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Football University: Rant of the day, Petrino wins the “I am out of here” award

And the winner of the 2007 Nick Saban “I’m outta here” award is: Bobby Petrino! What a joke this head coach is. He signs a ten, let me repeat that, a ten year contract with Louisville a year ago, then decides to head to the National Football League the same week. So much for commitment there. Comes to an Atlanta team that suddenly loses the player (Michael Vick) that was probably the key to bringing Petrino there in the first place.

Some early season injuries made a team that could have been a playoff contender into a team that was done before the mid season point. That can’t be easy for any coach, especially one that moved up from college to the pro’s, but it doesn’t excuse what Bobby Petrino has done. Leaving three games before the end of the season, with another long term contract that he is basically laughing at, is totally wrong and there are no “ifs, ands or buts” about it. Once again, in two years this man who is supposed to be a “leader of me” bails out because it is more convenient to do so for him.

I’d just love to be a fly on the wall as head coach Petrino goes in to some recruits house and with a straight face says “Son, I am going to be here for a long, long time” and probably under his breath says unless I get a better offer, then I will be gone before you know what happened. And while I’m not a fan of underhanded recruiting (aka bashing the other schools that are going after the same student athlete) I hope that every single player that’s being looked at by Arkansas is reminded of Petrino’s track record for leaving when it is best for him.

But I do not just blame Petrino, that’s way too easy to do. The system is flawed because there’s nothing to bond the signing of the contract (whether in the NFL or the NCAA) and the fact that it means something. Either with buyout clauses or just by leaving because they can, head coaches can get up and leave “just because”. What needs to be put in place is a rule that both the collegiate and professional teams will follow that states a contract must run its full course. Then, and only then, will you see who is truly committed to their job and who is looking to get out of it. What is the point of someone signing a ten year contract if he can leave 10 days after the signing date? It’s just part of the smoke and mirrors that the NCAA and the NFL use to create the illusion that there is stability in their teams.

Even worse is the fact that the players that sign with college teams might as well sign in blood because they are then stuck and to go elsewhere they have to be released, sit out a year and so on and so forth. However the men that are their mentors can get up and go, leave today, work somewhere else tomorrow, without penalty. In other words, an 18 year old has to sit out a year if he changes his mind, while the men that coach them can change their mind anytime they want without any repercussions. If that makes sense to you then please leave me a comment and explain it, because to me this rule make no sense at all.

I watched the press conference where Bobby Petrino told the world it was so hard to leave the Atlanta Falcons, but yet so easy to come to the University of Arkansas. I have to wonder if it was the same speech that he read last year, where it was so hard to leave the University of Louisville and yet so easy to come to the Atlanta Falcons. He should keep the speech,
maybe he’ll need it again next year. I will conclude with this, just as Petrino went to the Falcons thinking he would have the most exciting player in the NFL (Vick) does anyone wonder if he went to Arkansas for the same reason? Unfortunately, just like Vick, I have a feeling that McFadden will also be gone (as well as a lot of other players from this season) and so the head coach who has left a team because it will need to rebuild, has landed in another one that is also going to be rebuilding. Isn’t that poetic justice?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Arkansas, Bobby Petrino, NCAA football, News (Football), Nick Saban, NCAA Rules Committee, News & Notes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.