Paul Petrino expected to join CMU Football as offensive coordinator
It didn’t take Central Michigan Football Head Coach Jim McElwain long to fill the vacancy left when offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Kevin Barbay announced he was taking a similar position at Appalachian State.
Paul Petrino is expected to be named as the new offensive coordinator, according to multiple reports. Most recently, Petrino was the head coach at Idaho, before being released in 2021. During nine seasons, he accumulated a record of 34-66. He is the brother of Missouri State head coach Bobby Petrino.
Before accepting the position with CMU, Paul briefly worked at South Alabama as an offensive analyst. He spent 2007 as the wide receivers coach for the Atlanta Falcons, when Bobby was the head coach. He has also spent time with Louisville, Utah State, Southern Mississippi, Arkansas and Illinois.
Paul replaces Barbay, who held the offensive coordinator title for one season but was with the program for three. Barbay served as the wide receivers coach for his first two seasons, mentoring the likes of Kalil Pimpleton and JaCorey Sullivan.
In his season as offensive coordinator, Barbay led the CMU offensive to its highest scoring output of the Jim McElwain era. The Chippewas averaged 32.3 points per game and 444.5 yards per game. Running back Lew Nichols III ran for a nation-leading 1,848 yards.
Barbay replaced Charlie Frye as the offensive coordinator, who left the program in Jan. 2020 to become the quarterbacks coach of the Miami Dolphins.
