Posted by: Chris Vannini on February 11, 2013

Bobby Petrino is thankful to be back doing what he loves.

After being let go by Arkansas, Petrino had to watch the Razorbacks struggle to a 4-8 season from afar after national championship hopes.

Petrino joined WGFX in Nashville to talk about a number of topics, including his year away from coaching.

"It was very, very difficult," Petrino said. "It's always been a way of life for me, not necessarily a job. I grew up a son of a coach and it was just something you did every year, every fall.

"It was difficult, and then to watch them struggle and not play the way they played before, I felt a lot of responsibility for that."

So what did Petrino do since he wasn't coaching? He prepared to return to coaching.

"I was able to acquire video," he said. "From the previous year, I studied the NFL teams that were really good on offense - the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants. Then I was able to get, each week, acquire some video from the SEC teams.

"I tried to stay involved as much as possible with what was new. What was Johnny Football doing to get Texas A&M in the end zone so often? It was really just trying to make sure I didn't miss anything."

Petrino's first game as the head coach of the Hilltoppers will come against Kentucky in Nashville on Aug. 31.

You can listen to Petrino's interview by clicking here.

Below is Petrino's Signing Day press conference.

Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com