Comments on: SEC Athletic Directors: Time To Hold Your Nose, Hire Petrino

By: Grunts: Hog Fans Endure Long, Cold November | The Southerner Journal

Grunts: Hog Fans Endure Long, Cold November | The Southerner Journal — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:24:48 +0000

[...] – Despite many suggestions for SEC ADs to hire the one who shall not be named, the evil genius would be a great fit for Colorado. [...]

By: GeoffDawg

GeoffDawg — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:28:37 +0000

@JHP2354 To underscore Arthur Blank’s flabberghastedness (great word), Petrino met with him face to face and committed to being the Falcons coach for the next season which prompted Blank to go on television and make a public announcement as such. Within a day, Petrino was in Arkansas making his soo-eee noises at his introductory news conference. How could anyone ever trust this guy in a position of authority and responsibility again? It would take a huge leap of faith and the willingness to put their own career on the line by an AD.

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:14:58 +0000

@rogun

First, I didn’t get involved in the stone-throwing when he was at Arkansas. I said there was no way he could be retained by a boss that he’s lied to and a school that he’d embarrassed.

Second, I wouldn’t have hired the guy a month ago. But it’s become clear to me — as I state in the piece a few times — that schools care only about money. Money comes from winning. So in my view, if these schools thought they could hire him and not get hammered in the press, someone would do it. So in my view, just do it already. Somebody eventually will.

If an AD says, “I can’t trust that guy,” fine. I get that. But I hear a lot of fans say “You can’t hire this guy because a coach needs to be a moral compass for the community,” and I think that’s ridiculous. I’m guessing Bear Bryant, General Neyland and a whole host of ex-SEC legends couldn’t live up to today’s moral scrutiny.

That was the point of the piece.

Thanks for reading the site,
John

By: JHP2354

JHP2354 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:35:52 +0000

Reasons not to hire Petrino, Mr. Pennington you said it best:

* Tommy Tuberville hired him at Auburn and then Petrino wound up trying to snake Tuberville’s job.
* Louisville AD Tom Jurich defended Petrino when “Jetgate” made national news and Petrino repaid him by jumping to the Atlanta Falcons.
* Arthur Blank was flabbergasted to learn that Petrino had accepted the Arkansas job and would leave his team with three games left to play in its season. (Leaving goodbye notes for his Falcons players was akin to shouting “So long, suckers” as he grabbed the last parachute and beat everyone else to the door of a crashing plane.)
* Then came Long whose still in “coaching search” mode eight months after Petrino blew up Arkansas’ season.

Everyone who has hired him has suffered for it, but now you feel it won’t happen again. He is a four time loser, and I don’t want Tennessee to be his next victim.

By: AllTideUp

AllTideUp — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 10:36:21 +0000

@JarrenBlake Art Briles is probably a name that deserves a lot more attention. The job he’s done at Baylor is admirable and I would imagine a promotion is coming sooner or later. He also did a pretty good job at Houston so he’s already proven himself at multiple stops. He would be a great hire for any of these schools.

By: rogun

rogun — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 05:42:59 +0000

John, has your attitude toward Petrino changed since he’s no longer Arkansas’ coach? Sure seems that way.

I couldn’t read your entire piece, but I agreed with most of it. The one thing I’d disagree with is your assumption that Petrino isn’t dumb enough to do it again, because who ever would have thought he was dumb enough to do it once? I mean, it’s not like he didn’t have good reason to be careful before wrecking his motorcycle. His reputation was already in shambles everywhere outside of Arkansas and all he did was add Arkansas to the list. What makes you think he won’t do it again?

The funny thing is that I don’t think Arkansas should have fired him, but as an Arkansas fan, I almost hope some other SEC school does, because I fully expect something similar will happen in his 4th year at that school.

By: jMals

jMals — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 04:48:41 +0000

@John at MrSEC @KY_Daktari @jMals

John, any thoughts on if Petrino can really break the ceiling and get, say, Tennessee not only to winning but consistently competing for titles without a defense on the same level as the rest of the SEC elite (LSU, Bama, UGA, FL, South Carolina all have really great D’s)?

Love the site! Keep up the great work!

By: SevierVol

SevierVol — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:46:33 +0000

Like many others, Dave Hart has yet to give me a warm, fuzzy feeling. But I will say this for the man, he does not seem afraid to make a decision.

By: SevierVol

SevierVol — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:34:50 +0000

I don’t think that Petrino would be or should be the top choice of any AD, there is just too much to lose if the hire doesen’t work out. However, if I couldn’t land one of the coaches on my short list, I would certainly hire him as oppossed to a coach with “potential”. I think the SEC has proven that it’s simply too difficult a league for any on the job training. Where ever Petrino eventually ends up, it will not be a popular choice for a large portion of the fan base. But, everyone loves a winner and the detractors would eventually be won over when the victories started piling up.
Tennessee fans pretty much knew from day one that Lane Kiffin was a complete jerk who tight-roped the gray area where rules were concerned. But he seemed to be a great recruiter and appeared to have assembled a good coaching staff so fans were okay with looking the other way. He was a jerk but he was “our” jerk. We had hopes that he could improve the program so we overlooked the flaws that was so obvious to non UT fans. Despite his prima-dona, arrogant attitude, he would be wildly popular had he stayed at UT and produced a winner.
.
Hiring Petrino would leave a bitter taste in a lot of fans mouths, but the vast majority of these fans will be more than willing to forgive and forget when the wins come. Since John’s column had religious overtones, I will add the following: As long as he could produce SEC and National Championships on a regular basis, most fans would be willing to accept Lucifer himself as their coach., .

By: HoustonVol

HoustonVol — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:59:34 +0000

I don’t think Hart would be desperate enough to go and hire Petrino. Remember Hart is dealing with a lot of issues merging the woman’s and men’s athletic departments, including a couple of lawsuits are being thrown around Knoxville. How would it look for him to hire someone who pulled strings to hire his mistress, lied to his AD, and opened up the school for lawsuits? Yes Petrino can win, and he has never had issues with the NCAA. However Petrino is a high risk hire – not something that Hart is looking to make. He has put the hiring of the new coach firmly on his shoulders – no committee, search firm, etc. He knows that if this football hire blows up, he will be out the door quickly. I don’t think that Hart has the political backing with the powers to be to make this hire. There are already a lot of the fan base calling for his head (though I have not seen one issue with any of the public decisions he has made). So don’t expect Hart to go out on a limb with this hire.

By: I4Bama

I4Bama — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:17:06 +0000

@John at MrSEC @KY_Daktari @jMals
The fact that John could not call the actress by name (nor can I for that matter – Kristen Stewart?) mitigates in his favor.

By: buddha22

buddha22 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:03:59 +0000

I don’t advocate stoning him, but I would have to be very desperate to hire him.

By: MrBingle

MrBingle — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 01:43:55 +0000

An AD would have to be more desperate than a sailor on a 4-hour pass to cozy up to Petrino!

By: KY_Daktari

KY_Daktari — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 01:04:09 +0000

@John at MrSEC @jMals Hi John,

Fair enough. Long day, getting sick and a bit crabby colored my reading more than it should. Going back, I see your point. My apologies.

I would go more for the, “I just don’t like the guy” line of thinking. He does win games though, I’ll give him that. I’m really surprised UT isn’t giving him more of a shot. I just remember the Billy Clyde years and they’ve got it worse than that and for longer. Even if he is only good for 8-10 wins a year, as the reader above said, that’s a heckuva lot better than what they have now and would put them in a better position to step up after the rebuilding is done if they feel like that’s a plateau.

Thanks for the clarification on Kristen Stewart. I didn’t catch the reference. All I know about her is her supposedly wooden acting. Spent too much of the summer on this site I suppose.

Thanks,
James

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:12:52 +0000

@I4Bama

And if that’s why ADs are steering clear of him, that’s perfectly legit. But I bet some of these guys are more worried about the bad press than they are his trustworthiness.

Thanks for reading the site,
John

By: John at MrSEC

John at MrSEC — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:11:40 +0000

@KY_Daktari @jMals

Venom?

Cynicism and sarcasm were the goals. I think Petrino is a jerk, too, and up until a month ago I wouldn’t have hired him for any job, either. But with teams jumping leagues and BCS-winning coaches getting canned it’s become pretty clear that most of these schools care only about money and money comes from winning.

I think if any of the ADs looking for a coach thought they could get away with hiring Petrino, they’d do so. He wins and he doesn’t have to win recruiting wars to do it. Plus — and this is what changed my mind about hiring him — he’s so desperate to land a new gig that he’d likely sign any kind of escape clause put before him. And that’s been by far his biggest issue in the past.

Now, if an AD were to say, “I’m not going to hire a guy that I can’t trust to tell me the truth,” that’s legit. But if this is all because of his “morals,” sorry, but I think that’s a pretty lame excuse not to hire the guy. There are quite a few legendary coaches who wouldn’t hold up under today’s “don’t drink, don’t mess around” rules.

As for the “Twilight” reference, I actually saw the first flick on HBO and that was quite enough for me. But that actress’ hanky-panky made national news all summer. The fact that it would make national news all summer doesn’t say much for our society, if you ask me.

Many thanks for reading the site,
John

By: FireMitch

FireMitch — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:57:35 +0000

Like I said to another post, Mitch needs to grow a pair and hire Petrino. It’s a win win situation.

By: FireMitch

FireMitch — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:53:11 +0000

@jMals @KY_Daktari
Mitch needs to grow a pair and get this done. He’ll be the one without a job in another 3 years.

By: Fayettechill14

Fayettechill14 — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:41:13 +0000

The last time anyone tried to go with Arkansas’ Sloppy Seconds, Ole Miss ended up with Nutt.

Anyone else wanna go for it?

By: jMals

jMals — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:38:45 +0000

@KY_Daktari I agree that if I were a Kentucky fan, I wouldn’t want him either. I just meant his style would be a better fit at Kentucky. UK has more obstacles to overcome I think than UT to get back to winning and Petrino’s style (again – on field only) seems built to gain some short term success, though I agree that he’ll probably leave the next school in shambles as well.

I think both schools know to keep looking.

Best of luck with basketball season! I have a good UK friend and last year when we won the BCS and UK won March Madness, we treated ourselves to a Champions steak dinner. Hoping we can make it two years in a row!

By: KY_Daktari

KY_Daktari — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:29:13 +0000

@jMals I disagree. I’m from Kentucky, my wife is from Knoxville. I think he is a much better fit at UT than UK. They are so desperate for wins and excitement at this point, I’m really surprised they’re not going after him. I wouldn’t blame them.

Me? I don’t want him. At the risk of getting hatred spewed at me, I don’t want him now, nor did I want him before his scandal. They guy is a jerk. I didn’t like him when he was at Louisville–(lying to players during recruiting, the way he treated UK fans in general). I didn’t like him at Arkansas from the time he got there (leftovers from his UL days, getting that reporter fired). I once said that I would quit being a UK football fan if he was hired… After Joe B gave his stamp of approval, I would rethink that, but I’m thrilled his supposedly not getting considered.

I’m a bit disturbed by the original post… there seems to be a lot more venom than I am used to seeing from MrSEC. And seriously… MrSEC is a Twilight fan? *shivers*

By: I4Bama

I4Bama — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:04:27 +0000

@kywildcat
Would you let Bernie Madoff manage your money?

By: GeoffDawg

GeoffDawg — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:55:03 +0000

I think you make a good point in that there are ways to mitigate the risk but I also think that when you bring someone into your program with a well known history of deceit and corruption like Petrino, your potential liability goes up exponentially. If it does come down to a lawsuit, you’re likely to be hit with higher punitive damages simply because it could be argued that the administration should’ve known better and proceeded anyway. You might be right that he gets another top, regional job but the AD is going to have to accept that he’s sticking his neck way, way out there.

By: kentatm

kentatm — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:50:06 +0000

I have to disagree with the idea Petrino is worth the risk. He is a good coach but he leaves nothing but lies and deceit in his wake. There are other good coaches that can be had. Petrino does not deserve another SEC job ever again because its proven he will screw over his employer at some point. Too bad so sad for him.

By: kywildcat

kywildcat — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:45:51 +0000

How much do you anti petrino people get paid to go around the internet and spew bs ?

By: JarrenBlake

JarrenBlake — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:37:55 +0000

Just too dangerous of a hire. He wins, I get it, but he has made a loser out of every program that has dealt with him. And for ADs its not about winning, its about keeping their position, much like in politics. The whole Gene Chizik firing is overblown, it means only so much that he won that BCS title because when you look at his complete body of work, the recent 3-9 season is not the aberration, that title season is. And the 8-5 season preceding it had much more to do with lucky breaks than anything else. The Miss State game was razor thin and it was not the only one. Add to that numerous other factors that one can get into and it becomes a bit more understandable why it happened so soon.

There are other names and other good coaches out there, that top level programs like Tennessee should be gunning for and not need a Petrino hire. Heck just as easily go for Art Briles or Rich Rod(Only 1 yr at Arz St will make that difficult though). For Kentucky its something to think about, I grant you that. But so is the Cincinnati coach that could be looking to move to a more stable conference with the Big East constantly on the rocks.

By: I4Bama

I4Bama — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:28:37 +0000

You are absolutely right in saying that we are all imperfect. It is true, also, that everyone’s sins are equal. Not everyone, however, consistently stabs everyone in his way in the back the way Petrino has and will to get what he wants. He is not a team player and he will burn whomever chooses to hire him. His sin is not at issue, as far as football is concerned. His character is.

By: jMals

jMals — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:18:02 +0000

Big, big fan of the site. Read it multiple times a day.

I feel like I’m missing something with Petrino. Off the field issues aside, I think Kentucky should go after him full press. However, Auburn and Tennessee? Couldn’t they land someone better? Petrino’s record at Arkansas and Louisville was nice, but the man has never fielded a good – much less great – defense. He’ll win some games but get slapped around by LSU and Bama. (yes yes, he beat LSU once I think and came close to upsetting Alabama once. But that’s it.)

As a Bama fan, this is painful to say, but Tennessee and Auburn are top flight programs. Kentucky should be elated with 8 – 10 wins a year (Petrino’s general ceiling it seems), but Auburn and especially Tennessee should be gunning for SEC titles. I just don’t think Petrino is the man to do it.

Am I way off base here?