Giving Petrino the Keys - Today's Take

Inside Carolina senior reporter Greg Barnes on the impact and influence new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino has and will have on Bill Belichick’s North Carolina football team this season.

“I think Bobby Petrino will be given a lot of leeway within the parameters that Bill Belichick sets for him. Belichick knows exactly what he wants, and he understands the complementary nature of football and the importance of that. Petrino talked to us a couple weeks ago about how he’s got the offensive mind and Belichick has a defensive mind. We asked if there was kind of a tug of war going on there? Petrino was very clear that no, there’s no tug of war and whatever Bill wants, Bill gets. He’s the head coach.

“Petrino did say that he likes to use multiple tempos during practice and that Belichick understood that and wanted to make sure the offense got plenty of work in what Petrino wanted. Conversely, the defense needs their time to work as well. So there’s a lot of give and take which has been effective on both sides of the ball. It sounds like they’ve worked well together.

“But, I do not think it’s a situation where Petrino can do whatever he wants carte blanche. No doubt they pick each other’s brain because Petrino is one of the best offensive minds in the game. But at the end of the day, it’s what Bill Belichick wants the team to look like and he wants to make sure it is a complementary style of football and Bobby Petrino seems fully on board with that. And, from everything we’ve heard behind the scenes, Petrino has been a complete team player, wanting to make sure this works and making sure that things are improved on from last year. So, I think everyone’s been pleased about how this agreement to work together is taking place so far.”