Destin, Fla. — Bobby Petrino knows he won't be getting Christmas cards from the Falcons, their fans, or their management this year. But the Arkansas coach insisted Tuesday that his abrupt departure from the NFL team last December could not be avoided.

"It was an unfortunate thing because of the timing," Petrino said as he arrived for his first SEC Spring Meetings as the coach of the Hogs. "The timing of it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life."

On Dec. 11, with three games left in the 2007 season, Petrino suddenly resigned as the Falcons' coach at about 5:30 p.m. Six hours later Petrino was on ESPN being introduced as the new coach at Arkansas in a news conference in Fayetteville. The move touched off charges and countercharges between Petrino's agent, Russ Campbell, and the Falcons, led by owner Arthur Blank, who said he felt "betrayed" by Petrino.

Over the next few days the vitriol levied at Petrino was not coming from Atlanta alone. Talk shows and newspaper columnists from around the country skewered Petrino for leaving his team before the season was over.

Petrino said that he threw himself into the Arkansas job and was not aware of the media beating he was receiving.

"It was hard on my family. It was hard on my wife and my kids, but I didn't hear a lot of it," Petrino said. "That was probably good."

For months Petrino declined to be interviewed except for the local media that covers Arkansas football. But when he arrived at the SEC meetings he agreed to meet with the media contingent that regularly covers the league.

Petrino was pressed on whether, in hindsight, he could have handled his departure from Atlanta differently.

"Not that I know of," he said. "Because of the timing of it and both sides of the fence, that is kind of how it worked out. It was a situation where you have no other choice."

Petrino's position is that the Arkansas job was on the table and that it had become clear to him that he wanted to go back to college football. In an interview with the AJC in December, Campbell said he had made that clear to Blank and then-general manager Rich McKay in the now-famous meeting on the day before the Falcons' Monday night game with the Saints on Dec. 9. Blank, however, came out of that meeting thinking that his coach would ride out the storm.

"It [college football] was just the right fit for me. It's where I belong," Petrino said. "In college you're coaching young men who are aspiring to reach their dreams. In the NFL you're coaching a lot of guys who have reached their dreams. There's a difference. There is no question about that."

Petrino made it clear in the interview session that he would not be entertaining questions on Michael Vick, whose arrest on dogfighting charges changed the entire future of the Falcons franchise. He was also asked when he knew he had made a mistake in taking the Falcons job and when he decided he would go back to college football.

"I really don't want to get into that," Petrino said. "If we could bypass that one it would be good."

Petrino insists that he is not the bad guy who has been portrayed in the media.

"When people know me, they understand how I am," he said.

But Petrino also admits that he lets very few people know him well.

"I've always guarded myself a little bit," he said.

Petrino also insists that he has mended fences with Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville. With Tuberville in trouble during the 2003 season, Petrino secretly met with Auburn officials at an airport near Louisville. When the meeting was made public, Petrino and Auburn received a major national flogging in the media.

"We're fine," Petrino said of his relationship with Tuberville.

Petrino did leave room for a little humor before he left. One media member suggested that his Falcons experience was like a bad dream sequence from a television show like "Dallas."

"That's not the show I thought of," Petrino said. "Did you ever see the movie 'Misery?' "