Petrino Abandons Falcon's Sinking Ship

Less than one year after taking the job, Atlanta Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino has quit his post with the team to return to coaching in the college ranks with Arkansas.

Apparently, Petrino called team officials the day after getting embarrassed by the New Orleans Saints at home on ESPN's "Monday Night Football" and presiding over the once promising Falcons' fall to 3-10 in league play. Coupled with the 23 month sentence of former team star Michael Vick for dogfighting on yesterday, it was obvious that this franchise is in a "no win" situation and he pulled the trigger on returning to the college ranks.

Read AJC coverage of the Petrino move here.

Read ESPN coverage of the latest Falcons mess here.

plez sez: i am shocked that this guy would bail on the team before the end of the season, HELL, there's only 3 weeks left! i'm sure the main allure of this job was the prospect of coaching Vick, but he was also getting PAID to the tune of close to $5 million... i think i could weather a few losing seasons for that amount. plus, NO ONE was blaming the head coach for the woeful situation of the franchise: he had THREE quarterbacks that no other team wanted (harrington, leftwich, and redman), he had a different offensive line every week, the running game is on the decline, there was no Vick, the defense secondary was suspect, he had no rapport with the team veterans, and one could go on-and-on about how badly the falcons need a draft day remedy.

well, i guess bobby petrino can join the ranks of college coaches who couldn't hack it in the pro's: Steve Spurrier (Redskins), Pete Carrol (Jets & Patriots), Chan Gailey (Cowboys), Lou Holtz (Jets) and, Nick Saban (Dolphins).

WOW! the repercussions of the michael vick mess will continue to reverberate within the falcons franchise for YEARS to come!

we got jokes!
Q: What do you call 53 people sitting around a TV watching the Super Bowl?
A: The Atlanta Falcons

Q: How do you keep an Atlanta Falcon out of your yard?
A: Put up goal posts.

Q: Where do you go in Atlanta in case of a tornado?
A: GA Dome -they never have a touchdown there

Q: What do you call a Atlanta Falcon with a Super Bowl ring?
A: A thief.

Q: What's the difference between the Atlanta Falcons & a dollar bill?
A: You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

Q: What do the Atlanta Falcons and possums have in common?
A: Both play dead at home and get killed on the road!

Q: What do the Atlanta Falcons and Billy Graham have in common?
A: They both can make 72,000 people stand up and yell "Jesus Christ!"

Bobby Petrino - Atlanta Falcon's New Head Coach

ESPN reports that Louisville coach Bobby Petrino has accepted a five-year, $24 million offer from the Atlanta Falcons to become their new coach. Petrino met with his Louisville players Sunday night to let them know he was going to Atlanta. The Falcons scheduled a formal announcement for Monday at 2 p.m. ET.

Petrino said he was leaving for what "I truly feel is the best job in the National Football League."

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank moved quickly to replace Jim Mora, who was fired after 3 seasons as the head coach. Mora's first year was spectacular with the Falcons making it to the NFC Championship game, but the last two seasons have been lackluster with the Falcons unable to make it the playoffs. The production of the offense and Michael Vick (this year, he topped 1,000 yards rushing - a record for the quarterback position in the NFL) was spotty and lacked any consistency. Last year the team started out 6-2 and fell to 8-8 before missing the playoffs. This season, the team started out 5-2 before falling to 7-9 and missing the playoffs.

plez sez: I guessed that Jim Mora would be biting the bullet after such a dismal season (well, dismal for a team that had so much talent and promise). The jury is still out as to whether this coach will be able to nurture and exploit the considerable talents of Michael Vick, who is easily the most exciting quarterback in the NFL!

In addition, this team is going to have to find some more talented offensive lineman who are able to protect Vick. For the past two seasons, he's been getting slaughtered while trying to hang out in the pocket with such an inept group in front of him: the group could not pick up a blitz if their lives depended on it, Vick rarely had more than 2 seconds to drop back and throw a pass, and the run support for Warrick Dunn simply disappeared late in the season.

It appeared that Jim Mora tried to be friends with the guys on the team. As such, I couldn't see evidence of him being in control of the team or laying down the law when it came time for them to produce. A football coach needs to be a strict disciplinarian; if Bobby Petrino cannot separate himself from being a member of "the team," then a similar fate awaits him!

Lastly, there have been a slew of good college coaches who couldn't cut it in the NFL and high tailed it back to college after a couple years: Steve Spurrier (Redskins), Pete Carrol (Jets?), Chan Gailey (Cowboys), Nick Saban (Dolphins)... and even Jim Mora (Falcons) got in hot water a few weeks ago for joking about wanting to go back and coach at his alma mater!

GO FALCONS!