Background and career
Robert Patrick Petrino (born March 10, 1961) is an American college football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Petrino previously served as the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals from 2003 to 2006 and 2014 to 2018, the Arkansas Razorbacks from 2008 to 2011, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in 2013, and the Missouri State Bears from 2020 to 2022. He was also the head coach for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) in 2007. Petrino has directed his college teams to nine bowl games, including the first Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games for both Louisville and Arkansas in their programs' histories. His teams have achieved four 10-win seasons and six AP Top 25 finishes.
Born in Lewistown, Montana, Robert Patrick Petrino grew up in Helena and graduated from Capital High in 1979. He attended hometown Carroll College and graduated with a physical education and a math minor in 1983. While at Carroll, he played quarterback for the Fighting Saints and began his coaching career there as a graduate assistant during the 1983 season. At the time, his father Bob Petrino Sr. was the head coach of Carroll, a position he held from 1971 to 1999.
After a year at Carroll, he moved to Weber State College in the Big Sky Conference, coaching quarterbacks as a graduate assistant under head coach Mike Price. Petrino returned to his alma mater in 1985 as offensive coordinator. In each of his two seasons in that position, Carroll had the top-rated offense in NAIA football. He then returned to Weber State for two seasons in 1987 and 1988 as the receivers coach under Price.
Petrino spent a year as quarterbacks coach at the University of Idaho in 1989 under new head coach John L. Smith, then was promoted to offensive coordinator the next season. In 1992, he moved up to Division I-A (now FBS) as the quarterbacks coach at Arizona State University in the Pac-10 Conference. During his two seasons at ASU under head coach Bruce Snyder, he oversaw the development of future All-American QB Jake Plummer, who went on to play ten seasons in the NFL.
In 1994, he moved to the University of Nevada, serving as both offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Chris Ault. During his one season there, the Wolf Pack were second in the nation in both passing offense and total offense, and third in scoring offense. The next year, he began a three-year stint as offensive coordinator at Utah State University, reuniting with Smith.
When Smith moved to Louisville in 1998, Petrino followed him there as offensive coordinator. In his one season there, the Cardinals were top-ranked in Division I-A in scoring and total offense and posted the biggest positive turnaround among I-A football teams, winning six more games than in the 1997 season. Petrino left the collegiate ranks to coach in the NFL for three years.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
