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Bobby Petrino to hire former UAB coach Neil Callaway, SB Nation reports

SB Nation is reporting the former Blazers head coach will replace the departed Mike Summers, who joined USC's staff last week.

By Steven Godfrey
USA TODAY Sports

On Tuesday, Bobby Petrino will hire former UAB head coach Neil Callaway as offensive line coach of the Hilltoppers, SB Nation has been told. Petrino continues to add an inordinate amount of experience for a staff of assistants in the Sun Belt.

Petrino will release the following statement this week:

I am really excited to add Neil Callaway to our coaching staff, especially given his impressive track record developing offensive linemen throughout his career. Neil will do an excellent job of working with and developing our student-athletes here at WKU. He has great experience at the highest level of college football and it is always a benefit to add someone that has head coaching experience. I know that Neil will hit the ground running and I am excited to see him get to work with our student-athletes.

Callaway will replace Mike Summers, who left the Hilltoppers after a short run under new head coach Petrino to join Lane Kiffin's overhauled offensive staff at USC. Callaway was 18-42 as head coach of the Blazers, but is renowned as an offensive line expert, having coached all-SEC units at both Georgia and Auburn. Most recently, Callaway coached the offensive line at Georgia from 2001-'06, a span that saw the Bulldogs win 61 games and two conference championships.

Callaway will join offensive coordinator Jeff Brohm, a former Petrino pupil that served as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Louisville, and defensive coordinator Nick Holt, the former Idaho head coach who won a national championship on the staff at Southern Cal.

If Petrino, known for moving jobs quickly, were to leave the Hilltoppers after one season, the program would now have three viable head coaching candidates on the existing staff, a rarity in most mid major programs.

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