Just Because

Here's the latest from the ESPN Ombudsman. She's the best.

Also, how about that Bobby Petrino hiring? Jeez. Honestly, when I think about it, I feel awful for all parties involved in this one, even the man himself. When he took the job in Atlanta, the cookie was Michael Vick, a totally unique player in league history and the center piece of the offense. Shortly after coming to the Falcons, the Vick mess went down and he lost the whole incentive to take the job in the first place. I can imagine being in his shoes, looking around in the middle of a lost season and thinking "what do I have to look forward to here?" He's never going to find another Michael Vick, never in a million years, and so all the offense he installed around that unique talent and all the excitement he must have had about working with Vick was wasted and he was left with a fractured, doomed team that wasn't buying what he was selling. Apart from the fact that he's an obvious dick, I feel bad for him.

As for Atlanta, they're fucked, but it's probably for the best. My sense is and has been that this franchise was too locked into being the Michael Vick show from the time they drafted the guy. I'm not crazy about building a team around a single player at all, especially a guy that has so much to learn and so much developing to do before he can reliably play his position. Obviously, it's time to blow the whole thing up and start fresh. I don't know, if I were part of the Falcons organization, I'd be a little excited right now. They ought to dump off anybody that has draft-pick value in a trade, build a whole new coaching staff, and start thinking 4-5 years down the road. If they commit themselves to it, they could have a completely new identity and be washed clean of the whole Vick era before too long. Seriously, if I were Arthur Blank, I'd modify the uniforms, overhaul the entire offense, bring in a young coordinator as my head coach and an army of draft picks and new veterans, and generally do everything in my power to turn over a whole new leaf in Atlanta.

As far as Atlanta's current players go, there are some quality guys on this team who could have good futures in the NFL, but probably not in Atlanta. I'm of the opinion that turmoil of this intensity leaves a permanent stain on those involved and will continue to poison the organization if they don't "turn the soil", so to speak. Roddy White has emerged as a good receiver, Jerrius Norwood obviously has some value, there are probably a few other good young players, and since they can't overhaul the entire roster immediately, they probably want to keep those guys. I feel really bad for Atlanta's players, the actions of one guy and one coach have not only ruined their seasons, but probably spoiled their chances of any long-term success in Atlanta, hurt their careers, and turned their team into a poisoned wasteland, an NFL afterthought and one of a few laughingstocks in the NFL, along with Baltimore and Miami. If I were any of these guys, I'd be eagerly awaiting the pink slip at this point.

I can't remember the last time I felt that an NFL franchise had this much rebuilding to do . . . I'm sure there have been other cases of franchises so ruined and screwed after a series of unfortunate events that they basically needed a complete overhaul, but none comes to mind. The Dolphins obviously need a whole new . . . everything, including uniforms, but the positive there is that they have a wierd mix of a few really old, washed up veterans and super-young, inexpensive players, it shouldn't be to hard to fire-sell the veteran guys and start fresh. The Redskins in the post Spurrier days felt like they probably needed a season or two off altogether to get their shit in order, but not on this scale.

One last point here: what did I say about hiring college coaches to come in and be NFL head coaches? It never works. There might have been a time when that type of thing worked out, or there might be the rare personality that can pull it off, but it's such a crap-shoot. The fact is, the vast majority of success in college football comes down to recruiting. That's not to say Bobby Petrino doesn't know a thing or two about coaching a football team, but a successful FBS coach is generally working with a more talented roster than most other teams. I think a college coach who jumps to the NFL as a head coach has more to learn about the NFL game than most FBS standout players, who are generally just as athletic as anybody else and only have to get used to going against guys who move as quickly as they do. Coaches, on the other hand, have to take schemes that have had success against teams with far less speed, power, and explosiveness, and basically hope they work against professional-level players, to say nothing of the fact that they go from being the big man on campus and one of only a few people in the room being paid to be there to being the little old guy who makes about half as much as his starters and knows half as much about the NFL as they do.

Oh, and apparently you get reamed for pulling this kind of stunt. I can't say I disagree with these guys, who paint a pretty ugly picture of who Bobby Petrino is and what he's all about. Pat Forde and Len Pasquerelli pretty much eat Petrino for breakfast.

That's all. Go Skynards!