Petrino to Arkansas: The SEC is Now Ridiculous

by Todd on Dec 11, 2007 7:12 PM CST in Football

Fanblogs is reporting that Bobby Petrino has been hired as the new head coach at Arkansas, and will be announced the new Boss Hawg at a press conference on wednesday. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, he resigned his position as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons earlier this evening, to the chagrin of team ownership:

Before the Falcons' 34-14 loss to New Orleans Monday, Blank said that he had heard rumors that Arkansas had targeted Petrino to replace Houston Nutt as head coach. So he said he asked Petrino if he was considering that job.

Petrino, who was signed from the University of Louisville to a five-year, $24.5 million contract Jan. 8, told him Monday afternoon that he definitely would be back to coach the Falcons in 2008.

It was the second time Blank had asked Petrino about his commitment to the team and the second time Petrino told him he would be back next season.

Who wants to bet he doesn't get anywhere near the amount of flak for this as Saban did?

If only Petrino had a last name that rhymed easily with an embodiment of evil...

Tweet Comment 11 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

WOW!

If this is true this would be unbelieveable! The SEC champion should now just go ahead and be crowned the national champion every year.

I live in Atlanta, and don't know if I believe this yet. I think we all know from past experiences to wait until Petrino is actually at Arkansas. He may just be getting a contract raise and extension from the Falcons. Yes, that would seem insane with a 3-10 record, but I no longer discount anything. Again WOW!!

by kennybk483 on Dec 11, 2007 8:09 PM CST reply actions

i say good for bobby petrino

he fell back asswards into a no win situation in atlanta. viva sec once again.

by gerry dorsey on Dec 11, 2007 8:16 PM CST reply actions

Your SEC West coaching roster....

Croom
Miles
Nutt
Petrino
Saban
Tuberville

That's pretty ridiculous.

Roll Tide!

by Nico2.0 on Dec 11, 2007 10:06 PM CST reply actions

If the country thought....

we beat ourselves this season, just wait for the next couple of seasons when these head coaches get established well. It will be nail biters every weekend in the SEC. If this season was any indicator to the level that the SEC has rose, then man what to look forward to now. Arkie pulled one out of their a**.

SDBama78

by SDBama78 on Dec 11, 2007 11:23 PM CST up reply actions

Press Conference

on ESPN tonight (Tuesday) at 10:30

announcing Petrino as coach

by RunBama on Dec 11, 2007 10:28 PM CST reply actions

Wow

Who would have thought that both Arkansas and Ole Miss would have upgraded and Houston Nutt would still be coaching in the SEC?

I pictured Petrino going to Auburn if Tuberville had taken the position at Arkansas, so I can't say I'm totally surprised.

It is true that he won't catch as much grief as Saban. The media's already treating him pretty nicely, which is ridiculous considering he left Atlanta LESS than twenty-four hours after a game which wasn't even the final game of the season. I know he had no way of knowing about the Michael VIck situation, but this is still no better/no worse than the Saban deal. I don't have a problem with what Saban did because he didn't lie; when he said he wasn't going to be Alabama's coach, he wasn't.

Petrino on the other hand jumped ship very early and used the convenient excuse of missing the college game. He also left Louisville after signing a $25 million dollar contract; now he leaves A-Town after signing a $24.5 million dollar deal. Maybe he'll be successful; maybe he won't. But now we have another coach who returns to the college game after failing in the NFL.

Miss the college game?

Come on, we all know that in the NFL the playing field is completely level and finding microscopic matchups makes the difference. One injury, one suspension and you're toast regardless of who you are. You can't recruit twenty-five studs and put a far superior team out there. Who would want to coach there?

by Bamagrad on Dec 11, 2007 11:04 PM CST reply actions

Wooo Pig Sooie

on national tv? embarrassing

by alextuscaloosa on Dec 11, 2007 11:13 PM CST reply actions

I wouldn't be so sure...

That the media is treating him as a darling... albeit insincere, Forde just apologized to Saban and handed the title over to Petrino...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3151061&sportCat=ncf

Well deserved, I would say...

by GSCRocks on Dec 12, 2007 6:02 AM CST reply actions

Petrino

I was listening to ESPN2 this morning, and they had Peter King on from SI. He was talking about the Petrino situation, and of course how he was a liar. He said that teams would now not hire college coaches in the NFL because they are unsuccessful, liars, and untrustworthy. I thought the idea was funny that because of two coaches now all college coaches are despicable liars, unlike NFL coaches.

by kennybk483 on Dec 12, 2007 7:19 AM CST reply actions

What do you wanna bet that Saban..

will still be 'blamed' for setting a precident(sp?) for other coaches. LSU will hate Bama and Saban even more when Miles ends up at Michigan! ("Saban started this s___!"). Like you said, that's what happens when your name sounds like Satan and your teams colors are blood-red! (insert evil laugh here)

by yellowhammer on Dec 12, 2007 8:20 AM CST reply actions

doesn't get anywhere near the amount of flak

I was listening to sports talk radio in Atlanta on the way to work and Petrino is catching hell. The one comparison to Saban that I heard was that "at least Saban had the dignity to wait until the (NFL) season was over before he left."

Alabama football USE to be about offense.

by fumblepaws on Dec 12, 2007 10:38 AM CST reply actions