College Football Coaching Changes Thread

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Michigan is gonna end up with English or Hoke I'm afraid. Which means more Mike Debored. Ugh.

Lane Kiffin or Steve Sarcisian would be great fits for Michigan. They both bring a lot of offense and great recruiting power being from SoCal. Anybody from the USC program would be a jumpstart for Michigan. Tedford would also not be too bad of a fit, although I would be concerned about the defense, especially if English/Debored stays put. Either way, Michigan needs a new look, instead of this "run it up the middle" crap that the late Bo Schembechler started (God rest his soul).

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by Cringer

I would hope that is any college coach's goal. Did he say specifically his goal was to do that at Arkansas?

Yes, he did say that.

Notice, though, the difference between this particular goal and the goal of simply getting a BCS bowl every year.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

I believe his goal is to win a national championship which I think is easier at an SEC school than at Louisville. This is what he claims is his goal, at least.

Err,
I don't even follow college football much but Arkansas - really? In the SEC? Have they even won the division anytime?

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Err,
I don't even follow college football much but Arkansas - really? In the SEC? Have they even won the division anytime?

Last year? And, yes, why the hell should Arkansas not be able to win a national championship? Christ.

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Last year? And, yes, why the hell should Arkansas not be able to win a national championship? Christ.

I guess I just don't understand the excitement. I'm sure you'll be looking for a new coach within the next year.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

I believe his goal is to win a national championship which I think is easier at an SEC school than at Louisville. This is what he claims is his goal, at least.

If that SEC school is Florida or Georgia or LSU perhaps . I think Louisville had a system in place where it'd be easier to win a national championship than Arkansas or any of the other second tier SEC schools. After all, for all the bitching and moaning about the Big East. They've won their last two BCS games, including beating the heavily favored Georgia Bulldogs in Atlanta.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

If that SEC school is Florida or Georgia or LSU perhaps . I think Louisville had a system in place where it'd be easier to win a national championship than Arkansas or any of the other second tier SEC schools. After all, for all the bitching and moaning about the Big East. They've won their last two BCS games, including beating the heavily favored Georgia Bulldogs in Atlanta.

This is exactly the point. There really is no reason Arkansas can't be in the same sentence with those other teams at some point. We have our entire state basically to ourselves for recruiting (and it is not a bad football state--just look at some of the talent lately) as well as being strategically located very near several other states that are hotbeds for recruits (and in years past we were quite successful at taking lots of good recruits from Texas, Oklahoma, Lousiana, etc.). The money is there, the recruiting potential is there (now that Nutt is gone--believe me, HE is why you feel Arkansas doesn't belong in that list. I know you don't believe me, but he was.) and the passion and desire from the fans is there. There is literally no reason that we can't move back up there into that upper echelon where we were for many years. It constantly shocks me that so many people don't understand this and think we should just be settling for mediocrity. Sorry, but fuck that.

[MJ4H]

I linked to and then deleted an article earlier in this thread today that told of Lane Kiffin being demonstrably upset at not getting the Arkansas job (slamming doors, cursing, etc.). I have just read another report from another source confirming that story's merits (SF Chronicle Sports Writer). Still not 100% in my book, but if it is true, it is good evidence that this job is better than some of you guys think it is. I'm telling you, this situation is good enough for a nationally top echelon team. I firmly believe that. And even if I am off-base, why the hell shouldn't we be shooting for that?

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

This is exactly the point. There really is no reason Arkansas can't be in the same sentence with those other teams at some point.

You keep saying that in the face of all the evidence.

Why exactly should, say, the Rutgers fans on this board get shouted down for attempting to reach national champion status for some of the same reasons you think Arkansas should and get shouted down for being unrealistic, and Arkansas get a free pass with seemingly more obstacles?

[ISiddiqui]

In addition:

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

There is literally no reason that we can't move back up there into that upper echelon where we were for many years.

Since when? Ken Hatfield? Lou Holtz?

It's a quite different landscape now, isn't it?

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

In addition:



Since when? Ken Hatfield? Lou Holtz?

It's a quite different landscape now, isn't it?

Yeah - the "passion" of the fans doesn't always translate, IMO, unless they're willing to back it with enormous checks (and checks bigger than those at Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabalma, etc etc). I have my doubts.

[ISiddiqui]

Speaking of passion of the fans... does "Arkansas Razorbacks Football" have a wikipedia page? Where the Hell is it?!

[timmynausea]

I can see it both ways, but I think if Oklahoma can be really successful long term, Arkansas can, too. Maybe as a West Virginia fan I have a different perspective because our program seems to be in great shape despite a lot of things working against us. Arkansas is certainly a lot closer to a lot of talent than WVU, though the competition for that talent is certainly fierce as well. I don't think anybody is suggesting that it'll be a walk in the park to win at Arkansas, but the right coach could certainly win there.

[ISiddiqui]

Oklahoma does have a more prestigious history, including 6 national championships before Stoops got there.

[Fighter of Foo]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

This is exactly the point. There really is no reason Arkansas can't be in the same sentence with those other teams at some point. We have our entire state basically to ourselves for recruiting (and it is not a bad football state--just look at some of the talent lately) as well as being strategically located very near several other states that are hotbeds for recruits (and in years past we were quite successful at taking lots of good recruits from Texas, Oklahoma, Lousiana, etc.). The money is there, the recruiting potential is there (now that Nutt is gone--believe me, HE is why you feel Arkansas doesn't belong in that list. I know you don't believe me, but he was.) and the passion and desire from the fans is there. There is literally no reason that we can't move back up there into that upper echelon where we were for many years. It constantly shocks me that so many people don't understand this and think we should just be settling for mediocrity. Sorry, but fuck that.

I don't think any team's fans should settle at all, but you don't need to be delusional either. I spent all of the 90s living in Atlanta with all those annoying UGA fans who thought their team should be winning and competing for national championships when they couldn't even compete for the conference consistently.

It takes time to build a consistently quality team and I get the sense that Arkansas wants to pay for quick salvation instead. Get yourself to where Georgia is now and you'll have a case for being considered among the best. Right now you are delusional which is why you got turned down by 3 coaches before ending up with a scumbucket, just like Alabama last year.

Of all the positive qualities you listed above, the one you didn't mention is patience. It's completely non-existant and until Arkansas supporters as a whole show some, you'll never be more than a mediocre team. Overly high expectations = perpetual disappointment.

[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Oklahoma does have a more prestigious history, including 6 national championships before Stoops got there.

That's true, but I still think they are pretty comparable in terms of geography. I don't think they're exactly the same - I'd add that I think on a year in year out basis, Oklahoma probably plays a slightly weaker schedule as well.

Still, at the time when Stoops came in, OU had been down for some time. The prestige of past success probably played a role in the quick turn around, but I think having a great coach was the primary ingredient and the same formula would work at Arkansas.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Interesting couple of articles here
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...yles_1213.html
and
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...lank_1212.html

The first talks about Jerry Jones involvement in the hiring of Petrino, the second has comments from Arthur Blank.

If neither Blank nor GM Rich McKay granted anyone permission to talk to Petrino, and Jones was involved (although his role seems unclear), could Jones role be construed as "tampering" by the NFL? I mean, can you be punished for tampering with another team's coach if you're trying to facilitate their move somewhere other than your own team?

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Interesting couple of articles here
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...yles_1213.html
and
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...lank_1212.html

The first talks about Jerry Jones involvement in the hiring of Petrino, the second has comments from Arthur Blank.

If neither Blank nor GM Rich McKay granted anyone permission to talk to Petrino, and Jones was involved (although his role seems unclear), could Jones role be construed as "tampering" by the NFL? I mean, can you be punished for tampering with another team's coach if you're trying to facilitate their move somewhere other than your own team?

LOL - Jerry Jones has made so many deals with the Devil already what is one more going to hurt?

[RomaGoth]

Anyone get a chance to read the article by Pat Forde on espn.com? I found this portion of it to be quite entertaining:

"I apologize to Alabama's Nick Saban -- last year I named him president of the Liar's Club. He's been impeached and replaced by the disingenuous drifter."

The entire article is here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/colum...t&lid=tab3pos1

Forde really rips into Petrino. Can't say I blame him. Yes, making more money is realistic, but he did not do this in the right way. At least wait until after the season.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Please please PLEASE don't steal Bob Stull from us...

It's too early in the process to know with any certainty who will be considered for the job, but Stull is a guy that would make some sense - he has the past & reasonably long connection to the UW (both as an assistant coach and as an athletic department administrator), he's had a successful run as an AD already, he has the football background to make informed decisions on football matters. The only drawback I can see is his age - I'm not sure how long Emmert wants the next AD to be around, but Stull is in his early 60's, right?

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

You keep saying that in the face of all the evidence.

Why exactly should, say, the Rutgers fans on this board get shouted down for attempting to reach national champion status for some of the same reasons you think Arkansas should and get shouted down for being unrealistic, and Arkansas get a free pass with seemingly more obstacles?

Why do you think I would shout down Rutgers for wanting to reach a national championship? What evidence are you talking about? What obstacles? The biggest ones have been removed or will be removed January 1st.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

In addition:



Since when? Ken Hatfield? Lou Holtz?

It's a quite different landscape now, isn't it?

Yes yes and yes. Don't forget that Arkansas has a national championship (1964. Yes I know it is not offical -- none of them are -- but if you look into it, you will see Arkansas should have been the national champs that year).

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Yeah - the "passion" of the fans doesn't always translate, IMO, unless they're willing to back it with enormous checks (and checks bigger than those at Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabalma, etc etc). I have my doubts.

You should not underestimate the money around here. That would be a big mistake. Arkansas is about to have the highest paid staff in the SEC, for instance.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by timmynausea

I can see it both ways, but I think if Oklahoma can be really successful long term, Arkansas can, too. Maybe as a West Virginia fan I have a different perspective because our program seems to be in great shape despite a lot of things working against us. Arkansas is certainly a lot closer to a lot of talent than WVU, though the competition for that talent is certainly fierce as well. I don't think anybody is suggesting that it'll be a walk in the park to win at Arkansas, but the right coach could certainly win there.

Absolutely agree.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

I don't think any team's fans should settle at all, but you don't need to be delusional either.

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

It takes time to build a consistently quality team and I get the sense that Arkansas wants to pay for quick salvation instead. Get yourself to where Georgia is now and you'll have a case for being considered among the best.

This shows why we are having trouble agreeing. No one here wants quick salvation. We want a chance to BUILD THE PROGRAM OVER TIME. Getting ourselves to where Georgia is now is WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO. Your next sentence was nonsense so I didn't quote it.

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

Of all the positive qualities you listed above, the one you didn't mention is patience. It's completely non-existant and until Arkansas supporters as a whole show some, you'll never be more than a mediocre team. Overly high expectations = perpetual disappointment.

This is wrong. Our fans will be patient. You see us when we ran out of patience, but that does not mean we never were patient. We are willing to give Petrino (or whomever else the coach was going to be) time to build a program. We want to see progress, good decisions, and working for success. Your ascribing impatience to me is just flat wrong. I am neither impatient or delusional. There may be some fans that are that way, but that is the case with every fan base.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Interesting couple of articles here
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...yles_1213.html
and
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...lank_1212.html

The first talks about Jerry Jones involvement in the hiring of Petrino, the second has comments from Arthur Blank.

If neither Blank nor GM Rich McKay granted anyone permission to talk to Petrino, and Jones was involved (although his role seems unclear), could Jones role be construed as "tampering" by the NFL? I mean, can you be punished for tampering with another team's coach if you're trying to facilitate their move somewhere other than your own team?

Jones got permission from Blank for Arkansas to speak with Petrino, which he gave on the condition that he wait until after the MNF game. This comes from multiple sources around here, including one of my own (my wife works with the Razorbacks team doctor). Petrino initially turned Arkansas down, but after staying up all night talking it over with his wife, Petrino called us back on Tuesday morning asking if the job were still available. Arkansas was basically in the process of offering the job to Will Muschamp and said screw that let's get Bobby in here.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

This shows why we are having trouble agreeing. No one here wants quick salvation. We want a chance to BUILD THE PROGRAM OVER TIME. Getting ourselves to where Georgia is now is WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO. Your next sentence was nonsense so I didn't quote it.



This is wrong. Our fans will be patient. You see us when we ran out of patience, but that does not mean we never were patient. We are willing to give Petrino (or whomever else the coach was going to be) time to build a program. We want to see progress, good decisions, and working for success. Your ascribing impatience to me is just flat wrong. I am neither impatient or delusional. There may be some fans that are that way, but that is the case with every fan base.

Your intentions are noble and realistic. Unfortunately, Petrino is not the coach you want for a rebuilding project. He couldn't even get through one freaking season with Atlanta before jumping ship. For his complete history, check out the article from Pat Forde on espn.com sometime. I feel bad for Arkansas fans today.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

Anyone get a chance to read the article by Pat Forde on espn.com? I found this portion of it to be quite entertaining:

"I apologize to Alabama's Nick Saban -- last year I named him president of the Liar's Club. He's been impeached and replaced by the disingenuous drifter."

The entire article is here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/colum...t&lid=tab3pos1

Forde really rips into Petrino. Can't say I blame him. Yes, making more money is realistic, but he did not do this in the right way. At least wait until after the season.

I'm finding Forde's outrage hilarious. It wasn't even two hours before this story broke that he was standing on ESPN telling Arkansas they were out of options and should just give up and hire Bob Davie. Condescending fucker. Glad to see the egg on his face.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

Your intentions are noble and realistic. Unfortunately, Petrino is not the coach you want for a rebuilding project. He couldn't even get through one freaking season with Atlanta before jumping ship. For his complete history, check out the article from Pat Forde on espn.com sometime. I feel bad for Arkansas fans today.

I've read all of Forde's nonsensical ranting. I've researched Bobby Petrino for the last 2 weeks since I first heard he would be a candidate. He is someone I want to help rebuild my program. It is pretty obvious why he bailed on Atlanta to me.

[MJ4H]

Between this and the Tebow love affair, I've just about had it with ESPN, incidentally.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by timmynausea

That's true, but I still think they are pretty comparable in terms of geography. I don't think they're exactly the same - I'd add that I think on a year in year out basis, Oklahoma probably plays a slightly weaker schedule as well.

Still, at the time when Stoops came in, OU had been down for some time. The prestige of past success probably played a role in the quick turn around, but I think having a great coach was the primary ingredient and the same formula would work at Arkansas.

Top programs will have ups and downs, but the overall level of the program will average out over a period of time. This goes back to the rubber band theory. Teams will eventually get back to where they've historically been over the past 25-30 years.

West Virginia is a top 25 program with a great coach right now, so they're getting up into the top 10 with their sights on the top 5 and a possible national championship. Oklahoma is a top 10 program that had gone through some poor coaches, but once they got a good coach they got back to where they historically had been. Regardless of their access to talent, its seen as one of the top jobs out there and they have no problem recruiting.

There's nothing wrong with fans wanting to compete for national titles, but fans also need to realize that the number of program changing coaches are few and far between. Look back through this thread and you'll see a lot of very successful coaches mentioned and probably 95% of them get their flaws pointed out and the fans of teams considering hiring that guy want someone better. Tedford is a great example, the guy has worked wonders at Cal and he was quickly dismissed. When he leaves Cal do you see them continuing to win 7-8 games each year or are they going to fall back into the 3-4 win level they had been at for what seems like forever?

The worst thing a coach can do IMO is get a program with decent history up into the 8-9 win range each year because the fan base starts wanting to get to the next step and get into the national championship picture. This leads to good coaches get fired because they aren't great coaches.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Between this and the Tebow love affair, I've just about had it with ESPN, incidentally.

I agree with you on the Tebow love affair. I wonder if he will end up being another NFL bust?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Jones got permission from Blank for Arkansas to speak with Petrino, which he gave on the condition that he wait until after the MNF game.

Then somebody is either engaged in some real semantics or just flat out lying (and I'm damned sure not saying it isn't Blank, who I've decided is pretty much just stupid)

Blank and team president Rich McKay both said Wednesday afternoon that they each talked to Jones and both said they did not grant permission for anyone from Arkansas to speak to Petrino.

Now technically speaking, I guess Jones isn't "from Arkansas", he's just connected to the program, which then used him as their justification for contacting Petrino (...said Broyles. "I was told Jerry got permission from Arthur Blank,'' he said. )

If you piece all of the various snippets together, it appears that Blank gave Jones permission to speak to Petrino but did not give UofA permission to speak to him.

[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Top programs will have ups and downs, but the overall level of the program will average out over a period of time. This goes back to the rubber band theory. Teams will eventually get back to where they've historically been over the past 25-30 years.

West Virginia is a top 25 program with a great coach right now, so they're getting up into the top 10 with their sights on the top 5 and a possible national championship. Oklahoma is a top 10 program that had gone through some poor coaches, but once they got a good coach they got back to where they historically had been. Regardless of their access to talent, its seen as one of the top jobs out there and they have no problem recruiting.

There's nothing wrong with fans wanting to compete for national titles, but fans also need to realize that the number of program changing coaches are few and far between. Look back through this thread and you'll see a lot of very successful coaches mentioned and probably 95% of them get their flaws pointed out and the fans of teams considering hiring that guy want someone better. Tedford is a great example, the guy has worked wonders at Cal and he was quickly dismissed. When he leaves Cal do you see them continuing to win 7-8 games each year or are they going to fall back into the 3-4 win level they had been at for what seems like forever?

The worst thing a coach can do IMO is get a program with decent history up into the 8-9 win range each year because the fan base starts wanting to get to the next step and get into the national championship picture. This leads to good coaches get fired because they aren't great coaches.

I think it's a little bit more complicated than that. I agree that coaches can become victims of their own success. I don't agree with the idea that everything will eventually boil back down to what it has been historically, and I do think access to talent is huge. The landscape does change over time. If we had this discussion in 1980, nobody would know that Miami and Florida State were about to become the two dominate programs of the next 20 or so years. They'd had no history of success at that point - just access to talent. Once they got some good coaches in there, things took off in a hurry. They're both down again for now, but most feel it won't be for long.

Rutgers, for example, is in a great position to elevate their program for the forseeable future. Three straight bowl games is already the best stretch in the school's history, and I guarantee they've never had more talent than they have right now. They do go into Florida for some of their guys, but it's the access to the Jersey guys that has them on the cusp of becoming a perennial top 25 type program. Even if they just get to the point where they go to bowls half of the time, it'd be a tremendous upgrade from the cellar dweller they were for about 100 years.

Syracuse, on the other hand, are probably at a point where they've done some pretty long term damage to their program. A lot of people are already forgetting that this was a program that churned out Dwight Freeney, Donovan McNabb and Marvin Harrison in the 90's and won 7-10 a year most years from the mid 80's up to 2001 or so. They've hardly won the past 3 years, recruiting has really cooled off, and with Rutgers emerging, it'll be even harder for them to get things turned around.

And I'd say a place like Nebraska is one that is totally up in the air. It'd be a fight to get back to what they were historically, but it's still possible. I'd say it's just as possible that the program will continue to flounder. Whether or not Pellini can get it done will probably determine the direction of the program for the next 10 or 15 years.

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Then somebody is either engaged in some real semantics or just flat out lying (and I'm damned sure not saying it isn't Blank, who I've decided is pretty much just stupid)



Now technically speaking, I guess Jones isn't "from Arkansas", he's just connected to the program, which then used him as their justification for contacting Petrino (...said Broyles. "I was told Jerry got permission from Arthur Blank,'' he said. )

If you piece all of the various snippets together, it appears that Blank gave Jones permission to speak to Petrino but did not give UofA permission to speak to him.

Petrino didn't technically speak with Arkansas until he had resigned. Most of it was done through Jerry Jones beforehand. At least that is my understanding. I seriously doubt there was anything improper here. You can be damn sure those semantic games you are suggesting are well thought out ahead of time. These guys usually know exactly what they are saying. This attack on Petrino that is going on is quite vicious. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve at least some of it, but a lot of is just bullshit and way out of proportion. He was in a shitty situation, miserable as hell, saw an escape hatch and jumped. An article I read today said that the Falcons players hadn't seen him smile in months before they saw him smiling on TV calling the Hogs.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by timmynausea

I think it's a little bit more complicated than that. I agree that coaches can become victims of their own success. I don't agree with the idea that everything will eventually boil back down to what it has been historically, and I do think access to talent is huge. The landscape does change over time. If we had this discussion in 1980, nobody would know that Miami and Florida State were about to become the two dominate programs of the next 20 or so years. They'd had no history of success at that point - just access to talent. Once they got some good coaches in there, things took off in a hurry. They're both down again for now, but most feel it won't be for long.

Rutgers, for example, is in a great position to elevate their program for the forseeable future. Three straight bowl games is already the best stretch in the school's history, and I guarantee they've never had more talent than they have right now. They do go into Florida for some of their guys, but it's the access to the Jersey guys that has them on the cusp of becoming a perennial top 25 type program. Even if they just get to the point where they go to bowls half of the time, it'd be a tremendous upgrade from the cellar dweller they were for about 100 years.

Syracuse, on the other hand, are probably at a point where they've done some pretty long term damage to their program. A lot of people are already forgetting that this was a program that churned out Dwight Freeney, Donovan McNabb and Marvin Harrison in the 90's and won 7-10 a year most years from the mid 80's up to 2001 or so. They've hardly won the past 3 years, recruiting has really cooled off, and with Rutgers emerging, it'll be even harder for them to get things turned around.

And I'd say a place like Nebraska is one that is totally up in the air. It'd be a fight to get back to what they were historically, but it's still possible. I'd say it's just as possible that the program will continue to flounder. Whether or not Pellini can get it done will probably determine the direction of the program for the next 10 or 15 years.

It does sound overly simple, but its fairly accurate. There are very few programs that have changed their place in national picture and two of them do happen to be Florida teams, which had access to an amazing amount of talent. Miami, though, is still a team that could fall off considering they don't have the long-standing tradition, don't have access to deep pocketed boosters, and they have horrible facilities.

Rutgers is Schiano at this point (and also a coach that was knocked earlier in this thread). Thats what I'm getting at. They made a great hire and improved, but its going to be incredibly difficult for them to maintain that after he leaves unless he plans on staying there and keeping them at a high level for a long time. Its not out of the realm of possibility, but history is against them.

You can take a look at the national landscape over the past 10 years and it hasn't changed much from the 10 years before that. College Football programs rely heavily on history and tradition and it tends to average out over time. There ups and downs but teams generally seem to have a place in college football that they don't stray far from it for too long.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Most of it was done through Jerry Jones beforehand. ... I seriously doubt there was anything improper here.

I guess what I'm wondering is whether those two sentences aren't contradictory. It would be a matter of the legal language of the contracts I suppose, to the degree that I'm kind of more curious about what is/isn't allowed under typical wording + NFL rules than I am upset about it. It's just one of those things that comes up & you realize that "hey, I don't really know exactly how that works".

but a lot of is just bullshit and way out of proportion.

Clearly here we disagree. I think he's proven himself to be one of the most chickenshit individuals in the history of sports in my lifetime. I believe he's got pretty much zero character & that him & Vick & MeAngelo really deserved each other as much as any collection of vermin I can think of.

And I'll be a monkey's uncle if he's still the coach at Arkansas 3 years from today. Then again, I guess his exit would be justifiable since I'd be shocked if he ever has a winning season there (unless McFadden sticks around) and I'd be even more shocked if he ever improved their record from one year to the next (i.e. whatever you get this year is as good as it'll get). And that's coming from a guy who, despite the geography involved, was never particularly impressed by Petrino in the first place & has very limited interest at best in the Falcons.

[JonInMiddleGA]

dola: http://www.macon.com/149/story/211197.html

Blank also said Arkansas never approached the Falcons about talking to Petrino and that the Falcons wouldn't have granted permission if Arkansas had done so.

Blank did, however, say that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones - an Arkansas alum - called last Thursday and asked how Blank would feel if Arkansas talked to Petrino. Blank said he was floored by the phone call and directed Jones to talk with Falcons general manager and team president Rich McKay.

McKay told Jones twice that the Falcons would not grant Arkansas permission to speak with Petrino about taking over the open position with the Razorbacks. Jones told McKay that he would relay that information to Arkansas officials.

I guess something got lost in the translation somewhere.
And another FOI request might be awfully interesting. I wonder if the new AD is smart enough to have destroyed everything in his email?

[vex]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

dola: http://www.macon.com/149/story/211197.html



I guess something got lost in the translation somewhere.
And another FOI request might be awfully interesting. I wonder if the new AD is smart enough to have destroyed everything in his email?

It's in the deleted folder, I'm sure.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

dola: http://www.macon.com/149/story/211197.html



I guess something got lost in the translation somewhere.

Blank is an enigma to me. I can't figure him out for the life of me. On one hand he was smart enough to start up a business and sell it for billions. On the other hand he does some really dumb shit and doesn't seem to fully grasp what goes on around him.

My perception of him thus far has been that he's a good guy thats somewhat aloof, bought a football team and really wants to win, but really doesn't have the slightest idea how to run a fooball team. Despite that, however, he wants to be the public face of the franchise and be involved in decision making ala Jerry Jones.

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

Petrino didn't technically speak with Arkansas until he had resigned.

You really can't believe that, can you?

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

It's too early in the process to know with any certainty who will be considered for the job, but Stull is a guy that would make some sense - he has the past & reasonably long connection to the UW (both as an assistant coach and as an athletic department administrator), he's had a successful run as an AD already, he has the football background to make informed decisions on football matters. The only drawback I can see is his age - I'm not sure how long Emmert wants the next AD to be around, but Stull is in his early 60's, right?

I can't find a birth date for him, but he graduated from K State in 1967. So early sixties looks about right...

[VPI97]

Falcons are blasting Petrino whenever possible...

Lawyer Malloy - "We didn't realize we had a cancer on our team in the form of a head coach."

Chris Houston - "Nutt was the type of coach you can call on a day-to-day basis. You look to him as a father-figure. I didn't feel that way with Coach Petrino."

Roddy White - "I've never seen anything so selfish like that ever in my life."

Joe Horn - "When you stress to other men how you should act and what a man should do ... and then you don't live by it, it makes it look bad for you."

Joey Harrington - "We stood up there and took the arrows for him. He preached team, and he preached family; and then he quit on us. That's not what a man does."

Lawyer Malloy - "If he doesn't want to put the hard work into it, then I don't want him being my coach."

Warrick Dunn - "I got a letter from him. To me, that shows no sign of respect. That's no class...to lie to Mr. Blank the way he did, and the next day after the game the way he did. He short-changed us."

[Eaglesfan27]

Sounds like the type of coach MattJones4Heisman and all Arkansas fans should be really proud of. Anyone who thinks he didn't talk to Arkansas before resigning from the Falcons is delusional.

Edit: My FIL is a huge Alabama fan and he is happy because he thinks Arkansas got "an even bigger snake than Saban."

[st.cronin]

This is my prediction for Arkansas under Petrino:

3-9
4-8
3-9 (quits/fired)

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by VPI97

Falcons are blasting Petrino whenever possible...

Lawyer Malloy - "We didn't realize we had a cancer on our team in the form of a head coach."

Chris Houston - "Nutt was the type of coach you can call on a day-to-day basis. You look to him as a father-figure. I didn't feel that way with Coach Petrino."

Roddy White - "I've never seen anything so selfish like that ever in my life."

Joe Horn - "When you stress to other men how you should act and what a man should do ... and then you don't live by it, it makes it look bad for you."

Joey Harrington - "We stood up there and took the arrows for him. He preached team, and he preached family; and then he quit on us. That's not what a man does."

Lawyer Malloy - "If he doesn't want to put the hard work into it, then I don't want him being my coach."

Warrick Dunn - "I got a letter from him. To me, that shows no sign of respect. That's no class...to lie to Mr. Blank the way he did, and the next day after the game the way he did. He short-changed us."

Again, I don't follow football with the religious fervor some of you do, , but I don't think I've seen quotes like that before. Got a source?

[Crapshoot]

Dola,
never mind:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/footb...ednesday_N.htm

[bhlloy]

All this is the most beautiful recruiting ammunition for opposing coaches to use. Petrino might be a good college coach, but I think Arkansas is in an even worse situation than they were under Houston Nutt.

If Arkansas fans think that Petrino is really going to turn the program around, I think they are sadly mistaken. We will see I guess.

[TazFTW]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

It's too early in the process to know with any certainty who will be considered for the job, but Stull is a guy that would make some sense - he has the past & reasonably long connection to the UW (both as an assistant coach and as an athletic department administrator), he's had a successful run as an AD already, he has the football background to make informed decisions on football matters. The only drawback I can see is his age - I'm not sure how long Emmert wants the next AD to be around, but Stull is in his early 60's, right?

May I recommend Herman Frazier?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Longer & more detailed story on the sequence of events, one that makes it pretty clear that permission to speak with Petrino was never granted.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...deal_1213.html

edit to add: Also some pretty good longer quotes from players than the snippets earlier.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...ge_tab_newstab