Paul Petrino
Paul Vincent Petrino is an American college football coach. He is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the University of South Alabama, positions he has held since 2025. He was previously the head coach at the University of Idaho in Moscow, with an overall record of over nine seasons.
Early life
Born in Butte, Montana, Petrino grew up in Helena and graduated from its Capital High School. Recruited by the University of Montana in Missoula, Petrino stayed in Helena and attended Carroll College. He played quarterback for the Fighting Saints, where his father, Bob Petrino Sr., was the head coach from 1971 to 1998. Both are members of Carroll's athletic hall of fame.Coaching career
Petrino began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Carroll shortly after graduation. He worked as an assistant coach, wide receiver coach, and offensive coordinator at several other schools in the next 20 years, including a short stint with the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League in 2007. In 2006, while serving as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Louisville, Petrino was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top college football assistant coach.Idaho
In December 2012, Petrino became the head coach at Idaho, where he had worked in the early 1990s under After the announcement, Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long praised Petrino, saying he would have named Petrino the interim Arkansas head coach if not for his brother Bobby's resignation after a scandal. Following the 2016 season, Petrino was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year after improving the Vandals from 4–8 the previous season to 8–4. The season was capped with a ninth win, in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise. After more than two decades back in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Idaho returned to the Big Sky Conference in FCS in 2018.Petrino's record at Idaho was, the nine seasons and 66 losses are the most by a head coach in program history. In 2019, he passed Skip Stahley, in eight seasons. Third on that list is Robb Akey, in six seasons, and did not coach the final four games of 2012, all losses; fourth is Tom Cable, in four seasons.