30 biggest college football scandals of all time
By Ethan Lee
Bobby Petrino, his motorcycle, and an affair
While a motorcycle crash on April Fools Day wasn’t the reason Bobby Petrino ended up getting fired from Arkansas, that crash strongly contributed to the end of what was a promising and proud era of Razorback football.
During that crash, Petrino was injured. But he asked a witness not to call 911. He had a then 25-year-old team assistant and former Arkansas volleyball player riding as his passenger. It was later uncovered that passenger, Jessica Dorrell was Petrino’s mistress. Petrino had apparently told his boss, then Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long, that he was alone during the crash.
Arkansas even put out a press release stating that Petrino was alone. But he wasn’t alone. He was with Dorrell during that crash. Long then placed Petrino on leave and later fired the coach after Long determined Petrino had misled the athletic director on what happened during the crash.
It also came out that Petrino bypassed Arkansas’ affirmative action policy to hire Dorrell. Oh, and he apparently gave her a lot of money.
So, while the crash wasn’t exactly what Petrino was fired for, it led to the unveiling of why he ultimately was fired.