[1] Petitti worked for two years at the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft before joining ABC Sports in 1988 as general attorney.

[7] During his tenure, he continued the expansion begun by his predecessor, Kevin Warren, by adding Washington and Oregon to the conference, beginning with the 2024 season.

On November 11th, 2023, just hours before Michigan was set to take the field against Penn State in a top 10 matchup, Pettiti suspended Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh for the remainder of the regular season for an NCAA investigation into sign-stealing, despite the NCAA finding no evidence linking Harbaugh to the infraction.

Suspending Harbaugh while the team was mid-flight was widely criticized and considered to be an unjust move.

Pettiti stood by his decision, saying he “acted in the conference’s best interest” after an hours long Facetime call with other Big Ten coaches.