Falcons Coach Petrino Quits; Signs with Arkansas

[MTK]

I'm hearing that he left a note for his players? Man, the guy couldn't even man up and tell them in person. The more I hear about this the worse it gets. I really don't understand how anyone can defend him at this point. And even worse, prior to the game he told Arthur Blank that he was committed to being the Falcons coach.

Wow. What a scumbag.

[Dlyne8r]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I'm hearing that he left a note for his players? Man, the guy couldn't even man up and tell them in person. The more I hear about this the worse it gets. I really don't understand how anyone can defend him at this point. And even worse, prior to the game he told Arthur Blank that he was committed to being the Falcons coach.

Wow. What a scumbag.

That's the thing that gets me. Be a man, come forward with your concerns (which he did allegedly), and if it still doesn't blow your dress up, negotiate an exit. Don't freakin' lie directly to the face of your boss and then bail! Petrino is a puss for sneaking out like he did. Kinda reminds me of the Baltimore Colts leaving in the darkness of night.

[sportscurmudgeon]

This is a "story" that will blow over in about 72 hours. Is Petrino a hypocrite and a lying weasel. Yes he is. But that's because he's a football coach.

That's what football coaches have taught themselves to do - - they tell the person in front of them exactly what they think that person wants to hear. They do it to the press; they do it to the fans; they do it to free agents they want to sign; they do it to players they may want to draft; they do it to owners of teams they would want to coach. Part of the requisite skills for a football coach - at the college and pro levels - is to be able to lie convincingly without getting caught too often.

That applies to ALL of them. Each and every one ...

Now the REAL question for the Atlanta Falcons is this:


Does Arthur Blank have the cell phone number for one Martin Edward Schottenheimer...???

[mheisig]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

This is a "story" that will blow over in about 72 hours. Is Petrino a hypocrite and a lying weasel. Yes he is. But that's because he's a football coach.

That's what football coaches have taught themselves to do - - they tell the person in front of them exactly what they think that person wants to hear. They do it to the press; they do it to the fans; they do it to free agents they want to sign; they do it to players they may want to draft; they do it to owners of teams they would want to coach. Part of the requisite skills for a football coach - at the college and pro levels - is to be able to lie convincingly without getting caught too often.

That applies to ALL of them. Each and every one ...

Now the REAL question for the Atlanta Falcons is this:


Does Arthur Blank have the cell phone number for one Martin Edward Schottenheimer...???

Pessimism alert! Pessimism alert! jsarno, man your battle stations!

I'll get the Optimism Cannons up and running!

[Dirtbag59]

My favorite thing in this whole debacle is how everyone at ESPN is piling on Bobby Petrino except for one man.......Barney Rubble...I mean Chris Mortinson. I guess its to be expected considering his kid plays at Arkansas.

[MTK]

I'm surprised we haven't heard Marty's name come up more often when talking about potential jobs for next year.

[RiggoDrill]

do'nt forget the ole ball coach himself steve spurrier!did'nt parcells come into the league from being a college coach?

Spurrier was so obvious I forgot about him! I don't count Parcells as a college coach, he was an assistant at Army, and a head coach at AFA for 1 year. Others that came to mind now that I had a day to think about it - Bobby Ross (success), won a lot of games at Maryland, a national championship at Georgia Tech, and took the Chargers to the Super Bowl.
Al Groh (failure) coached Wake Forest to mediocrity, then transferred that to the Jets before bringing his painfully average coaching to UVA.

I was not ready to pounce on Petrino yesterday for being a scumbag, I actually enjoyed watching his Louisville teams the past few years, they were very exciting, and he had certainly proven that his system could win games a school that is not a traditional football power. I thought he could replicate that success in Atlanta - to be honest I thought he would do the smart thing (IMO) and choose Schaub rather than Vick to run his offense. He didn't, and then things got wacky down in ATL. If all the info is accurate, and he lied to the owner about his dealing with Arkansas, left a note for his team, etc, etc. then he is a dirtbag who cannot be trusted. I would be interested to see the terms of his contract with Arkansas and whether thay included any clauses that might protect the university from similar behavior should he decide to call Mayflower Movers in the middle of the night again.

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by RiggoDrill

Spurrier was so obvious I forgot about him! I don't count Parcells as a college coach, he was an assistant at Army, and a head coach at AFA for 1 year. Others that came to mind now that I had a day to think about it - Bobby Ross (success), won a lot of games at Maryland, a national championship at Georgia Tech, and took the Chargers to the Super Bowl.
Al Groh (failure) coached Wake Forest to mediocrity, then transferred that to the Jets before bringing his painfully average coaching to UVA.

I was not ready to pounce on Petrino yesterday for being a scumbag, I actually enjoyed watching his Louisville teams the past few years, they were very exciting, and he had certainly proven that his system could win games a school that is not a traditional football power. I thought he could replicate that success in Atlanta - to be honest I thought he would do the smart thing (IMO) and choose Schaub rather than Vick to run his offense. He didn't, and then things got wacky down in ATL. If all the info is accurate, and he lied to the owner about his dealing with Arkansas, left a note for his team, etc, etc. then he is a dirtbag who cannot be trusted. I would be interested to see the terms of his contract with Arkansas and whether thay included any clauses that might protect the university from similar behavior should he decide to call Mayflower Movers in the middle of the night again.

did Petrino make the decision to stick w/Vick, or did Mcay &/or Blank make it? I would say the latter.

If there's anything that you could come to Petrino's defense on it's that maybe Blank & McCay didn't budge on peronel issues, and Petrino was known to not get along w/a few players. He may have felt undermined since the beginning. I'm not taking up for his fly by night approach, but if he feels he was being put in the middle of something he couldn't control, it will surface soon enough & word will get out about Blank's mgmt. style.

[Hijinx]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I'm surprised we haven't heard Marty's name come up more often when talking about potential jobs for next year.

I heard Peter King mention it, but felt the Falcons were going to go with one of their coordinators. I hope this finally puts to death the idea of bringing in high profile college coaches and think they can win in the NFL. The styles of football are just too different. Plus as soon as they fail there is 40 or 50 colleges who will hire the guy away from your team.

Heres what I don't understand: With this guy's history of doing this didn't the falcons put a penalty into the contract? If so, then who is paying for the penalty? I'd be pissed if I was an Arkansas alum or student and found out in addition to his salary we had to pay the falcons a few million to get him out of that contract.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Hijinx

I heard Peter King mention it, but felt the Falcons were going to go with one of their coordinators. I hope this finally puts to death the idea of bringing in high profile college coaches and think they can win in the NFL. The styles of football are just too different. Plus as soon as they fail there is 40 or 50 colleges who will hire the guy away from your team.

Heres what I don't understand: With this guy's history of doing this didn't the falcons put a penalty into the contract? If so, then who is paying for the penalty? I'd be pissed if I was an Arkansas alum or student and found out in addition to his salary we had to pay the falcons a few million to get him out of that contract.

That all goes on the front office of the Falcons. They definitely should have put something in his contract along those lines and from what I've heard they didn't, and their GM Rich McKay is an attorney so you think he would have known better to protect the Falcons best interests!

[Dlyne8r]

Originally Posted by Hijinx

I heard Peter King mention it, but felt the Falcons were going to go with one of their coordinators. I hope this finally puts to death the idea of bringing in high profile college coaches and think they can win in the NFL. The styles of football are just too different. Plus as soon as they fail there is 40 or 50 colleges who will hire the guy away from your team.

Heres what I don't understand: With this guy's history of doing this didn't the falcons put a penalty into the contract? If so, then who is paying for the penalty? I'd be pissed if I was an Arkansas alum or student and found out in addition to his salary we had to pay the falcons a few million to get him out of that contract.

I get the feeling that they really wanted to see if Petrino was worth a damn and then possibly renegotiate his contract down the road. I don't think that Blank and McKay are going to miss Petrino very much and just move on.

[Dlyne8r]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I'm surprised we haven't heard Marty's name come up more often when talking about potential jobs for next year.

In fact, the local radio schlubs (La Canforism) here in Atlanta have brought up his name repeatedly today. While Emmitt Thomas, an asst. w/ the Fulcans, has been named the interim coach, there's no way in hell he will be anything more than just that...temporary. Marty probably wouldn't be a good fit here given that McKay is the GM and Marty wants to wear all of the hats. Speaking of Marty, damn, wasn't he the coach that had the 'Skins win their last 5 or so games when he was in D.C.? I still think he would have righted our ship even if he was a stubborn old crotchety fart.