Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino speaks during a news conference at a Fayetteville, Ark., on Tuesday, April 3, 2012, after being released from a hospital after he was injured in a motorcycle accident on Sunday, April 1. The 51-year-old says he was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, which occurred on Arkansas Highway 16 in Madison County _ about 20 miles southeast of Fayetteville. State law does not require an adult rider wear a helmet. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)By KURT VOIGT, AP Sports Writer
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas fired coach Bobby Petrino on Tuesday, saying he engaged in reckless behavior that included hiring his mistress and then intentionally misleading his bosses about everything from their relationship to her presence at the motorcycle accident that ultimately cost him his job.
“He made the decision to mislead the public, (and it) adversely affected the university and the football program,” athletic director Jeff Long said at an evening news conference, choking up at one point as he discussed telling players the news. There was a “pattern of misleading and manipulative behavior to deceive me.”
It was a stunning fall for Petrino, who had built Arkansas into a Southeastern Conference and national power over four seasons, including a 21-5 record the past two years. But Long made it clear that the success on the field was overshadowed by a laundry list of deceptive acts.
The 51-year-old Petrino was injured in an April 1 motorcycle accident. He was put on paid leave last week after admitting he lied about the presence of the 25-year-old employee, Jessica Dorrell, who had been riding with him.