Behind the Numbers 12.15.07: Bobby Petrino Bolts

Posted by Chris Widner on 12.15.2007

There is classless and then there is Bobby Petrino. Could his latest move be his last?

Usually I like to cover the top 5 stories of the week, but Bobby Petrino leaving the Falcons for Arkansas has overshadowed everything. Some of you may ask "Who cares? The Falcons were in shambles anyway." But that's exactly the point. As the coach of any team it is your job to lead your team, no matter how bad the circumstances are. Petrino came in expecting Michael Vick to play, and losing Vick pretty much sank the team.

I can only imagine what it must have been like for the Falcons' players this year, to be playing under a dark cloud because of the actions of one person. When teams are in situations like that the coach should lift them up and lead them in a positive direction. Instead of that, Petrino cut Grady Jackson, fought with his players, treated them like children, juggled quarterbacks, and the bolted the first chance he got. And instead of having the courage to tell his players face to face he chose to write a thoughtless letter to let him know he left town.

He told Arthur Blank that he was staying as recently as Monday night and is gone before the week is finished. All future Petrino players need to realize one thing. They cannot trust a thing he has to say. If you're an 17-18 year old kid trying to decide where to play college ball because you think you have a chance to make it to the NFL do you really want to trust Petrino when he tells you that you'll be his starter next year or even the year after that? Of course you'd want to, but you'd know better.

Keep in mind that when it comes to the recruiting process a coach must earn the respect and trust of the player's parents as well as that of the player himself. When you look at Petrino's resume you quickly realize that his longest job was as the head coach at Louisville where he led the the team for a whopping 4 years. So, if you're lucky, he might be your child's head coach through his senior year, but don't count on it.

I'll be surprised if Petrino lasts 4 years at Arkansas, not only because of his track record, but because of the atmosphere in Fayetteville as well. Houston Nutt was ran out of town due to some questionable decisions he made in terms of his starters and Petrino is as fickle as they come. Granted he didn't have the greatest quarterbacks with the Falcons, but he changed his starter 5 times in 13 games. He was practically throwing crap against the wall and seeing if anything stuck. The Razorbacks' fans and alumni are not going to have much patience for that type of coaching.

The fans in Fayetteville feel like the school deserves something and are not that patient. They play in the ultra-competitive SEC and are a long way away from being a dominant force. LSU is the head of the class and Kentucky is on the rise, and both schools will be taking recruits away from Petrino and the Razorbacks. So again, you're deciding colleges and think you have NFL potential. You have Les Miles, the man that called a press conference to essentially tell the media to shut up and let his players focus on the championship game and turned down and offer to go to his alma mater. On the other hand you have Bobby Petrino. Both are promising you the world, who are you going to believe?

Atlanta may have been a disaster, but unless Petrino can get his act together and commit to something for once Arkansas won't be any better. There's no doubt that he is a good coach when it comes to the X's and O's, but as far as leadership is concerned he is severely lacking. Unless he can make a serious turn-around, this could be the beginning of the end for Petrino.