Petrino’s agent blames Blank’s interference
December 14, 2007 at 4:28 pm by Scott Freeman in SportsIn today’s Birmingham News, the agent for former Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino doesn’t paint a pretty picture of their perspective on what led to Petrino’s sudden and stunning departure from Atlanta.
Russ Campbell says that Falcons owner Arthur Blank broke two promises to Petrino. First, Campbell says Blank agreed when he hired Petrino that the coach would be free to leave the Falcons to take a college job if he decided he didn’t want to coach in the pros.
Second, he says Blank promised Petrino that he wouldn’t mess in the coach’s business.
“One of the main issues,” Campbell told the News, “was the owner’s involvement in the football program.”
Blank assured Petrino a year ago that he would stay out of the way if that’s what the coach wanted, Campbell said, but “he’s in it up to his elbows.”
Campbell offered an example: After a pregame team prayer, Blank pulled Petrino aside and strongly objected to the prayer’s wording.
Yeah, just what a head coach wants to deal with before he takes his team out on the field. And Blank had dinner with the coach every Monday to talk about the previous Sunday’s game. Those probably weren’t very pleasant for Petrino, either.
In the wake of the Petrino debacle, Blank has indicated he plans to get even more involved in the team’s operation. One suspects/hopes that at some point Blank is going to learn the lesson Ted Turner eventually learned when he owned the Braves: that he didn’t know a damned thing about running a baseball organization. So he hired someone who did, and then stepped out of their way. All Ted did was provide the cash, soak up the applause and pick up the trophies.
Not a bad strategy.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
I’m calling Bullshit. Petrino is totally in face-saving mode. While I’m sure Blank does micromanage some, a few points to consider.
1) It’s his friggin’ team
2) Petrino was a first year coach
3) The Falcons were tanking and clearly Petrino didn’t have a strategy to get out of it.
4) Did I mention: IT’S HIS FREAKING TEAM?
Petrino couldn’t handle it. He got in over his head and Blank certainly needs to accept some blame for hiring him. But the way Petrino quit and the double-talk and ass-covering he’s done since has made him look like a coward and an idiot.
As Sean Salisbury said on ESPN: Bobby Petrino is a fraud and now the world knows it.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Am I the only person in Atlanta who admires Petrino for quitting?
I think so.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
It’s not that he quit Andi. If his family was miserable and he didn’t like the job, he should quit. I have no problem with that. But it’s HOW he quit. He did a lousy job, mishandled his personnel, lied to the owner and then skulked out in the middle of the night. That’s cowardly.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Sellout,
I totally agree with you in regard to Petrino. However, I also think Blank would be well-served to stand back and put a football person in charge, although I doubt that he ever will. Owners that meddle with their teams don’t often win these days. Jerry Jones is a prime example; the Cowboys haven’t gone deep in the play-offs since they won the Super Bowl in 1995. Every time I see Blank on the sidelines, I cringe because his presence gives the impression of looking over the coach’s shoulder. It was Blank who fired Dan Reeves. It was Blank who hired Jim Mora and Bobby Petrino. He can continue to make football decisions, but he’s not doing his team any favors. The NFL isn’t Home Depot.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Let me clarify:
If Petrino was miserable and the job situation was not was he was told it would be, I admire him for quittin — knowing the public shitstorm that would come.
If he’s a dilly-dallying, distractable airhead, then poo-on-him.
I’m not sure yet, based on what I’ve read, which of those situations is closest to truth.
Hugs,
Andy
December 15th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Petrino is a dick. I know this has been said but it bears repeating…
Coaches ask their players to give 100 percent until the whistle blows, until the game is over and until the season is over. Players are expected to give everything they have regardless of how bleak the outlook is. Coaches judge players on how well they “finish the drill,” as Mark Richt says. There’s zero doubt, given all of the difficulties coming in to this season that Petrino asked his players to suck it up and finish the season strong. Then he lied to Blank’s face and walked out on his team.
He is a dishonorable loser and Arkansas deserves what it gets when Petrino bails on them too. The only thing I’m happy about is that the Falcons found out early before they had invested any more money and/or time in this douchebag. Let’s hope Blank can convince an experienced head coach to give this dysfunctional organization a shot.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Andy. Thanks for the hugs. I needed one…
We’ve all been miserable in jobs (and ones that pay much less). But you’re reputation is built — in great part — on how you handle yourself in those positions. It’s one thing to tell Arthur Blank to his face “I am going to Arkansas” and to tell your players face-to-face.
But it’s another to sneak out, leave a form letter for your players and then be on national TV doing the Pig Sooey call at 11:30 p.m. He may have been justified in leaving. But he wasn’t justified in the way he did.
Chocolate hugs and kisses.
Sellout
December 17th, 2007 at 11:54 am
As someone who has ulcerated his stomach by staying at jobs and in situations he hates, my instinct is to feel a bit for quitters — as long they’re not responsible for anyone’s life or health.
That said, I do understand the feelings of betrayal.
All parties will be better off though. Maybe Blank will be able to get somebody with NFL experience this time.
Double hugs!
December 17th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Hope your tummy is okay at CL!
Christmas…I mean holiday…hugs.
December 17th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
My tummy is fine here. Growing, but fine.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Hey, anybody would get ulcers at Creative Loafing.
But I’d feel a lot better if I whipped Mr. T’s smarmy ass. Sellout, too. What the heck, I wouldn’t mind taking a swing at Andisheh and Scott Freeman while we’re at it. As for Petrino, he is a whore and I hope when Arkansas plays Alabama, both their whore coaches lose. Blank is like a big child with a toy. He’s an idiot who hired a whore. Why don’t any of these assholes get ulcers? Why doesn’t Mr. T get a freaking life?
December 17th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
I was living in Alabama (War Eagle) when Dennis Fran-phony left Alabama basically the same way. He went into the homes of high school kids and told them he was in it for the long haul, then he bailed on those very kids and left without so much as a “kiss my ass” to the team and fans. I doubt the Falcons players were emotionally invested in Petrino, but he should have handled it differently.
Petrino did not handle it the right way. Period.
Leave… fine, but don’t be a douchebag about it.
I agree with Andisheh that leaving an untenable situation is the right thing to do, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. I have a feeling that he did it the right way.
Recently, a person who worked for my parents for 17 years, then for my brother and I for 7, walked out with no warning, They didn’t call coworkers and friends. Nothing. They did it the day before my wedding becasue they knew my brother (the boss) was out of town. They left to work for the competitor across town which they had dogged-out for years and years. BTW, we kept their job open for three years while recovering from two surgeries. Loser.
I despise quitters who take the weasel way out.
Whether a friend, girlfriend, wife or employee, man up, tell me why , shoot straight and leave. I will probably help you find a better place and I will definitely respect you. You can even come back if the situation changes for you.
Sneak, lie and vanish on me? Fuck you.