FAYETTEVILLE — Bobby Petrino won’t be on the sideline for Arkansas this fall after being fired Tuesday night.
But one of the Razorbacks top players has no plans to leave the team in the aftermath of his departure.
Junior All-SEC running back Knile Davis will not transfer or seek admittance into the NFL supplemental draft in response to Petrino’s dismissal, said Regina Gardner, Davis’ mother, on Thursday. A source said Tuesday quarterback Tyler Wilson does not plan to leave the program, either.
“That’s his home,” Gardner said of Davis. “He is looking forward to this year. I didn’t sense like a panic, like ‘Oh my God. What are we going to do?’”
Davis, who ran for 1,322 yards and 13 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2010, was concerned about who would replace Petrino when Gardner talked to him Wednesday.
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“His whole fear is having to re-learn plays over,” Gardner said. “They have those plays down. The team is jelling. A lot of the team went down to Panama City for spring break and he was just like, ‘Man, I’ve never had an experience like this before where I’m on a team and most of the guys feel like my brother.’
“He was talking about him and Tyler, how tight they are.”
Davis is one of four Arkansas players, along with Wilson, linebacker Tenarius Wright and defensive tackle Alfred Davis, scheduled to speak with the media after tonight’s scrimmage. Assistant head coach Taver Johnson, offensive coordinator Paul Petrino and defensive coordinator Paul Haynes are also scheduled to meet with the media.
Davis has met with athletic director Jeff Long to discuss possible replacements for Petrino, Gardner said. Long said Tuesday night his search for a new coach would begin immediately while Johnson led the program through the remainder of spring practice. Long did not specify whether he planned to select an interim coach currently on staff to lead the team through the 2012 season or find a permanent replacement now.
“He said he had a good discussion with Mr. Long, but Mr. Long didn’t exactly know what he was going to do,” Gardner said. “So Mr. Long couldn’t give him a lot of feedback, but what Knile was able to do was just express what the team members have been telling him. That, ‘Please keep the coaching staff intact. However we do it. If we do it with the offensive coordinator that we have or if we try to reach out to Garrick McGee.’
“Somebody who can run that offense the way it is. Because they’re geared up and ready to go.”
McGee was on Petrino’s staff all four seasons at Arkansas and served as offensive coordinator the last two years before taking the Alabama-Birmingham head coaching job Dec. 4. His name has been one of many linked to the position in numerous media reports since Petrino’s firing, joining others like Arkansas State’s Gus Malzahn, South Florida’s Skip Holtz and Nebraska’s Bo Pelini.
“I was just trying to see who’s already at the school could step into the shoes, but Knile was like, ‘I don’t know, mom,’” Gardner said. “He said it takes a really special person that knows the offense and the defense in-and-out. He said, ‘The only person that comes to mind who knows our team like that is Garrick McGee.’”
While Long and the Razorbacks continue to move forward, the fallout from Petrino’s dismissal continued:
• The two 2013 prospects who made verbal commitments to Arkansas have changed their minds. Manvel (Texas) High wide receiver Austin Bennett and Katy (Texas) Cinco Ranch High running back Jamel James said they’ve reopened their recruitment this week. Bennett said he still had Arkansas on his radar Thursday. “It just depends on if Arkansas is going to keep one of the staff members or are they going to bring in a whole new staff,” Bennett said.
• The Ozark man who gave Petrino and Dorrell a ride following the April 1 motorcycle accident was arrested on a contempt charge, according to the Benton County Jail inmate roster. Benjamin Williams, 35, was arrested on the Class C misdemeanor charge Wednesday. The arrest was not related to the accident.
Staff writer Robbie Neiswanger contributed to this report.