Bobby Petrino Fired: Former Arkansas Coach Won't Appeal Dismissal After Jessica Dorrell Affair

Petrino was fired on April 10 after Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long determined that the football coach knowingly misled the athletic department regarding his involvement with Jessica Dorrell, a 25-year-old development coordinator for the football program.

Petrino, a married father of four children, carried on a seven month relationship with Dorrell and got her a job within the football program despite 158 other applicants. The relationship was discovered on April 1 when Petrino was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him with broken ribs and cracked vertebrae. He initially told the public that he was the only one involved in the crash, but later admitted that Dorrell was involved and he had been seeing her.

He made the decision, a conscious decision, to mislead the public on Tuesday, and in doing so negatively and adversely affected the reputation of the University of Arkansas and our football program, Long said on Tuesday. In short, coach Petrino engaged in a pattern of misleading and manipulative behavior designed to deceive me and members of the athletic staff, both before and after the motorcycle accident.

Petrino's agent sent an email to Long saying that his client wouldn't try to appeal his dismissal, according to Arkansas Sports 360.  If he successfully won an appeal he could be owed as much as $18 million, but won't see any of it due to being fired with cause.

Consistent with Coach Petrino's previous statement, he accepts responsibility for the events that led to the University's decision to terminate his employment, the statement said. Although extremely disappointed, he respects the University's decision and will not avail himself of the University's administrative appeal process.

Coach Petrino and his family wish nothing but the best for both the Razorback football program and University of Arkansas.

The decision comes a day after Petrino's phone records were released through Freedom of Information Act requests. The records showed that Petrino and Dorrell exchanged more than 4,300 text messages and nearly 300 phone calls over a seven month period. Those calls include 11 on the day that Petrino issued a statement admitting to a previous inappropriate relationship with Dorrell.