By Steve Stonebreaker
GCHS Head Coach

You will see it more and more - the college coach who moves from job to job to job and doesn’t necessarily leave the way that many would think is appropriate.

Many have said this about Bobby Petrino when he left the Atlanta Falcons Tuesday just 13 games into the job to become the new head man at Arkansas. Petrino had a 3-10 record and dealt with a fiasco of a situation in Atlanta, beginning with the Michael Vick dog-fighting saga. However, Petrino did have the support of Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who was happy with the job his coach had done and was quoted as saying such before the Falcons’ Monday night loss to New Orleans. The next day, Petrino jumped ship to go to Arkansas.

I must say something here. I feel that Petrino is a terrific offensive coach. When the Michigan job came open I actually hoped that the powers-that-be in Ann Arbor would pursue Petrino. I wished he would come back to college football and he now has done that by making the move to Arkansas. I must also say that, in my mind, I always figured he would stay the entire season with Atlanta before coming back to college ball. If that had happened the uproar that has come from many columnists and talking heads would not have quite the same fervor.

While looking at the way Petrino departed Atlanta I am reminded of something that I heard Bob Costas say in describing Pete Rose’s gambling situation when it was first reported. Costas said we all would like to think that our sports heroes can be ‘good at life’ as well as good at their craft. The reality, however, is that this is not a fair expectation because they are real people and we all have flaws. But, that doesn’t mean the criticism Petrino has received for the way he left Atlanta isn’t fair because it certainly is.

I feel in the analysis of the big picture here there is something important to keep in mind: This is likely to happen more and more. Why? Because, Petrino is a product of the system that we now have in big-time college sports. Some of the pieces in that system are as follows:

• Unrealistic fan and booster expectations to win, win right away, win big, and keep on winning
• Coaches who make ridiculous amounts of money
• The ridiculous firings of coaches, making it difficult for coaches to establish themselves in a program (stemming from the above-mentioned fan and booster mentality)

Have big-time college coaching salaries gotten out of hand? My opinion is that they have. This is the first year that the average major college head coach’s salary is over 1 million dollars. This is something that absolutely cannot continue. If it does, then there will come a time when the bowl subdivision will only have about 30 schools left. Many will choose to stop playing the game of ‘raise the stakes’ to keep coaches.

Some coaches keep moving around for a bigger payday. Hey, if it is offered and you want it then why not take it? How many of you would leave your current job for a huge pay raise somewhere else? Maybe not all would but it is safe to say that many would. Now, Petrino will not be making more money at Arkansas than he would have been with the Falcons. So why do I even mention this here? It is because as long as coaching salaries continue to go through the roof then you will see more and more coaches break contract and move in sneaky ways to get that next big check.

While at UofL, Petrino secretly met with Auburn officials who wanted to replace Tommy Tuberville (this after his 1^st year at UofL and Petrino had worked for Tuberville previously). After, signing a huge contract extension at UofL, Petrino flirted with LSU before they hired Les Miles. Is Petrino the only coach ever to try to go behind his employers’ back and try to get another job? No. Does that make it right? No. Can you totally fault him? Ahh, well, that all depends on perspective.

You could take the moral approach and say that you could. But as food for thought think of this: Administrators and boosters at Southern Mississippi recently forced coach Jeff Bower to resign following 17 seasons at the school. Bower had a career record of 119-82-1 with the Eagles and only had two losing seasons (1991 and 1993). Bower was also a quarterback at Southern Miss during his playing days and was very loyal to the school. Bower will still coach the Eagles in their sixth straight bowl game this year. There was never a hint of wrongdoing under Bower’s leadership. He won big games (defeated Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, and Oklahoma State), led his teams to bowls, and was the longest-tenured coach at a school with average football tradition and history. Bower never seriously considered pursuing other jobs in his time at Southern Miss (which was the longest current tenure of any coach in the FBS besides Bobby Bowden, Joe Paterno, and Frank Beamer). And, Bower’s reward for all of this was not to be welcomed back for an 18^th season.

Now, you can tell me which end of the stick the morals are on in Bower’s scenario. Nevertheless, this scenario is why many college coaches look to move around like they do. They can work at an average program, run it cleanly, do the right things, win games and still end up like Bower. The ridiculous firings of coaches is another factor that will lead to more FBS coaches acting like snakes in the grass to land a better payday and get as much as they can while the getting is good - while maneuvering their necks around their booster’s axe.

Some of you will say the out-of-whack expectations of boosters and fans are fine because these coaches are making so much money. Not many people will feel sorry for million dollar coaches losing their jobs even if one and only one team can win the national championship each year. There is, however, fan outrage that coaches are too concerned with money and not building a program and trying to stay in one place like coaches of the past may have done with a little more regularity. Well, frankly, if the axe is going to fall senselessly on some coaches then why would many have that mentality. Look at how much Phillip Fulmer has won at Tennessee and then at the nonsense he endured this past season. This is not something that is lost on coaches. More and more you will see coaches pulling a ‘Petrino.’ It is a sad by-product of the culture that has been created in big-time college sports. And, without a doubt, money is the root of this particular evil. This is all more the reason to spend a Saturday afternoon at a small college football game where some sensibility still rules the day.