GREAT FALLS – Montana lost one of the greatest coaches its ever seen on July 26 as Bob Petrino Sr. passed away at age 81. Petrino had connections all throughout the state, including the current football coach at Great Falls High, Mark Samson.
Petrino was Samson’s father-in-law. Not only did Petrino help Samson get his coaching gigs at Helena Capital and MSU-Northern, but Samson was also on Petrino’s coaching staff at Carroll College from 1990-1996. Their bond helped mold Samson’s outlook about coaching.
“(Petrino’s) passion and his attention to detail into making sure that everybody every Saturday was prepared is what made him great. I don’t ever remember in seven years coaching at Carroll where we walked on the field on a Saturday, especially in this Frontier Conference where we didn’t feel like we could win,” said Samson. “That’s just one thing that he instilled with me for seven years. Bob Petrino never backed down from anyone. He didn’t care what team he was playing, he didn’t care who he was coaching against, he believed he could win and he’s instilled that into so many coaches. If you look at the long list of the people that worked with him and that have coached in Montana and outside of Montana, and the success that they’ve had, it’s absolutely amazing.”
For more on the lives that Petrino had an impact on, click here.
