The events relating to the Atlanta Falcons that have transpired over the past 48 hours are totally unpredented. Monday night's blowout loss to the Saints, coming right on the heels of the sentencing of Michael Vick to 23 months in prison, must have seemed like the lowest point of every Falcon player's football career. Just a few months ago, this seemed like the type of team that could find themselves in the playoffs if a few things went their way throughout the season. Next thing they knew, their leader was gone, they had protestors flooding the outside of their pre-season practices, people openly criticizing their owner Arthur Blank (who seems like a great community man, and someone who the players are all very fond of), and they quickly became one of the league's biggest jokes (I'm sure they're grateful that the Dolphins are so pitiful). A few months ago, this nationally-televised Monday night game seemed like it might be an exciting battle between two of the most prolific offensive players in the NFL with playoff implications on the line. Instead, the game just served to illustrate for everyone around the world how far this Falcons team has fallen this season.
All athletes go through these hard times at one point or another in their career. Generally games like Monday nights, coupled with news of Michael Vick's sentencing, might serve to bring this team together for the rest of the season. There are always bottom of the barrel teams at the end of a season who band together, play for pride, and end up being a spoiler. This is not to say that you would expect the team to suddenly begin playing well. But, you might expect the competitive spirit of this team to rise in the face of adversity after such a loss.
There will be no rising from this Atlanta team. There will be no bouncing back from Monday night's loss. There may be a spoiler team out there, but it won't be them. Their own coach dealt them the death blow last night. Less than 24 hours after this embarassing loss, Bobby Petrino resigned from his position with the team, abandoning his players and his owner during their most difficult time. How can this team bounce back from this? It's 5 o'clock on Wednesday, and they don't even have a head coach for their game this weekend.
Since the announcement came last night, many experts have spoken about how this move is an unsuprising one from Petrino, who has tried to get a new job each year for the past five years. ESPN's Pat Forde, who has covered Petrino coached teams in the past, says that in Petrino we see a man who always has his eyes on the next step. While these players in Atlanta were out on the field, playing as hard as they could under dire circumstances, Petrino was looking ahead to what job he might be able to land now that he can add "NFL coach" to his resume. In the end, it turns out that the management, the players, and the fans of the Atlanta Falcons were just another tool to help Petrino find his ideal job.
Look, Petrino has been a succesful coach everywhere he has been except Atlanta. Frankly, I can't think of any coach that could have made anything out of that Atlanta team. But, I have to believe that this selfishness is going to come back to bite him during his time at Arkansas. He might have taken one of the best jobs in the country, but it is not an easy job by any means. In order to be successful at Arkansas, he is going to have to improve his recruiting. I think this is going to prove to be more difficult than he is anticipating.
Think about it. Imagine right now that you are one of the nation's top recruits. Do you really want to go play for this guy? He has interviewed for a new job every year over the past five years! He can't stay in one place. He's not going to stick around for four years! He doesn't care about you. He's not going to be loyal to you. You can't trust anything he says. This guy abandoned his team with three games left in the season! Me, I'd want to go play for Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. I'd want to play for a guy who is so loyal that he's willing to protect his players even if it means being unpopular with the media. I'd want to go play for Les Miles, who has been unrelenting in his insistence that he is staying at LSU.
So, we know that recruits are going to be wary of Petrino as a coach who they can trust and who will hopefully be with them for their entire college careers. So, he himself is not going to be attracting many top recruits. Secondly, Arkansas isn't the type of program that sells itself. USC sells itself. Michigan sells itself. Texas sells itself. Florida sells itself. Arkansas does not. I just can't see the top recruits in the nation turning down Urban Meyer or Les Miles for Bobby Petrino. I also can't see them choosing Arkansas over Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, or Alabama. To me, Petrino will get the same level of talent that Arkansas has always gotten: the players who are just good enough to play there with a few standouts who feel loyalty to the state. Is he a good enough coach to win when he has less talent on the field than his opponenets? I think we all saw the answer to that question this year in Atlanta.
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