Falcons Coach Petrino Quits; Signs with Arkansas

PFT says Adam Schefter is reporting that Emmitt Thomas will be the interim head coach.

Emmitt Thomas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmitt_Thomas)

We really don't know the whole story of what has gone on over the time that he has been the head coach for Atlanta. Maybe he wanted to keep the other QB (forgot his name) and the owner went around him and traded him off getting things started on the wrong foot. I agree that it may not have been handled in the best way but the point I was making that other thing may have been involved.

You talking about Matt Schaub?

PFT says Adam Schefter is reporting that Emmitt Thomas will be the interim head coach.

Nice. I thought it might be former Redskins coaches Bill Musgrave or Hue Jackson, but instead it's our old DB coach from back in the day.

We are talking about the same Emmitt Thomas right?

Nice. I thought it might be former Redskins coaches Bill Musgrave or Hue Jackson, but instead it's our old DB coach from back in the day.

We are talking about the same Emmitt Thomas right?

The very same. D-Backs coach for Super Bowls 22 and 26. He's coached for a bunch of different teams. He's what you would call an old hand.

I think more importantly is the fact that in college you are coaching kids and in the NFL you are coaching men. It takes a whole different management style and it seems a lot of these coaches lack exactly that. The ability to manage their team from a personell standpoint. Rarely do they looked overmatched football-wise but they almost always seem to have troubles getting guys to play for them.

Even the successful ones like Jimmy Johnson basically was coaching a college team for the first few years. That team was insanely young and he was able to slowly mature his coaching style as they aged. Those types of teams don't exist anymore. Who was the last successful college coach?

It would seem you're right, Spurrier found out quickly that his mgmt. style didn't work in the nfl.

In college, coaches have both the NCAA & the university to back them up. Players are students first (I know, but in theory they are) & players 2nd. This gives coaches a lot of disciplinary discretion if they choose to use it. Add to that, players lose eligibility when they transfer in Div. 1, so there is a dis incentive to leave.

In the NFL, the players have a union & free agency. There are penalties the league can enforce on players, but coaches really have the burden of enforcing basic rules & sticking to them, and even then the players union is a strong legal advocate for players that can challenge coaching decisions.

Someone made the comment that college coaches are jerks and really dodgy...Spurrier, Saban, Les Miles, Petrino. Different sport but let's not forget Donovan. That was one of the biggest cop outs, I've ever heard of. Now look at the Orlando Magic, they are looking really good this year and I hope Donovan never gets back to the final four. He said he cried about the decision. FOR GOD'S SAKE, u are a grown ass man. Learn to evaluate a decision, make the right one, and stick with it. Chump

As for Petrino, his rap is that he can never stick around in a place for more than a few years so the Falcons had to have known about the risk. I thought it was funny that Arthur Blank was the guest on MNF in the booth this week and he made the comment that he was more confident over hiring Petrino now (2 days ago) than he was before the season started. The big picture is that the falcons are probably better off that Petrino resigned now rather than in the middle of hte offseason or even worse after the draft. At least they can start the rebuilding process and righting the ship as soon as possible. If u r a falcons fan, what do you have to look forward to though?

Who was the last successful college coach?

You already stated it, Jimmy Johnson. Unless you want to count Barry Switzer - although I would give a great deal of the credit to Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson for Switzer's NFL success. It is rare for college head coaches to find success in the NFL. As someone stated earlier, it's not really about football intelligence, but more about management style and people skills.

I have been trying to think of college coaches who had success in the NFL, and my list is painfully short and certainly open for debate. John MacKay coached very successfully at USC before taking over the expansion Buccaneers. After an 0-26 start, he had that team in the NFC championship game in their 4th season.
Other than Mackay, I can only think of failures - Lou Holtz, Butch Davis, Pete Carroll, John Robinson, Rich Brooks to name a few.

Petrino was in a bad situation from the start, the Falcons are a bad football team with a history of underperformance, so it was going to take a few years at least to get that thing pointed in the right direction.

What becomes increasingly more clear to me by the day is that a head coach in the NFL needs to be a manager first and football guy second. This league is all about getting your guys to play and execute your scheme. So many moving parts and when one breaks down then all is lost. If a HC can get his guys to play for him together then whether or not he is a great Xs and Os guy is almost irrelevant.

You look at a guy Like Belichek. He obviously knows how to push his guys' buttons because they, for years now, have been the best team in the league yet they always play with a chip on their shoulder. Somehow he has these guys believeing that no one respects them and that motivates them to win. Even now they 13-0, clearly the best team in the league, and yet they still act at times like they think no one respects them. He is a great Xs and Os guy but more importantly he has those guys playing together for him.

You already stated it, Jimmy Johnson. Unless you want to count Barry Switzer - although I would give a great deal of the credit to Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson for Switzer's NFL success. It is rare for college head coaches to find success in the NFL. As someone stated earlier, it's not really about football intelligence, but more about management style and people skills.

I have been trying to think of college coaches who had success in the NFL, and my list is painfully short and certainly open for debate. John MacKay coached very successfully at USC before taking over the expansion Buccaneers. After an 0-26 start, he had that team in the NFC championship game in their 4th season.
Other than Mackay, I can only think of failures - Lou Holtz, Butch Davis, Pete Carroll, John Robinson, Rich Brooks to name a few.

Petrino was in a bad situation from the start, the Falcons are a bad football team with a history of underperformance, so it was going to take a few years at least to get that thing pointed in the right direction.

Definitely Jimmy Johnson.

Switzer was a joke who totally road the coattails of JJ. That team basically coached itself that year. Aikman has pretty much said as much.

What becomes increasingly more clear to me by the day is that a head coach in the NFL needs to be a manager first and football guy second. This league is all about getting your guys to play and execute your scheme. So many moving parts and when one breaks down then all is lost. If a HC can get his guys to play for him together then whether or not he is a great Xs and Os guy is almost irrelevant.

You look at a guy Like Belichek. He obviously knows how to push his guys' buttons because they, for years now, have been the best team in the league yet they always play with a chip on their shoulder. Somehow he has these guys believeing that no one respects them and that motivates them to win. Even now they 13-0, clearly the best team in the league, and yet they still act at times like they think no one respects them. He is a great Xs and Os guy but more importantly he has those guys playing together for him.

He's definitely a master motivator. He undoubtedly used the cheating scandal as ammo for this season.