AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > October > 08
Monday, October 8, 2007
Petrino’s in over his head
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Flowery Branch — Even by Falcons standards, this is bad.
Jerry Glanville’s circus had its messy stretches. So did the June Jones era, punctuated by the lovely Jeff George yelling and spitting unprintable things into the coach’s face on the sidelines.
This is worse.
This is Marion Campbell or Dan Henning bad.
No, this is even worse. This is the veteran players suggesting they wouldn’t mind dangling their NFL rookie head coach over the side of the Georgia Dome by his toes. This is that head coach doing the ridiculous in Sunday’s 20-13 loss in Nashville by going for a toss sweep on first-and-goal at the 1-yard line of Tennessee and watching his team spend that play and the next three out of the end zone.
This is that head coach spending the Tennessee game pulling his starting quarterback down the stretch and replacing him with the No. 3 quarterback. (Just so you know, we’re talking about a No. 3 quarterback who hadn’t taken a snap from the starting center during his three weeks since signing with the team. And, if that No. 3 quarterback was that significant, why wasn’t he listed as the No. 2 quarterback?).
This also is that head coach who did the highly questionable when he hired a lifetime college assistant to lead the transition of shaky offensive linemen from a cut-blocking unit to a drive-blocking unit.
Mostly, with the Falcons’ latest freefall at 1-4 and counting, this is owner Arthur Blank and general manager Rich McKay showing that they really weren’t smarter than everybody else when they ignored history before the season and hired a college coach anyway. Yeah, Jimmy Johnson won Super Bowls, but he also had Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith. Let’s just say the Falcons’ Bobby Petrino is moving rapidly toward Butch Davis, Lou Holtz, Dennis Erickson, Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier territory.
Not good. Then again, Petrino does have his positive attributes as an NFL boss. None is more impressive than his straight-forward nature. On Monday, for instance, when questioned about the implosion of the Falcons with no end in sight, he said Joey Harrington and his 23-47 record as a career NFL starter remains his guy (as in the Falcons really haven’t a quarterback controversy in Petrino’s mind). He also said he spoke with disgruntled tight end Alge Crumpler earlier in the day to clear the air (as in Petrino realizes his locker room is nearly as dysfunctional as his power spread offense).
Petrino also showed his decisiveness and wisdom when he slammed DeAngelo Hall with a $100,000 fine and a benching after the cornerback’s verbal meltdown contributed to a loss against Carolina.
It’s just that everything else shows that Petrino is another overmatched college guy passing through.
Petrino disagrees, of course. This is despite the griping throughout his roster that spans from Crumpler claiming the new regime is phasing out veterans to Petrino’s strange habit for an NFL head coach of having his team run through a full practice on the day before games. “Yeah, we have confidence in what we’re doing,” said Petrino, without the hint of doubt, suggesting the ugliness around him is fleeting given his splendid four years in charge at the University of Louisville.
Actually, the Falcons’ ugliness is stationary for a historically troubled franchise that will spend the next few weeks, months and years wallowing in the shadows of Michael Vick and his dogfighting mess. Petrino has no control over that.
Even so, Petrino has much to say about what happens on the field and in the locker room for the Falcons, and here’s the bottom line: Brutal, with the streaking New York Giants and their sack-happy bunch coming to town Monday night, and with the Falcons’ future looking bleaker beyond that, and with no NCAA recruiting trips available for Petrino to help the situation.
Permalink | Comments (174) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Terence Moore
Services »
