FAYETTEVILLE - Bobby Petrino was in no mood to talk about the past, the Atlanta Falcons or the wave of criticism he has received since being introduced as Arkansas' football coach on Dec. 11.

Petrino met with reporters Tuesday morning for his first media gathering since his whirlwind hire eight days ago.

As expected, the conversation briefly turned to the harsh criticism that has come over his decision to abruptly leave the Falcons with three games remaining in their season.

But Petrino quickly shot down any talk about what the national media said, and he didn't want to address what some of his former Falcons players had to say about him.

"We're going to go forward. We're not going to talk anymore about the Atlanta Falcons," Petrino said during his nearly 20-minute long media gathering in Arkansas' team meeting room.

"We're talking about the University of Arkansas, the Razorbacks, what our future is here, what we have to do recruiting wise. ... We have a whole bunch on our plate to be concerned about here and only here."

Petrino said he's been too busy to pay attention to the criticism directed his way. He spent his first week at Arkansas meeting with players, putting the first touches on his coaching staff and traveling around the state to meet with high school recruits.

"To be honest with you, I haven't heard any of that (criticism). I haven't watched any of it," Petrino said. "I've just been working on what we need to get done here."

But the harsh words about Petrino haven't gone completely unnoticed.

"I think it's certainly hurt my family a little bit," Petrino said.

Of course, it would have been difficult for Petrino to block out everything that was said about him over the past week.

His decision to leave the Falcons and replace Houston Nutt at Arkansas became fodder for sports talk radio shows and TV programs like ESPN's SportsCenter.

Commentators on ESPN, FOX and several other TV channels and Web sites criticized Petrino for his lack of loyalty and his decision not to meet with his Falcons players before resigning.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank said he felt "betrayed," but perhaps the harshest criticism came from Petrino's former players who referred to him as a coward and a quitter.

Petrino, however, didn't want to spend any time Tuesday defending his decision or shooting back at his critics.

"I'm not going to say anything in my defense. I'm very excited about where I'm at. I'm very excited in moving forward," Petrino said. "I think we put all that behind us.

"We put behind what has happened at the university before, and we moved forward with the state of Arkansas, with the University of Arkansas and our success coming up in the future."

Petrino signed a five-year contract with the Razorbacks that makes him among the Southeastern Conference's highest paid coaches.

He'll receive $2.85 million annually, and he must pay that same amount back to Arkansas if he decides to leave early for another job.

Petrino admitted this has been a "unique" and even "difficult" situation for him. He has had to take a backseat role while Arkansas interim coach Reggie Herring and his staff get the players prepared to face No. 7 Missouri in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1.

"It's not exactly how you want it. You'd like to jump in full steam ahead, start coaching, start making relationships with the young men," Petrino said. "My wife says I'm not very patient. But at this point, I think I'm being pretty patient."