There’s been so much written and said over the last couple of days, I really don’t know what’s true, what’s false, and what’s somewhere in between.

One thing is true, of course: Bobby Petrino is the new head football coach at Arkansas.

There’s some good in that. Petrino appears to have been pretty successful at Louisville. Averaging 10+ wins a year at a basketball school is pretty good, even if it was CUSA and the Big East. He also has a lot of people here excited about his offense, particularly the probability of more passing. People have been complaining about that for years under Houston Nutt. Now they may get their wish. At least for a while.

Everyone is now whining because of the “national media” and their commentary on what’s unfolded this week. The “national media”, particularly ESPN, “hates Arkansas.” But it seems, for the most part, that the criticism of this week’s events is justified.

Initially, my concern when I realized how nomadic he’s been during his career. He’s had - if my math is correct - around 13 different coaching jobs in 26 years. He’s spent no more than 4 years in one place. And, according to several reports, he’s actively looked for another job each of the last five seasons. Since he also left Auburn in 2002, that seems to make it actually six years in a row. Is he even going to be here in two, three years?

Some have suggested that his goal has been to get into the SEC, the king of college football conferences. And, now that he’s here, he’ll stay awhile. That’s a nice theory, but I’m just not ready to buy it. Sure, I don’t blame anyone for wanting to be in the SEC. Look at the coaches here now. An extremely impressive list. But, even if he stays in the SEC, who says it will be at Arkansas? If another job were to open up for whatever reason - Auburn, LSU, Georgia - would he then bolt for one of those programs, all considered a better job than Arkansas?

But with each passing hour over the first day or so, the worse it seemed to become. What bothers me most - and what the “national media” has targeted - is more of character issue. In the last two years, Petrino has signed a contract at Louisville and in Atlanta. He promptly left both of those jobs. And, of course, he just left Atlanta before the season was even over, reportedly the day after he told his owners that he would remain their head coach. He told his team via a letter left in their lockers - not face to face. He didn’t make a Saban-esque statement like “I won’t be the coach at Arkansas” in front of reporters (probably only because it happened so quickly, before they had a chance to ask.) However, considering what he said to Falcons owners, he really did the same thing, didn’t he?

I was critical of Nick Saban last year. Had I a blog in 2002, I’d have been equally critical of Dennis Francione and the way he fled Alabama then. And there are other examples. Now, Arkansas is supposed to benefit from the latest bald faced liar. Will we? I have to wonder if recruits will trust him. Word is that most of the current recruits out there are still committed, some even excited that he’s here. But will Petrino be committed to them, and to all of the euphoric fans I keep hearing, or is this just another temporary stop?

I suppose this is the way that the coaching business works these days. You have to lie. Loyalty and commitment are farther down the list of priorities than they used to be. It’s just business as usual in 2007.

But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.