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Petrino family leaves Missouri State football proud of what they built
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- Petrino family leaves Missouri State football proud of what they built
FRISCO, TX — Bobby Petrino roamed the sidelines ahead of Missouri State football's first-ever bowl appearance as an FBS program.
Just five years ago, Petrino and a few of his family members had absorbed a program that hadn't won anything for decades. An FCS program at the time, no one would have imagined that Missouri State would ever be capable of sustained winning . The suggestion of the Bears playing in a bowl game would have been viewed as a joke.
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Yet, here we are.
Petrino watched his son, Nick Petrino, serve as the Bears' interim head coach during their Xbox Bowl appearance on Thursday, Dec. 19, in Frisco, Texas. It came a few days after Ryan Beard, Petrino's son-in-law , accepted the head coaching position at Coastal Carolina . LD Scott, another Petrino son-in-law, continued to serve as the team's defensive coordinator.
The game was a swan song for the family, as reports emerged in the hours before the game that SMU offensive coordinator Casey Woods will become the Bears' next head coach in 2026, thus ending the Petrino family era at Missouri State .
Missouri State football wouldn't be in the position it's in now without them.
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After the Bears fell 34-28 to Arkansas State , a game in which MSU trailed by 24 entering the fourth quarter, the Petrinos can exit Springfield proud of the miracles they accomplished for a once-hopeless program.
"When my family first got to Missouri State, football was kind of on the back burner," Nick Petrino said. "No one thought of Missouri State as a football school. We didn't really get much support, and (look at) how fast we've turned this thing around in five years."
Missouri State went from an FCS laughingstock to playing in the FCS Playoffs to getting invited to play in Conference USA to playing in a bowl game since Bobby Petrino was brought to Springfield in Jan. 2020.
During those six seasons, the Bears combined for a 37-32 record, three winning seasons, two FCS Playoff appearances, a co-Missouri Valley Football Conference championship and their first six wins over FBS programs since 1990. In the 10 years prior, the Bears had a combined 32-80 record and no winning seasons.
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The Petrino era brought many memories, whether it be the Bears' MVFC title-clinching win over Youngstown State in spring 2021, the Cardiac Bears of fall 2021, nearly beating Arkansas the following year, the breakout of Jacob Clark in 2024 and then the thrills of 2025.
They also brought in some of the best players to wear Bears uniforms, including Clark, Jason Shelley, Ty Scott , Raylen Sharpe, Montrae Braswell, Jacardia Wright, Jayden Becks, Kyriq McDonald, Todric McGee and many others.
"It's been a hell of a ride," Nick Petrino said. "I love living in Springfield, it's a great location, great place and great people. The school really has a bright future, I believe. I think you can win there, and it's something that I'm really proud of what we've done here. We turned this place around. We turned it into a football school.
"It's been unbelievable. It's something the university's never had. It's definitely something me and my family are very proud of."
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Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_ , contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Bobby Petrino, Ryan Beard proud of what it built at Missouri State
