NCAA Football FanHouse

ESPN's Bill Curry Returns to Coaching

Bruce Ciskie — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Alabama Football, Georgia Tech Football, NCAA FB Coaching, Atlanta, Kentucky Football

After seeing mixed success as a head coach for Georgia Tech, Alabama, and Kentucky, Bill Curry found a home at ESPN. The former NFL offensive lineman and longtime coach spent ten years with the Worldwide Leader, serving primarily as a college football game and studio analyst.

The itch to coach, however, has returned for the 65-year-old Curry, and he's going back. Curry will be named the first head football coach in Georgia State history Thursday. The Atlanta-based school is starting up a football program in 2010. They'll compete in Division I-AA (er, FCS) and play home games at the Georgia Dome. Similar to the Atlanta Falcons, GSU will probably fail to sell the place out most weekends.

Curry has a familiar face helping him start the program. Dan Reeves, the former NFL player and head coach, has helped raise over $1 million for the startup program. He has given his endorsement to the reported hire.

Reeves said he was not part of the selection process but said "I can tell you this, I think that is a heck of a choice, a great deal for Georgia State, if that is the case.

"I think Bill will do a super job. He's got a great reputation. You couldn't ask for anyone better to start Georgia State's program. He's got college experience, he has recruited and he lieves in Atlanta. I think that's fantastic."

He's a well-known name, but Curry's track record as a head coach isn't all that great. He coached Alabama to the 1990 SEC championship, but lost twice as many games as he won at Kentucky before stepping aside in 1996. Reeves does make a great point, though.

For a startup program to get a guy like Curry is superb. He's already been through some intense recruiting battles, and he knows how to evaluate young talent.

At ESPN, Curry found a niche because of his conversational style of analysis. He brings GSU great expertise on offensive line play, and he should have little trouble convincing young kids and their families that his program will be a good place for players to develop, both on and off the field.

ESPN's Bill Curry Returns to Coaching originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pete Carroll Talking With Falcons

Sportz Assassin — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 02:11:00 EST

Filed under: Falcons, NFC South, USC Football, Pac 10, NFL Coaching, Atlanta

Yesterday, I told you about the Falcons interest in USC coach Pete Carroll. So much so that they were working hard to secure an interview.

Today comes news that Carroll has talked to the Falcons and is interested in what they have to offer.

Southern California coach Pete Carroll is interested in the Falcons' head coach opening and spoke with Atlanta owner Arthur Blank via phone Wednesday, sources at the American Football Coaches Convention in Anaheim told ESPN's Joe Schad.

Blank, who has also been searching for a general mangager, was expected to offer full control of personnel decisions to Carroll, and the sources said that is what intrigues Carroll most. The coach is currently on vacation in Hawaii.

I know that the Falcons are reeling from their last coaching hire ... bringing in Louisville's Bobby Petrino who quickly bolted for Arkansas ... but this would be huge for the Falcons. This is a franchise that has lost their identity after all this Michael Vick mess. Bringing in not just a college coach ... but a name college coach ... would peak the interest of fans and bring some much needed positive buzz to the franchise.

Pete Carroll Talking With Falcons originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 10 Jan 2008 02:11:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Falcons May Go After Pete Carroll

Sportz Assassin — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:34:00 EST

Filed under: Falcons, NFC South, USC Football, Pac 10, NFL Coaching, Atlanta

According to ESPN.com, the Falcons are trying to secure an interview with Southern Cal head coach Pete Carroll for their own head coaching vacancy:

Multiple sources told ESPN.com late Tuesday night that the Falcons are pursuing Pete Carroll for an interview. If Carroll agrees, and the logistics can be arranged, the Southern California coach could huddle with Atlanta owner Arthur Blank by the weekend.

But sources said the Falcons might be willing to grant Carroll far-reaching responsibilities and that the USC coach, who could assemble a very strong staff, could be intrigued by the challenge of resurrecting a franchise that has been through a turbulent year and has become all but irrelevant on the Atlanta sports scene.

This is very interesting, because Atlanta is coming off a bad experience with Bobby Petrino, the former Louisville coach who bolted the Dirty Birds for Arkansas a month ago. You'd think that Blank would be a bit gun shy about hiring another college coach ... even one with Carroll's pedigree. It's also interesting to speculate why Carroll would leave a gravy job at USC for a massive rebuilding project in Atlanta. %Gallery-9072%

Falcons May Go After Pete Carroll originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:34:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lawyer Milloy Edits Letter Left to Falcon Players By Bobby Petrino

Sportz Assassin — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:39:00 EST

Filed under: Falcons, NFC South, SEC, Arkansas Football, NFL Coaching, Atlanta

Pretty much everyone who doesn't scream WOO PIG SOOIE for Arkansas football doesn't think too highly of Bobby Petrino (just click his name for all the recap).

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, all Petrino left behind was a letter taped up at the Falcons' Flowery Branch facility. Wanna see a pic of it? Go ahead.

"Atlanta Falcons players;

Out of my respect for you, I am letting you know, with a heavy heart, I resigned today as the Head Coach of the Atlanta Falcons. This decision was not easy but was made in the best interest of me and my family. While my desire would have been to finish out what has been a difficult season for us all, circumstances did not allow me to do so. I appreciate your hard work and wish the best.

Sincerely,

Bobby Petrino"

Now look at the photo of the letter after DB Lawyer Milloy edited it. He crossed out Petrino's name and wrote the word "coward" instead. Excellent. You'd have the be a coward to not be able to face the guys that you demanded to fight for you.

Lawyer Milloy Edits Letter Left to Falcon Players By Bobby Petrino originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:39:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would You Trust This Man?

JJ Cooper — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:19:00 EST

Filed under: SEC, Arkansas Football, Atlanta

Arkansas fans are all excited now that Bobby Petrino has replaced Houston Nutt as head coach. A journey to the Razorbacks message boards finds plenty of happy fans, including one guy who declares it 'the best moment of his life."

But Arkansas fans, and more importantly Arkansas potential recruits, should get an idea of who they'll be dealing with.

We all know that college football is full of coaches who say one thing before doing another. Heck, Petrino will be coaching every year against Alabama coach Nick Saban, a guy who has turned lying into an art form.

But when Bobby Petrino steps into a 17-year-old prospect's kitchen and tries to convince him to sign a letter of intent to Arkansas, the kid better have the motto of signer beware. Bobby Petrino has done very well for Bobby Petrino, but it's hard to say in recent years that he's had a lot of concern for his colleagues and bosses. And players who sign with Arkansas should know that Petrino has never stayed in one place more than four years. The chances of him being your coach for your senior day is pretty slim.There is no way to know he won't bolt again when a better job comes open. We're talking about a coach who's working on his third job in just one year. And he's the same coach who secretly met with Auburn boosters and put together a handshake deal for that job when then-coach Tommy Tuberville (who had hired Petrino as an assistant) hadn't even been fired. All the while that was going on, he was proclaiming his love of Louisville and his intent to stay there.

In the end, Petrino did stay at Louisville that time, because the whole plan was made public before Tuberville was ever fired. The resulting outpouring of condemnation forced Petrino to pull out of the running for a job that ended up not coming open.

But that wasn't Petrino's only case of duplicity. He got a 10-year contract extension out of Louisville during the summer of 2006, a move that was supposed to make him happy, and he said he was:

"I can't tell you how happy I am with the commitment and the confidence that Tom Jurich has in me and the university has in me," Petrino said after signing the contract Thursday morning. "I also wanted to make sure that everyone understood, I know I've said it, that this is where my family wants to be. This is where I want to be. I want everyone to really believe it."

He was on a plane to Atlanta six months later.

But at least that was just part of how the game is normally played. Coaches lie to the press about their plans to stay somewhere--after all you have to have players believe in you to get them to play their best (and to get next year's recruiting class lined up). It's unseemly and undignified, but Petrino wasn't the first coach to play that game.

But Petrino's decision to bail on the Falcons shows a lot more about his character, or apparently his lack of character. Petrino had told Falcons owner Arthur Blank repeatedly that he planned to stay in Atlanta. On Monday, Blank asked Petrino specifically if he was looking at leaving for any college jobs. Petrino told him that he had no interest in any college job. While he was saying that, he already had a pretty good idea that he was leaving.

This wasn't a case of lying to the press and fans (which is bad enough). This was a case of lying directly to the man who had signed Petrino to a $25-million contract and given him the keys to the franchise. It was a lie that he didn't need to tell for any reason beyond that fact that no one seems to matter to Bobby Petrino but Bobby Petrino. Apparently he didn't tell Blank the truth until hours before he headed out of town on a plane to Arkansas for a press conference tonight.

When Petrino talks to players about playing hard to the final whistle and never quitting, he's asking them to do something he couldn't do. He quit on the Falcons because he found the NFL game was too hard. The players in the NFL couldn't be intimidated by a college coach into meek submission so he quit, leaving for a less prestigious job that will pay him less money. He didn't even have the decency to finish out the season, and he leaves the program in worse shape than how he found it.

Petrino may be a big success with Arkansas. The man knows how to run a college offense, and his my-way-or-the-highway style works much better with college players. But Arkansas fans better know that you can never be sure what Petrino's telling you is the truth, because he's proven that lying is fine as long as it helps Bobby Petrino.

Would You Trust This Man? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:19:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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