The Razorbacks, 21-5 the past two seasons, were enjoying sustained football success and turning into a powerhouse in the Southeastern Conference.

But with Petrino, 51, having been fired Tuesday night for not being forthcoming to school administrators over his recent motorcyle accident and inappropriate relationship with 25-year-old football staff member Jessica Dorrell, his once-promising career is in limbo.

MORE: Petrino joins list of sports' great downfalls

Will another school eventually hire Petrino, long regarded as one of the brightest offensive minds in the sport?

He has not been a stranger to controversy. While coaching at Louisville, he met with Auburn officials about that school's head coaching job when Tommy Tuberville was still coaching the Tigers. Petrino abruptly left the Atlanta Falcons and took the Arkansas job with three games left on the NFL team's 2007 schedule.

There have been instances where scarred coaches have landed on their feet.

Larry Eustachy rebuilt his basketball coaching career in eight seasons at Southern Mississippi following his departure from Iowa State in 2003, shortly after photos surfaced of him partying with students. Eustachy, who will be named head coach at Colorado State, according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan, went through alcohol rehabilitation and said this season that he has not had a drink in nine years.

In May 2003, then-Alabama football coach Mike Price was fired for what the school called improper behavior after Price spent time at a strip club and drank too much the night before a charity golf outing. The humiliation continued after two women from the club were quoted in a Sports Illustrated story about a wild night in Price's hotel room.

In December 2003, Texas-El Paso hired Price, who had denied the women's allegations and sued the magazine for $20 million. The suit was settled out of court in 2005, and Price said at the time that he felt vindicated by the settlement.

UTEP athletics director Bob Stull, who brought Price to the school, said Wednesday that the Petrino and Price situations were "not even close" to being the same.

"Mike had too much to drink one night. That's really what happened," he said.

Stull said the school did an extensive background check before Price was even interviewed, and Stull, a former UTEP football coach, already had known Price for 20 years.

Stull said UTEP President Diana Natalicio also met with Price during the process. "A lot of these decisions start at the presidential level and work their way down (to the athletics department)," Stull said.