Opening Statements

WKU Director of Athletics Todd Stewart

“Good afternoon. Thank you all for being here and thank you to all that are watching online. As everyone knows, last Friday night Willie Taggart was offered and accepted the head coaching position at South Florida. As a result, we immediately began a search to identify and hire the best possible individual to lead our program moving forward. Our objective was to hire the best person to sustain the momentum we had built and also give us the greatest opportunity to continue our program’s upward climb and reach new heights. At that time, I expected our search would last longer than three days. However, when you begin a search, the first person you contact is the number one person on your list. For us, the number one person was Bobby Petrino. He and I began discussions about our coaching position on Saturday afternoon and we had multiple discussions throughout the afternoon and evening. Based on his tremendous resume and interest, optimism and vision for our program, it was clear he was exactly what we were looking for. We had further discussions on Sunday and then flew he and his wife, Becky, who I am happy to say is also with us today, to Bowling Green last night and today we finalized a contract for him to become our next head football coach. I stated on Saturday that our next head coach had to be someone who was a consistent winner. Bobby Petrino is the only head coach in college football history to lead two different programs to their first BCS bowl appearances. In Coach Petrino’s eight seasons as a college football head coach, he has compiled a 75 and 26 record and led his teams to bowl games in seven-of-eight seasons, including appearances in the Orange Bowl at Louisville and the Sugar and Cotton Bowls at Arkansas. His 2004 Louisville team ranked sixth in the nation in the final Associated Press poll while his 2006 team won the Orange Bowl and finished fifth in the nation. The combined record of those two teams was 23-2. His 2010 Arkansas team won ten games, went to the Sugar Bowl and finished the season ranked 12th in the nation. His 2011 team finished 11-2, defeated Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl and finished the season ranked 10th in the nation. Another highlight of his 30-year career, which spans both collegiate football and the National Football League is the ability to recruit and develop individuals as players and people. Each of his teams at Louisville and Arkansas exceeded the (NCAA APR). Under his guidance, Arkansas achieved the highest overall grade point average in program history. Arkansas also had 48 players named to the SEC All-Academic team during his tenure. Quite simply, the name Bobby Petrino is synonymous with consistent success at the highest level. He and his wife have long standing roots in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. As you know, Coach Petrino served as an assistant and head coach at the University of Louisville. Their daughter Kelsey graduated from Louisville three years ago and Katie is currently a redshirt sophomore on the golf team.  It is great to have the Petrino family join the WKU family in Bowling Green. We often talk about key events in our program’s rise. Please join me in celebrating a landmark moment as we welcome WKU’s 18th all-time head football coach, Bobby Petrino.”
WKU Head Football Coach Bobby Petrino
“Thank you. I am extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to become Western Kentucky (University’s) head football coach. My wife Becky and I consider this coming home. We have children that are here in the state. We have been here and it is great to be able to come back to this state we love. This was a family decision. When we looked at it and sat down and talked, we thought this was something that was best for our family, a place we wanted to be. I am extremely grateful for Todd Stewart and Dr. Ransdell for giving us the opportunity to come back and lead the program here. I also want to thank Willie Taggart. He did an excellent job here. He set the foundation for success and that is what I am looking forward to, building on the foundation and standards that Willie and his staff set here. My vision for Western Kentucky University’s football program is to take it to the next level. Just like you do as a football coach, everything works in a progression where you work from step A to step B. You crawl before you walk, you walk before you run. That is what I see us doing here at WKU. We need to consistently, every year, go to a bowl game. We need to win a conference championship, we need to every single year. We need to get in a position where we are ranked in the top 25 and get in a position where we can compete to be in a BCS bowl game. That is where we see our program going. When you look at the Boise State’s of the world and the teams that have been able to do that, that is our expectation. That is where we feel we have the opportunity to go. I believe in competition and excelling on the football field. That is the number one thing you can do for a young man is to teach him how to excel on the football field. I also really believe in the student-athlete. I am committed to the student-athlete. I want our players to understand that they need to embrace learning. They need to understand they are here to get a degree. Being a football player is a part of their total college experience. I was able to meet with the team today, got to talk to a lot of the players. They are going through finals right now. It was great to see how excited they were and how well they have done academically. I am excited to try to build and improve on that. It is important for the Hilltopper Faithful to come out and support this team as it goes to the bowl game. I think it is something I would really like to see is that we honor the senior class by giving them great support going to Detroit and winning the upcoming bowl game. When I look at the senior class, I see the transition they made, how they went from being a I-AA school to transition to (FBS) football, to winning games, and to  now taking the school to its first ever bowl game. I am excited for them. I am looking forward to them performing and doing a great job. The way that we are going to handle that is that I am going to be here to recruit, evaluate and let Coach Guidry coach the bowl game and let the players continue the success and consistency they have had. I ask the players to continue to do what they have all year. To prepare like they have, practice like they have and go out and perform on December 26 like they have all year long. I am honored to sit in front of you as the head coach of Western Kentucky University. Your support is very gratifying and humbling. I will come to this stadium every day and give my all to these student-athletes, to this university and to Hilltopper Nation.”

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