HOOVER, Ala. — Bobby Petrino’s entrance into the Wynfrey Hotel on Friday was swift. After taking an elevator to the second floor of the site of the SEC Football Media Days, Petrino quickly turned an adjacent corner into a media-restricted hallway to enter the first of several afternoon interviews.

His determined beeline continued as he entered his first interview session with hundreds of reporters. Grasping the sides of a podium in front of hundreds of scribes and a national television audience, Petrino lifted his chin and attempted to set the tone of his first SEC Media Days appearance.

“ I’m excited to be back in college football, ” the 30 th coach of the Razorbacks declared.

His statement was one that would be reiterated in several forms when asked by reporters why he left the NFL last year to take over the Arkansas program. Petrino took much criticism from members of the media — some of whom were in the audience Friday — in the days following his departure from the Falcons.

And he didn’t get much love from 70 media members who participated in the annual SEC preseason poll Friday. The Razorbacks were picked to finish last in the SEC West and Arkansas center Jonathan Luigs was the lone Arkansas player on the All-SEC ballot.

“ It wasn’t unexpected, ” Petrino said. “ It certainly will help to motivate us but it’s not going to help us win or help us lose any games. Each week, the greatest thing about this conference, you have to line up and play. And everybody’s capable of beating anybody. ”

Later in the day in an neighboring interview room, Petrino declared, “ I think we’ve got a chance to be a lot better than people give us credit for. ”

Of the 19 questions thrown Petrino’s way in his first interview session, seven dealt with player personnel and the upcoming season as it relates to the Razorbacks.

And as Petrino looked forward in his remarks — never once mentioning Atlanta, the NFL or his resignation from the Falcons in his opening statement — the majority of the remaining questions addressed the past and the Atlanta departure.

“ The whole situation, the timing was bad, ” Petrino said of his resignation at Atlanta and same-day arrival at Arkansas on Dec. 11. “ There’s no question about that. If it could have played out any other way, I would have loved to see it play out a different way.

“ But with the Falcons, and with Arkansas, it was really the only way that it could play out. And I’m extremely happy to be the head football coach at the University of Arkansas. ”

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who left Florida after 12 years to coach the Washington Redskins in the NFL, said he understood Petrino’s dilemma.

“ I told Bobby when he took the [Atlanta ] job I was going to give [him ] two years, ” Spurrier said. “... I’ll give you two years and you’ll come back to college. ”

Spurrier faced a similar situation in the NFL. He coached the Redskins from 2002-03, resigned after his second season and returned to the collegiate ranks in 2005.

“ Personally, the lifestyle in college is a lot better suited for me, I know, ” Spurrier said. “ I think maybe Bobby felt the same way. ”

Petrino’s new players, who admittedly were a bit skeptical of Petrino’s allegiances at first, have grown to trust their coach and were strong with their words Friday as the media days came to a close.

“ People think he doesn’t care for his players and cares what goes on, ” Luigs said. “ He came in and wanted to know about us as individuals before we were players. I think everybody has a misconception with the way he left the Falcons and the way the media portrayed [it ]. To me, he’s been a first-class guy and a really caring individual. ”

Linebacker Elston Forte made no hesitation providing an answer when posed with a similar question.

“ Coach Petrino is a great man, a great coach, ” said Forte. “ From what I’ve seen, he knows what he’s talking about. A lot of people might see the stuff on TV or whatever and really that has been a big part in what Coach Petrino does, but [as for ] the Arkansas Razorbacks, we love Coach Petrino. We love Coach Petrino. ”

Petrino took most of the day’s topics with ease. From being asked to reveal if there were more details behind his departure from the Falcons that had never been made public, to the history between him and several coaches in the SEC, Petrino still managed to cut the seriousness and muster a laugh from the media.

Asked to rank facing the media among his most important things on his todo list, Petrino quipped, “ Oh, right at the top. It’s my most favorite thing. ”

Then he went back to addressing the future.

“... But the best thing about media days is that it means that the season’s just about to start, ” he said. “ We get to start practicing Aug. 4 and really find out a lot about our team. ”