Petrino bails on Falcons to coach the Hogs

[Buffacuse]

How can anyone trust this guy...man, I'd love to be a coach recruiting against him after this.

[earendel]

How can anyone trust this guy...man, I'd love to be a coach recruiting against him after this.

The airwaves around here are full of comments about this - Petrino has a checkered past when it comes to loyalty to programs; there were stories about him flirting with other college positions while at Louisville, meeting with recruiters without the knowledge of the athletic director.

Truth to tell I think Petrino saw the handwriting on the wall - a bad season, no hope for Michael Vick's return in the near future, and lots of good college coaching opportunities out there.

[Appa23]

Truth to tell I think Petrino saw the handwriting on the wall - a bad season, no hope for Michael Vick's return in the near future, and lots of good college coaching opportunities out there.

Then why not jump for one of those good coaching opportunities?

Mighigan is a much better job than Arkansas. Every year, at worst, you are coaching a team that is the 2nd or 3rd best in the Big Ten (11), and you are fairly well-positioned for national title runs.

It is much harder to make a title run in the SEC, especially at Arkansas, where you always will be playing 4th fiddle to Florida, LSU, Georgia, Auburn, and Alabama in the standings and/or with recruits. Plus, there are some issues surrounding the athletic department at Arkansas.

I would like to think that recruits and thier parents will be put off by Petrino abandoning hsi team with three games remaining, but I am just jaded enough that I am not sure that it will.

[earendel]

Truth to tell I think Petrino saw the handwriting on the wall - a bad season, no hope for Michael Vick's return in the near future, and lots of good college coaching opportunities out there.

Then why not jump for one of those good coaching opportunities?

Probably because Arkansas was the only one offered to him. Besides, he seems to have an attraction to the SEC - he was courted by both LSU and Auburn while he was at Louisville.

It is much harder to make a title run in the SEC, especially at Arkansas, where you always will be playing 4th fiddle to Florida, LSU, Georgia, Auburn, and Alabama in the standings and/or with recruits. Plus, there are some issues surrounding the athletic department at Arkansas.

Somehow for Petrino I don't think it's about titles and such. It's the money, pure and simple.

I would like to think that recruits and thier parents will be put off by Petrino abandoning hsi team with three games remaining, but I am just jaded enough that I am not sure that it will.

His resume was printed in this morning's newspaper and I note that it shows a stint as offensive coordinator at Nebraska.

[Appa23]

Truth to tell I think Petrino saw the handwriting on the wall - a bad season, no hope for Michael Vick's return in the near future, and lots of good college coaching opportunities out there.

Then why not jump for one of those good coaching opportunities?

Probably because Arkansas was the only one offered to him. Besides, he seems to have an attraction to the SEC - he was courted by both LSU and Auburn while he was at Louisville.

It is much harder to make a title run in the SEC, especially at Arkansas, where you always will be playing 4th fiddle to Florida, LSU, Georgia, Auburn, and Alabama in the standings and/or with recruits. Plus, there are some issues surrounding the athletic department at Arkansas.

Somehow for Petrino I don't think it's about titles and such. It's the money, pure and simple.

I would like to think that recruits and thier parents will be put off by Petrino abandoning hsi team with three games remaining, but I am just jaded enough that I am not sure that it will.

His resume was printed in this morning's newspaper and I note that it shows a stint as offensive coordinator at Nebraska.

Well, I guess that whoever wrote the article (or checked its facts) knows zip about college football. Petino would have to be in his 70s to have been an OC at Nebraska. In the last 40 years, here is the list of OCs at Nebraska:

Tom Osborne (1969-1997)
Frank Solich (1998-2003)
Jay Norvell (2004-06)
Shaun Watson (2007)

[Appa23]

Truth to tell I think Petrino saw the handwriting on the wall - a bad season, no hope for Michael Vick's return in the near future, and lots of good college coaching opportunities out there.

Then why not jump for one of those good coaching opportunities?

Probably because Arkansas was the only one offered to him. Besides, he seems to have an attraction to the SEC - he was courted by both LSU and Auburn while he was at Louisville.

That you know.

I am betting that his agent was contacted by reps from several of the schools that have been looking for a coach, including Michigan. (You really don't think that his name was not on the AD's list of "20 names"?)

There is no doubt in my mind that Petrino has a resume on file with Chuck Neinas' search firm.

[Appa23]

LOL!

Petrino was OC at Nevada around 1994.

[earendel]

His resume was printed in this morning's newspaper and I note that it shows a stint as offensive coordinator at Nebraska.

Well, I guess that whoever wrote the article (or checked its facts) knows zip about college football. Petino would have to be in his 70s to have been an OC at Nebraska. In the last 40 years, here is the list of OCs at Nebraska:

Tom Osborne (1969-1997)
Frank Solich (1998-2003)
Jay Norvell (2004-06)
Shaun Watson (2007)

I may have been wrong - I was just remembering what I read. A check online reveals that I mistook "Nebraska" for "Nevada". He was at the latter school in 1994.

[earendel]

Then why not jump for one of those good coaching opportunities?

Probably because Arkansas was the only one offered to him. Besides, he seems to have an attraction to the SEC - he was courted by both LSU and Auburn while he was at Louisville.

That you know.

True - Bobby and I aren't exactly bosom buddies. However I would like to think that some schools would have sense enough not to look at a coach whose reputation for loyalty is not the strongest. ESPN calls him a "vagabond" and I think that about sums it up.

[flockofseagulls104]

Don't worry. Give him a couple days and he'll change his mind and go back to Atlanta.

[silverscreenselect]

Petrino got while the getting was good. He managed to escape most of the blame for this season's debacle, although his handling of his players was a significant portion of the problem. The Falcons may not have been Super Bowl contenders without Michael Vick, but the talent for a .500 season is certainly there, which in the NFC might have meant squeaking in for a playoff berth.

Next year in Atlanta rates to be more of the same, regardless of who is coach, and a coach who has had two disastrous pro seasons wouldn't be nearly as marketable as one who had one bad year with an explanation for a good part of the blame.

The good news for the next guy is that he will have bought himself some breating room. The bad news for the city of Atlanta is another 3-6 win season on the horizon next year.

[Buffacuse]

Been thinking about it all day and as much of a dirtbag Petrino is, the folks running Arkansas are the real pimps here. For the sake of winning about two extra football games a season over and above what Houston Nutt averaged, they are willing to prostitute their consciences and their university. They have devalued their university the way Nebraska did when they fired Frank Solich after he went 9-3 and devoted his life to NU; and they did the same thing Syracuse did when we fired Paul Pasqualoni who went to 11 bowl games in 15 years, won 7 out of every ten games he coached, ran a totally clean program and consistently sent players to the NFL.

When he bolts on them in a couple of years, they will have gotten what they deserve. The only reason guys like Petrino get away with this is there are schools willing to sell their souls to take him.