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Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Petrino’s loyalty a shifting formation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Even now, after nearly a month of swearing his allegiance to the Falcons as their new head coach, there are so many questions for Bobby Petrino about his past, present and future.
For instance: Which is it?
Does Petrino consider himself to be a pro coach or a college coach for the long run, and given his self-inflicted controversy over it all, what does this mean for his longevity (or lack thereof) in Atlanta?
Here’s why I ask: During Petrino’s four seasons of leading the University of Louisville to football prominence, he often spoke of cherishing the collegiate lifestyle to that of the pros. He regularly told Cardinals athletics director Tom Jurich that working in the college ranks was more suitable for raising his family. He even signed that 10-year contract last summer to coach Louisville just shy of forever.
“For me and my family, Louisville is my home,” Petrino said back then at his news conference. “I also wanted to make sure that everyone understood — and I know I’ve said it — that this is where my family wants to be and where I want to be.”
Now Petrino says boldly that he always knew in recent years that he would leave the college game.
Huh?
“Everything I’ve done from the time I left the [Jacksonville] Jaguars was within mind that, ‘when I come back to the NFL,’?” said Petrino, causing some head scratching during his impromptu interview with reporters in Miami during Super Bowl week. He was with the Jaguars from 1999 through 2001 as quarterbacks coach for two seasons before becoming Auburn offensive coordinator.
In contrast, Petrino’s other 18 years in coaching were on campuses, ranging from his native Helena, Mont., to Ogden, Utah to Reno, Nev. His college résumé included his ugly flirtation in the shadows with trying to secure the Auburn head coach job that his former boss Tommy Tuberville already had. Plus, despite receiving a hefty raise from Louisville, he interviewed at LSU after Nick Saban left for the Miami Dolphins.
It sounds like Petrino always viewed himself as a college coach.
Still, Petrino told those gathered last week in a conference room of the Miami Beach Convention Center that it was just a matter of “when” he would go back to the NFL as opposed to “if.”
Is that right? “Yeah, in my mind, it was never a question of ‘if,’?” said Petrino, 45, mentioning how he even “flipped” his offensive linemen for his college teams to resemble the pros — with a strong side and a weak side, “simply because you can hide a couple of players on your front, and you don’t have to learn as much. I was very intrigued and had a great experience when I worked in the NFL.”
So much so that Petrino said he regularly preached the work ethic of pro athletes to his college athletes.
“Like I told all the players who played for me at Louisville, there’s a bunch of guys with the talent to play in the NFL that are walking the streets,” Petrino said. “It’s the professionals, that’s why they’re called that, the guys that get up at 5:30 in the morning, go lift weights, because that’s what they feel they need to do. The guys that stay there when the horn’s blowing — and you can leave — but get together to watch video with the quarterback and receivers.
“You know, there’s a reason they are professionals, and it’s their commitment and their heart and their passion for the game. That’s always intrigued me from the start.”
Well, that and competition.
To hear Petrino tell it, the ultimate competition is in the NFL.
“It’s fun to coach the best players out there, and it’s fun to compete against the best coaches out there, and I think that will be the biggest challenge,” Petrino said. “Your college schedule, you’ve got two or three, maybe four games sometimes, where if you don’t just foul it up, you should step on the field and win that game. But we know that in the NFL, week in and week out, it’s going to have to be the best preparation, and you’re going to have to play at the highest level.”
It sounds like Petrino always viewed himself as a pro coach.
Mostly, it sounds confusing.
Permalink | Comments (25) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Terence Moore
A couch potato for the Super Bowl
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
So this is what it’s like. Kindle a fire. Pop the popcorn. Cat at your feet. Tasty adult beverage in hand. Super Bowl a la carte.
You push a button and it is delivered to you (and 92,999,999 other viewers), cozily reclining by the fireside. No tipping. This time I even got to watch all those $2.5 million commercials, and I needed an interpreter for some of them. My favorite was the one of the little street dog that wound up on the Clydesdale wagon, but I saw little that’ll change my buying habits. I’m left to wonder how these companies that are losing billions - Ford, for instance - and these little companies that produce nuts and munchies can afford such extravagance.
And for the halftime show, I watched this one without distractions. We’d reserved halftime for dinner, and I’m still not sure what I was seeing. Prince is an entertainer, right? He sings and dances and attracts babes. He paid tribute to the weather. I guess that’s what “Purple Rain” was, but truth to tell, since Up With Something or Other, whatever the name of that wholesome group was, most of these halftime ballets have been over my head.
This must be said: After a week of predictions, repeated over and over again, and of Mike and Dan and Merle and Eric and Shannon and the television avalanche, not to mention Kevin and John and Buck and Mort and all those “NFL insiders,” it was time for some blood and thunder. Sunday morning always makes me nervous. You never know when another Stanley Wilson or Eugene Robinson or Barret Robbins is going to break his tether. Not this time, not with those two good Christian coaches. If you noticed, Tony Dungy even gave God some credit in his benediction. Good man.
The Hall of Fame Committee gave the weekend more Tabasco than usual. That must have been a knockdown, trash-talking session. Try as hard as they do, the presiding court cannot prevent leaks about the indoor wrestlemania that took place. The main feature was the bout that dealt with the just-retired commissioner, Paul Tagliabue. The Tagliabue issue set off a firestorm that lasted 57 minutes, and both the pros and the cons, I’m told, spared no ammunition.
Committee members come, largely, from cities in the NFL, with a few at-large. In the 30 years that I served, discussion began at 7:30 in the morning and ended no later than 11:30. Some of us timed it to work in a round of golf later. But lately, parliamentary sessions had been running dangerously close to the time television had scheduled to announce the newly anointed members. With sensitive foresight, announcement time had been moved back to 2:30 this year, or TV would have been stuck with dead air, for the bickering didn’t come to an end until 2:05. It was a session some described as “highly contentious.”
They came out with a full slate, finally, six members, but no Tagliabue. All athletes. Usually there is a coach or two thrown in for consideration, but by this time, I would hope, they must have grown wiser. For instance, Joe Gibbs was voted in, then came back out of retirement and has not had a Hall of Fame record. Marv Levy was voted in, and he’s now back as general manager of the Bills. Bill Parcells’ name came up, he was passed over, then later returned to coach the Cowboys. As for Tagliabue and his backers - and they were loud and strong, and offended, especially when they learned he had not even survived the first cut - they should consider that Pete Rozelle, probably the best commissioner of any sport all time, was put through this grinder eight times before he made it.
As for the game and the weather, it made the Georgia Dome look like a cozy haven, even with an ice storm. And you should know that the rain came down harder than it appeared on television. But, no, the Super Bowl will not be a full-time undercover game from now on. In fact, three years from now, it goes back to Miami. The NFL is a slow learner. I can assure you that had I been able to include it in my “Best-Worst” list, this one would have taken the prize for worst in show.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Furman Bisher
Stranger things have happened
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
THE TUESDAY COUNTDOWN…
10: Predicted Super Bowl score in this space last week: Colts 27, Bears 16. Actual final score: Colts 29, Bears 17. But nailing it (somewhat) wasn’t nearly my Super Bowl highlight.
9: Rain! Downpour! Monsoon! After seeing Atlanta get blown off for another Super Bowl because of weather concerns, how sweet was it to see players hydroplaning across the field in Miami and rich folk in $3,000 seats sitting under rain tarps? Yesss!
8: Don’t know if Michael Vick stayed for the game. Saw where he made a visit to Arthur Blank’s yacht party Saturday night. Don’t know if he had to pass through harbor security.
7: Blank said Vick was “very apologetic” for that thing at the Miami airport. I’m sorry. “Very apologetic” for what? I thought he was innocent? Did I miss something? Dang! Well, I’m sure it will all be in the book one day, “Non-Denial Denials by a Tarnished Organization.” (Let it go? Who, me?)
6: Georgia (the conglomerate, not the state) is suing “Bulldog Movers” for infringing on its trademark, which I guess means that the school owns rights of the entire bulldog species, as well as the colors red and black. In a related story, the use of the phrase, “It was raining cats and dogs,” also now requires court approval.
5: Evander Holyfield has just finished filming an infomercial for, “The Real Deal Grill.” It comes with a lifetime guarantee, in the sense that its namesake believes you can keep using the grill, even long after it breaks down.
4: Love the story about the attempted kidnapping and love-triangle between astronauts. But isn’t there some guy rule that a quickie in another galaxy doesn’t really count as cheating?
3: According to something called the “Post-Chronicle,” Cardinals QB Matt Leinart has recently been seen with Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Tara Reid, Scarlett Johansson and Allysa Milano (not all at once). I would say it sounds completely believable, except that the same publication Tuesday reported, “UFOs in Arkansas and Across Louisiana Skies”.
2: Going into tonight’s game against Buffalo, the Thrashers are a sub .500 team in the last 16 games (6-8-2) and a .500 team (11-11-4) in the last 26. Don Waddell keeps saying he likes this team. But how much evidence do you need that it needs another piece?
1: 2008 Super Bowl: Glendale, Arizona. Windstorm. Flying cacti. Philadelphia 16, Cincinnati 13. (Hey, I’m on a roll.)
Permalink | Comments (26) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Quick Hit
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