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Monday, September 24, 2007
Hall’s punishment will define Petrino’s leadership
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
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Flowery Branch — The next move Bobby Petrino makes will define his tenure with the Falcons. It will determine whether the 0-3 Falcons are headed for a face-plant at the bottom of a ravine, or something at least bordering on respectable.
The NFL is a balanced league. It’s a weird league. It’s amazing how many games even a mediocre team can win with effort, unity and anything other than some egomaniacal, turbo-lipped cornerback who somehow believes success is determined by paychecks and Pro Bowls, not whether he actually helped his team win or led them to lose.
Football is about leadership. Bobby Petrino is the Falcons’ leader. His next move will lead the Falcons either a step forward or a mile down.
The message to DeAngelo Hall needs to be loud, and painful, and public. If the Falcons don’t suspend Hall, the punishment at least needs to give the man some humility. More important, it needs to scream to the team’s other 52 players that they don’t have another mush head in charge.
On Sunday, Petrino made a mistake. He didn’t pull Hall out of the game following his third-quarter meltdown. It was an odd decision for a man who embraces concepts like discipline and character. It sent the wrong message in an already fragile locker room.
On Monday, Petrino seemed to second-guess himself.
“Should I have pulled him out of the game? You know, I don’t know. Maybe I should have. But I made the decision not to,” he said.
The Falcons already have had do-overs at kicker and quarterback. This is Petrino’s do-over. Go soft, and this season has Jim Mora Disaster written all over it.
Mora was at his best when he coached with an edge, which was early in his tenure. He didn’t torment players but neither was he their pal. He had their attention.
That started to change in his second season. He started playing favorites with players, particularly with Hall. He became their pal. Discipline was lax. By year three, Mora had lost the locker room.
There was an incident in training camp when the coach organized a “team-building” outing to the movies. Players and coaches loaded buses to see “Invincible.” But Hall spun out of the parking lot in his Lamborghini. Mora not only allowed it, he jumped into the Lamborghini with Hall. Veterans watching from the bus were stunned.
Give Petrino credit for this. He discussed Hall’s meltdown with his team captains Monday, including Keith Brooking, Alge Crumpler and Lawyer Milloy. He said all the right things in a news conference. Mora would’ve droned on, “I love DeAngelo’s passion.”
This was Petrino: “[Winning is] the result of your behavior, how you conduct yourself in meetings, how you practice, how you prepare, what kind of attitude you have when the pressure’s on.”
Also this: “The thing I want to be is consistent. If it’s consistent, everybody understands how you conduct your business. There’s universal rights and wrongs to being a member of a team, and most all of the players understand that.”
Hall acted contrite Monday. That’s a start. But this isn’t about one apology for one stupid act in one loss. The Falcons are not a great team. This has the potential to be a very bad season. Petrino lost only nine games in four seasons at Louisville. He could hit nine here by November. This is when you set the tone. If Petrino doesn’t grab control now, he never will.
There are some positives. Joey Harrington, whether because a light switched on or the Byron Leftwich signing ignited a torch to his rear, played like a starting quarterback Sunday. Roddy White looks like a first-round pick. John Abraham is a force.
This is a new coaching staff with new systems. Players generally become more comfortable in systems as time passes. But it’s all for naught if they pull apart. Go soft on Hall and they’ll pull apart.
Petrino’s history suggests he doesn’t care what players think about him. There was a saying about the Hall of Fame hockey coach, Scotty Bowman: Players hated him 364 days a year, and on the 365th day they picked up their rings.
Nothing suggests Petrino cares about popularity contests. Now would be a good time to be unpopular with one guy.
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