Petrino's A-Comin'

by Dave Choate on Jan 7, 2007 8:46 PM EST in News

Courtesy of ESPN.com, Bob Petrino is apparently the Falcons' choice to succeed Jim Mora, which I must confess is pretty surprising to me. Petrino's a college guy with a proven track record of creative playcalling, and that's exactly the kind of coach I was hoping the Falcons would get. I just thought it wasn't very likely that Petrino would be the guy, but I'm more than gungho to give him a shot here. If he's willing to mix it up on offense and gets a good staff around him, I see only a few reasons why he shouldn't succeed, starting and ending with Senor Vick himself. I'll have details about the contract as soon as I get them, but I gotta say, I like the decision.

Update [2007-1-7 23:54:59 by Dave the Falconer]: The big news is that Petrino is now the new Falcons coach, with a 5 year, $24 million contract that will be absolutely worth it if Petrino can adapt well. Maybe I'm having a big ol' pitcher of Kool-Aid, but I couldn't be more excited if Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry's ghosts combined into one super coach in the body of a 200 ton robot.

OK, I guess that would be more exciting.

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exaclty right. Petrino has been a hot name in the NFL for the past few seasons, and if he can surround himself with solid NFL caliber assistants he has the offensive mind to help Vick thrive. Nice move by Falcon ownership....

TSG

Mile High Report

by TheSportsGuru @ The Falcoholic on Jan 7, 2007 10:05 PM EST reply actions

I think so

Now it's just a question of who those assistants will be.

by Dave Choate on Jan 7, 2007 11:56 PM EST up reply actions

Well

I'm sick of seeing big time college coaches come into the NFL and fall flat. It seems to be happening more and more often... However, there's not really a reason to assume Petrino would suffer the same fate as the Spurriers, Davis', Carrolls, and Sabans of the world.

If you were going to hire a college coach, I'd have to say Petrino was as good a candidate out there.

Funny enough, I actually think Denny Green would have been a good fit in Atl. I think if any coach could do things with Vick, it would have been him.

Bleeding Green Nation Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Jan 7, 2007 10:11 PM EST reply actions

Denny Green?

In some ways, I agree, but he'd be starting Roddy White at QB by the 7th week of the season. Green is nuts.

by Dave Choate on Jan 7, 2007 11:57 PM EST up reply actions

He is...

And certainly most Falcon fans would have probably hated the move... I just think he's a guy that knows about developing QBs and he's developed/worked with alot of great WRs in his career. A coach well schooled in those areas could possibly have worked wonders with the Falcons.

That said, Petrino knows offense as well as anyone and could certainly be a big positive.

If I was McKay though, I'd gauge Denny's interest in working as maybe a coordinator/assistant HC/mentor type role.

Bleeding Green Nation Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Jan 8, 2007 12:42 PM EST up reply actions

Hey!

Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing Green as a coordinator at all. A team of great surly minds in the coaching staff actually would make me pretty happy, as long as they could get the results. I'd be more than happy to see Green working with guys like Jenkins and White, that's for sure.

by Dave Choate on Jan 8, 2007 12:49 PM EST up reply actions