Two (2) Questions I Would Love To Ask Bobby Petrino Right Now...
JackWESQ
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in Sports Talk
So the Bobby Petrino press conference is on ESPN right now. Two questions I would love to ask:
1. Do you feel like you are abandoning the Atlanta Falcons, given that their season is not over?
2. What part of the miserable state of the Atlanta Falcons are currently in played a role in your resignation?
/s/ JackWESQ
1. Do you feel like you are abandoning the Atlanta Falcons, given that their season is not over?
2. What part of the miserable state of the Atlanta Falcons are currently in played a role in your resignation?
/s/ JackWESQ
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<< <i>So the Bobby Petrino press conference is on ESPN right now. Two questions I would love to ask:
1. Do you feel like you are abandoning the Atlanta Falcons, given that their season is not over?
2. What part of the miserable state of the Atlanta Falcons are currently in played a role in your resignation?
/s/ JackWESQ >>
Truthfully answered... 1- Yes but I dont care
2- The whole part
Prolly his answer/s... 1-Well I think this is a better oppurtunity for my family
2-I think its in the best interest for both parties for me to move on
To answer the questions:
(1) No, I am not abandoning this team, a better job offer became available to me, and, like any sane person would do, I took it.
(2) The Falcons and I see things differently, and I resigned to take a better job offer.
You make valid points in the non-sports world. In fact, I just quit my job for a better one. But I've always espoused the idea that any labor "rules" in the non-sports world are completely irrelevant in the sports world. Case in point. How many everyday working Joes have actual employment contracts with their employers? Much less multi-year contracts? Much less GUARANTEED multi-year contracts. I would imagine the majority of the board's members who work for someone are all at-will employees, e.g. can be fired at anytime (notwithstanding wrongful termination lawsuits.)
Or how many of us would, in an ideal world, stay off retirement for as long as possible, e.g. "work" as long as possible and never retire? For me, I can't wait until the day I retire from practicing law. Heck, I'd retire tomorrow if I could afford it. Professional athletes? Some would play into their 50s or 60s if they could (golfers notwithstanding), e.g. Jerry Rice or Rickey Henderson.
And press conferences. The whole notion of holding a press conference to, essentially, tell the world that you got a new job?! Of course, I don't know the careers of the other board members, but how many people do you think would show up if a press conference were held to announce that you were changing jobs? Some. Family members? Friends? Would it be televised?
/s/ JackWESQ
Peyton looked like a fool against us too. Oh well, he will be better getting his butt kicked in the SEC!
JS
Point taken, but don't high visibility CEOs and whatnot get similar press when they change jobs? If, say, the president of CBS were to quit to take a job at ABC, wouldn't that garner national attention, with press conferences and the like?
Though I do have to disagree with you about athletes choosing to play as long as they can. We saw it last year with Tiki Barber, guy just hitting 30 and realizing that he could either kill himself for the next 3, maybe 4 years, or retire with his health in hand and actually have a productive post-playing career.
As a Falcon's fan I can not support this action by one of our players - I have decided not to do business with any Atlanta Falcon entity including Tickets. To use the Free xxxx is a total disrepect to all people ever put behind bars undeservingly.
This guy was not jailed because he was black or because he was fighting for civil rights or because he was unjustly prosecuted. Vick went to jail because he admitted he fought & Killed dogs and was the bank roller in a dog fighting ring. He should be in jail.
As he is a real "Swine"
Good Riddance
Forde Seriously Ripping Petrino
Or below for your convenience.
/s/ JackWESQ
Petrino's been down this road before … and likely will again
In the coming days and weeks, the disingenuous drifter will say what Arkansas fans want to hear.
He'll look at them with blank shark eyes and tell them, in a monotone voice, how excited he is to be the coach of the Razorbacks. He will tell them how impressed he is by the tradition and the fan base. He will tell them that the Southeastern Conference is the place he always wanted to coach (and that might be the one true thing he'll say, given how many times he's tried to land a job in the league).
It will be a trumped-up stump speech, as sincere as a politician's pledge to cut taxes. It will simply be the latest pack of lies in a career full of them.
But it will be what Arkansas fans want to hear, and the poor saps will be desperate to believe him. During their arduous search to replace Houston Nutt, they've been used and abused by one-fourth of the coaches in the ACC -- first Butch Davis, then Tommy Bowden, then Jim Grobe. Auburn's Tommy Tuberville flirted for a minute as well.
So hiring a guy with a 41-9 college record will get the blood pumping. But those Arkansas fans ready to embrace their new hotshot coach and his pretty ball plays need to understand one thing:
Bobby Petrino gave Louisville fans plenty of reasons to smile by going 41-9 from 2003-06.
The disingenuous drifter doesn't love you or any other fan base. He doesn't love any school or any NFL franchise. He loves himself, his playbook and his bank account.
That's it. Don't expect it to change.
Bobby Petrino will return your embrace, Hog fans. But while he's hugging you he'll be looking over your shoulder, scanning the terrain for his next hook-up.
Even in a profession rife with dishonest posturing, Petrino is singularly mercenary. Loyalty, allegiance, commitment and honesty are foreign concepts to him. It must be a sad existence.
I apologize to Alabama's Nick Saban -- last year I named him president of the Liar's Club. He's been impeached and replaced by the disingenuous drifter.
Petrino's old boss at Louisville, Tom Jurich, took the high road when asked Tuesday night about the drifter's latest change of address.
"He's a great football coach," Jurich said, adding that he spoke to Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long about Petrino last week and "said nothing to discourage him" from hiring his old coach.
But Jurich did allow that he's "not totally surprised" Petrino would move on less than a year after leaving Louisville for a $24 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons.
"He's five for five," Jurich explained.
Petrino On Move
Bobby Petrino has been on the move for 15 years, with his four-year stint in Louisville the longest.
1983 Carroll Grad. asst.
1984 Weber St. Grad. asst.
1985-86 Carroll Off. coord./QB/WR
1987-88 Weber St. WR/TE coach
1989 Idaho QB coach
1990-91 Idaho Off. coord./QB
1992-93 Arizona St. QB coach
1994 Nevada Off. coord./QB
1995-97 Utah St. Off. coord./QB
1998 Louisville Off. coord./QB
1999-2000 Jacksonville (NFL) QB coach
2001 Jacksonville (NFL) Off. coord.
2002 Auburn Off. coord./QB
2003-2006 Louisville Head coach
2007 Atlanta (NFL) Head coach
2007 Arkansas Head coach
What he meant: this is the fifth straight year Bobby Petrino has tried to get another job. Every single season he's been a head coach, he's ended it by pursuing something else.
Follow the grease stain that is the disingenuous drifter's career path:
• In 2003, his first year as a head coach at the University of Louisville, Petrino went behind the back of his employer and his onetime boss, Tuberville, to negotiate a deal replacing him at Auburn. He held a clandestine meeting across the Ohio River from Louisville in southern Indiana with Auburn officials, two days before both the Tigers and Cardinals played their final regular-season games.
It was, by any rendering, a spectacular bit of philandering by both interested parties.
Petrino lied about having any contact with Auburn officials -- until two reporters for The (Louisville) Courier-Journal confronted him with documentation of the private plane that brought the university president and athletic director into Petrino's backyard. I was one of the two reporters. And even when faced with the evidence, Petrino resisted telling the truth until Auburn issued a statement owning up to the whole affair.
Boxed into a corner, Petrino asked forgiveness and chalked it up to the inexperience of a "young coach." Louisville forgave him because he was 9-3 and his offense blew up scoreboards.
It wouldn't be the last time Petrino toyed with the school's loyalties, or the last time he was forgiven for doing so.
• In 2004, Petrino interviewed for the Notre Dame job and had discussions with Florida and Mississippi about their jobs. Then, on Dec. 7, he pledged his loyalty to Louisville.
"I want to make it clear that I'm not interested in any other coaching jobs, and am happy at the University of Louisville," Petrino said. "… I'm very excited about our move into the Big East, the opportunity to play in a BCS bowl game and the chance to compete for a national championship. [School president] Dr. James Ramsey and Tom Jurich, through their hard work and dedication, have made this the best job in the country. As I've stated before, Louisville is the perfect place to raise a family and I plan for all four of my children to graduate from high school in Louisville."
On Dec. 21, Petrino signed an enhanced contract to stay with the Cardinals.
On Dec. 26 -- well before the Petrino children had graduated from high school -- he interviewed with LSU to replace Saban. On Jan. 1, 2005, when it became obvious that he'd lost out to Les Miles, Petrino pulled out of consideration.
On the inside, several Louisville administrators were disappointed they had to keep him. They were sick of the game -- but there was no firing a guy who just went 12-1.
Bobby Petrino lost more games (10) in a partial NFL season than he did in four full seasons as a college head coach.
• In 2005, Petrino interviewed with the Oakland Raiders. That's after telling people for years that he had no interest in coaching the pros -- college was where he wanted to be. He ultimately turned down the job and professed his commitment to the Cardinals again.
• On July 13, 2006, Petrino signed a 10-year contract worth up to $25 million -- a staggering deal for a school of Louisville's modest football heritage and fan base. The day he signed it, Petrino vowed again that Louisville was home. He made a point of insisting that a $1 million buyout provision be put into the contract, putting his money where his dissembling mouth is.
"We did want to make a statement," the disingenuous drifter said that day about the buyout. "… I wanted to make sure everyone understood -- I know I've said it -- that this is where I want to be, where my family wants to be. But I want everyone to really believe it."
Sure, he wanted everyone to believe it. Not because it was true, of course. Just because he was tired of answering questions about his wandering eye.
Five months later, he was gone to Atlanta.
Even this time around, there have been recent pronouncements of commitment to the task at hand and the people who write his checks.
On Nov. 26, Petrino told the Associated Press that he was staying in Atlanta. "I haven't given it [college coaching vacancies] one bit of thought," he said.
Shockingly, that didn't hold up, either.
Early in his career, Rick Pitino was famously called Larry Brown on training wheels. Petrino isn't Larry Brown on training wheels; he's Larry Brown in a Maserati.
The good news for Arkansas is that it might be the last school willing to give this guy anything more than what he deserves: a one-year contract and a monitoring device on his ankle. The NFL certainly will never give him another chance as a head coach, not after fleeing with three games left in the season and undercutting an owner like Arthur Blank. And every college in the country should know by now how fickle Petrino can be.
Even in what appears to be a major rebuilding year for the Hogs in 2008, I predict Petrino will do better than expected. He's that good as a coach -- for my money, the best offensive game-planner and tactician since Steve Spurrier's heyday at Florida. That will be a welcome dynamic at a school that struggled to diversify its offense beyond Darren McFadden and Felix Jones the past two years.
But a little success can be a dangerous thing. It might tempt some deluded and desperate school to offer Bobby Petrino a job -- and that's a temptation the disingenuous drifter is powerless to resist.
Pat Forde is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPN4D@aol.com.
I'm sure this is just one big misunderstanding. When he signed the contract, he thought it was for 5 months not 5 years
<< <i>Why do people expect coaches to be loyal? Ownership isn't forced into this role, are they? Where are the cries of 'lack of loyalty' when a team goes through managers or players? It's business, BIG business, and why shouldn't anyone be allowed or respected for taking a better paying job elsewhere when the opportunity arises? >>
Why not listen to your own advice and go elsewhere?
http://sportsfansnews.com/author/andy-fischer/
thanks for contributing to the conversation as always. Your insight is greatly appreciated.
<< <i>fische-
thanks for contributing to the conversation as always. Your insight is greatly appreciated. >>
I do what i can.
http://sportsfansnews.com/author/andy-fischer/