Falcons Coach Petrino Quits; Signs with Arkansas

[70Chip]

Losing reveals a lot about a person's character. Much more so than winning. If Terrel Owens won the Super Bowl every year, we wouldn't know what a huge douchebag he is. Now we know about Petrino.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

Losing reveals a lot about a person's character. Much more so than winning. If Terrel Owens won the Super Bowl every year, we wouldn't know what a huge douchebag he is. Now we know about Petrino.

very good point.

that being said, all of this makes you appreciate a guy of joe gibbs' caliber more these days.

[freddyg12]

This is tough to call in a way. If he feels he is really not cut out for the job & the nfl, maybe it's the honorable thing to walk away. Of course, he chose to walk away once he got another job.

He deserves some heat for it, but this Atl. team I believe is the worst in football, worse than the dolphins who seem to play hard & have been in a lot of games.

From reading about Vick over the years & his attitude in the locker room, I believe his situation polarized this team much more than is evident. YOu saw Crumpler & R. White w/their Vick support the other night. I think Vick had a handful of friends on the team, but otherwise a lot of them didn't respect him & thought he was too selfish.

ESPN said that there was a bet among some teamates whether Vick would play last year after he got slightly injured (don't remember the injury). The story made it clear that some teamates spoke anonymously that he was not a team guy.

His troubles probably exacerbated all of the falcons locker room tensions. D. Hall ran his mouth this year too. He's a problem, but the funny thing is that he is to be a free agent this year. They could let him & other jackasses walk. Maybe Blank wouldn't let Petrino do that?

[MTK]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

I hope the NFL learns it's lesson from this. It seems like most of these guys just don't have the emotional wherewithal to be good coaches in the NFL. You have to stick it out through the lean years to get to some winning ones. Look at Cleveland?

The notion that Petrino was hanging his hat on Mike Vick is absurd. The Falcons signed him to a multi-million dollar contract and accepted the terms of the deal with the understanding that this won't be an easy task; not this year, not next year, and maybe not year three.

It just seems like no one wants to take their lumps anymore. Everyone is in a win now mode, and to an extent I can understand that. Truthfully, there really is a fine line between 11-5 and 6-10 in the NFL. Most teams are probably 7 or 10 points away from having really good records.

This mentallity just sucks.

I think there's just such a huge difference between coaching in college and coaching in the pros. The NFL is really a year round job now, and the time these guys put in each week is insane. They really have to dive head first into the job and everything else in their life is a distant 2nd on their list of priorities. And then there's the win now or else pressure the media and the fans demand.

I don't blame him at all for leaving.

But the way in which he did it really irks me. At least finish out the string. Don't quit with games on the schedule. I think it seriously calls into question his character.

[Southpaw]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Not as short as...this tenure

A bit off topic, but is there a way for the general public to look at those old archived ESPN pages? I could waste my entire work day looking at that old stuff.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Southpaw

A bit off topic, but is there a way for the general public to look at those old archived ESPN pages? I could waste my entire work day looking at that old stuff.

I love that wood paneling look, reminds me of the Brady Bunch stationwagon.

[freddyg12]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

very good point.

that being said, all of this makes you appreciate a guy of joe gibbs' caliber more these days.

I was thinking the same thing, no matter what they say about Gibbs, don't call him a quitter! Even if he leaves after this year, he'd have put in 4 years of honest work.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I think there's just such a huge difference between coaching in college and coaching in the pros. The NFL is really a year round job now, and the time these guys put in each week is insane. They really have to dive head first into the job and everything else in their life is a distant 2nd on their list of priorities. And then there's the win now or else pressure the media and the fans demand.

I don't blame him at all for leaving.

But the way in which he did it really irks me. At least finish out the string. Don't quit with games on the schedule. I think it seriously calls into question his character.

True. I think you further expanded on what I was trying to say. It's not a nine to five like it used to be. But still, they know this from jump street. They know that the stakes are higher and so is the level of committment.

I just don't get how one minute a guy stands in front of a podium and say how he's "excited", inks a big deal, and six months later is waving good bye saying, this just 'aint for me.

Just to be fair, I think Petrino is probably a good man....and even a good coach. In the end I guess he just wasn't cut out for the NFL.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by freddyg12

I was thinking the same thing, no matter what they say about Gibbs, don't call him a quitter! Even if he leaves after this year, he'd have put in 4 years of honest work.

You can say a lot of things about Gibbs, but you will NEVER be able to say he's a quitter. I really, really admire that about him.

I'd bet the bank that he returns next year too.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I think there's just such a huge difference between coaching in college and coaching in the pros. The NFL is really a year round job now, and the time these guys put in each week is insane. They really have to dive head first into the job and everything else in their life is a distant 2nd on their list of priorities. And then there's the win now or else pressure the media and the fans demand.

I don't blame him at all for leaving.

But the way in which he did it really irks me. At least finish out the string. Don't quit with games on the schedule. I think it seriously calls into question his character.

I think more importantly is the fact that in college you are coaching kids and in the NFL you are coaching men. It takes a whole different management style and it seems a lot of these coaches lack exactly that. The ability to manage their team from a personell standpoint. Rarely do they looked overmatched football-wise but they almost always seem to have troubles getting guys to play for them.

Even the successful ones like Jimmy Johnson basically was coaching a college team for the first few years. That team was insanely young and he was able to slowly mature his coaching style as they aged. Those types of teams don't exist anymore. Who was the last successful college coach?

[firstdown]

No one knows what was going on with him, his family, and anything else which could have caused him to make this dicision. Its not like he is jumping ship for more money and he is actually taking a pay cut of about 2mil per year. That fact alone tells me that he was very unhappy in the NFL. He had the chance for the Ark. job but he had to move quickly to get the deal done. I think he had to make a tough personal choice which he really did not want to just walk as he did. Sometimes in life you have to make decisions that is in the best interest of your family and yourself.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by firstdown

No one knows what was going on with him, his family, and anything else which could have caused him to make this dicision. Its not like he is jumping ship for more money and he is actually taking a pay cut of about 2mil per year. That fact alone tells me that he was very unhappy in the NFL. He had the chance for the Ark. job but he had to move quickly to get the deal done. I think he had to make a tough personal choice which he really did not want to just walk as he did. Sometimes in life you have to make decisions that is in the best interest of your family and yourself.

Yeah but you still need to handle it with class. Not a single thing he did showerd any class. He could have held a news conference and explained why this was best for everyone involved. Explained why it wasn't working. He could have met with his coaches and helped them formulate a plan to go forward. Instead he just walked away. He took his ball and left. It's not the quitting that irks me. It is the complete lack of desire to do right by the organization and all the players and coaches that worked for him. What an ass.

[Monkeydad]

I guess contracts are no longer legally-binding documents.

These coaches should have to take SOME kind of financial hit to get out of these contracts. Petrino has now signed 3 contracts adding up to 20 years in the last year.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy

You know what this says? Maybe DeAngelo Hall isn't as crazy as we thought he was. He was saying the whole time that basically Petrino was not a NFL coach. Turns out he was right all along...

Hall really laid into Petrino yesterday, Brookings as well. If I'm the parent of a child being recruited by Arkansas first question I'd ask though is "How do we know you won't bail on the Razorbacks in a few months?"

He's entitled to do what he wants I suppose, but-and it's been reiterated across this thread-there's a right way to do things. Petrino lied to his owner, players, and fellow coaches; especially Blank who asked him just before the Saints game if the Arkansas rumor was true. And Petrino lied and said no.
Totally classless.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Hall really laid into Petrino yesterday, Brookings as well. If I'm the parent of a child being recruited by Arkansas first question I'd ask though is "How do we know you won't bail on the Razorbacks in a few months?"

He's entitled to do what he wants I suppose, but-and it's been reiterated across this thread-there's a right way to do things. Petrino lied to his owner, players, and fellow coaches; especially Blank who asked him just before the Saints game if the Arkansas rumor was true. And Petrino lied and said no.
Totally classless.

We really don't know the whole story of what has gone on over the time that he has been the head coach for Atlanta. Maybe he wanted to keep the other QB (forgot his name) and the owner went around him and traded him off getting things started on the wrong foot. I agree that it may not have been handled in the best way but the point I was making that other thing may have been involved.