Adams: Tough road for Petrino : govolsxtra.com

DESTIN, Fla. - A sportswriter attempted to depict coach Bobby Petrino's disastrous year with the Atlanta Falcons by referring to the famous dream season of "Dallas."

"That's not the show that popped into my head," said Petrino, who is attending his first SEC spring meetings this week as Arkansas' new football coach. "Did you ever see that movie, 'Misery?' "

"I'm kidding," he quickly added.

That didn't diminish the impact of his analogy.

Coaching the Falcons has proved less than pleasurable for a lot of guys. But that's the first time anyone has equated it to having a psychotic nurse break both your ankles with a sledgehammer.

Some Falcons fans might consider that fair punishment for a coach who abandoned them so abruptly in their most recent time of misery. Whatever horrors they might have conjured up for their unfaithful coach were lost on Petrino. He seemingly dumped the Falcons one minute and embraced the Razorbacks the next.

"It was real hard on my wife and my kids," Petrino said. "I didn't hear a lot of it (the criticism)."

The firestorm of criticism has faded; eventually, Petrino will become a throwaway line when a critic needs an abandoning-the-ship analogy. However, until his new team plays a game, there will be a lingering curiosity about the old team he dismissed so emphatically and uncaringly last year.

"I asked Becky (his wife) on the plane coming down here what I should say (if asked) about the (negative) media publicity," he said. "She said, 'You don't want to say what I want to say.' "

In retrospect, Petrino said he doesn't believe he could have handled his job change any differently. Falcons owner Arthur Blank might have a different take.

That's not Petrino's concern. He has moved on. And he has moved to the right place.

The SEC has become the favorite getaway destination for a pro coach who likens NFL coaching to having your ankles broken. First, there was Steve Spurrier, who went from Washington to South Carolina. Next was Nick Saban, whose departure from Miami to Alabama fostered only slightly less animosity than Petrino's escape from Atlanta after just 13 games.

Not surprisingly, coaching's most recent quick-change artist doesn't sound like a short-timer (Granted, they never do). Instead, he sounds at home with the Hogs.

"I feel like this needs to be my last job," said Petrino, who took Louisville to a BCS bowl before leaving for the Falcons after the 2006 season. "Professionally, there's no question that's how it needs to be. And that's also what I want."

Professionally, he faces a huge challenge. The team coach Houston Nutt left behind for Ole Miss could be the worst of the West in 2008. There's also a daunting transition to be made from Arkansas' run-oriented offense to Petrino's wide-open approach that often relies on the pass to set up the run.

Much of Petrino's first-year success might depend on how well quarterback Casey Dick can assimilate and execute the new offense. A pedestrian passer at best, Dick won't remind anyone of Brian Brohm, Petrino's last quarterback at Louisville.

On a positive note, Dick doesn't remind anyone of Michael Vick, who Petrino thought would be his quarterback when he signed on with the Falcons. When your quarterback is arrested for torturing dogs, a pedestrian passer doesn't seem so bad.

The defensive change, though not as striking to the layman, could be just as extreme for Petrino's first Arkansas season.

"Defensively, it's a pretty big adjustment," Petrino said. "They played a lot of man (coverage), not understanding a lot of the zone concepts or zone blitzes. There's a lot of newness to it all."

Petrino was an assistant coach at Auburn long enough to know how painful transitions can be in the SEC. This isn't Louisville, which Petrino converted into an offensive juggernaut in the space of one off-season. This is the SEC, where your schedule can unfold as Arkansas' does in the first half of the season: Texas, Alabama, Florida and Auburn in succession.

That's a tough stretch. But it's not having-your-ankles-broken-with-a-sledgehammer tough.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.