Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom their new head coach on Dec. 6 and the former Missouri head coach (2016-19) is working quickly to assemble a staff in Las Vegas that can help this downtrodden program compete for conference crowns. A big splash was created on Thursday morning.

UNLV is expected to name Missouri State head coach Bobby Petrino their next offensive coordinator. Mountain West after dark just got more interesting.

Bobby Petrino is returning to the FBS ranks as the offensive coordinator at UNLV under new coach Barry Odom, sources tell ESPN. Petrino was head coach at Missouri State the last three seasons. He’s widely regarded as one of the top offensive minds/play-callers in the game.

— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) December 15, 2022

In his most recent FBS stay, Petrino was hired back for a second stint at Louisville after being the head coach there from 2003-06. The former head coach for the Atlanta Falcons (2007) and Arkansas Razorbacks (2008-11) was at Louisville for five seasons (2014-18) and helped the Cards make the transition to the ACC. UofL logged two top 25 finishes in the first four seasons under Petrino and were a legit College Football Playoff contender in 2016 with Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson at quarterback but the bottom fell out once Jackson left for the NFL following the 2017 seasons.

The Cards went just 2-10 in 2018 leading to Petrino’s firing. The head coach landed at Missouri State and spent three seasons (2020-22) in the Missouri Valley taking the Bears to the playoffs twice. Now Petrino gets a chance to return to college football to call plays in the FBS once again.

No one doubts Petrino’s play-calling chops and those will now be on full display in Las Vegas. Expect to see many jokes on social media throughout the season regarding Petrino’s fit in Vegas. Meanwhile, Odom continues his trend of splashy offensive coordinator hires after employing both Josh Heupel and Derek Dooley at Missouri.

UNLV football just became intriguing.