Petrino abandons his team, proves coaching college is for monkeys

[The Fake Shemp]

So the second high-profile college coach that tried their hand at the NFL has fled back to college, all within one year.  No doubt coaching in Atlanta was miserable, what with the Vick case and all, but to leave before the season ends is incredibly lame.  He also phoned in his resignation.  This should prove once and for all that monkeys can coach a college team and any collegiate success does not necessarily transfer to the NFL ranks, if at all.

[Human Snorenado]

Honestly, I think that Petrino could have had success in the NFL under the right circumstances... the problem with hiring college coaches is that it's not a good idea to put them into a situation that's fucked at the beginning.  If you seriously think a college coach is going to be an answer for your organization, put them in as a coordinator first and let them grow into the job.  There are plenty of guys who've done that and been alright coaches.

Atlanta was a fundamentally flawed situation from the beginning, even IF Vick didn't go Hostel on 60+ dogs.  The problem with that organization (much like a certain NFC East team that a certain portly SF Jew roots for) is at the top... a clueless owner who thinks it would be a good idea if he was "friends" with the players and a massively overrated GM.  Plus there's a lot of overlap and too many cooks in the kitchen in the Falcons front office... they have about 15 "vice-presidents" of various "departments" within the organization.  No one knows what's going on.  In fact, just last week people were saying that Petrino was going to take more control of the team and McKay was going to have less.  Oops.

Basically, Arthur Blank should call up Parcells or Cowher and tell them, "look, I'm an idiot.  I will fire everyone, stay off of the sidelines and away from the players and give you three years and build a house for you full of money, with a separate garage also full of money (or gold lol).  Just fix this thing."

[The Fake Shemp]

Snyder isn't clueless.  He's actually a damn fine owner and has been for a long time.  His problem now, if anything, is that he's too hands off.  He gave Gibbs the keys to the kingdom, including the GM position and how many head coaches do the GM thing right?  And The Danny won't fire Gibbs or take his front office powers away because Gibbs is his childhood hero.  If it was any other coach, they'd be gone.  Maybe that's what needs to happen.

But this is about the hapless Falcons organization and their dumb coach.

[Human Snorenado]

Any excuse for the Redskins, eh Federwang?  Snyder is dumb.  You guys could go 2-14 with both victories being against the cowgirls and he'd think it was a good season, for fucks sakes.  Both Snyder and Blank are proof that not every absurdly rich guy should own a sports franchise.

[The Fake Shemp]

I'd really like to see what you could pull up against Snyder since Gibbs took over.  He's pretty much took the criticism against him to heart.  He's stayed hands off with Gibbs, probably too hands off.  And he's not longer involved in player development.  He has his preference on which high profile player his organization would like to draft or sign, but he's no longer the decision maker in that process either.  And hasn't been for a long time.  Notice the lack of crazy free agent spending?  The dumb signings (Adam Archuleta, anyone) are either Gregg Williams or Joe Gibbs' fault and the dumb trades (Brandon Lloyd or T.J. Duckett) are Gibbs'.  The guy just signs the paychecks now.

Snyder is an example of immaturity, not lack of experience.  I've been really happy with him as an owner the last several years - most folks have.

The Redskins problems have nothing to do with Snyder and you wouldn't find a single NFL analyst that'd agree you.  What everyone has cited as the problem with the Redskins is the lack of a legitimate GM and Gibbs poor time management and play calling.

[Human Snorenado]

Yeah, but who put them in those positions?  I mean, you have to hang Joe Gibbs on Snyder.  He's stayed longer than he should have after it's abundantly apparent that 10+ years away from the game do, in fact, have an effect on you.

I will say that Snyder is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't tho.  Doesn't change the fact he's made some supremely stupid decisions since he bought the team (hellllooooo Steve Spurrier!).

[The Fake Shemp]

I don't think Spurrier was a bad decision - letting Spurrier be both head coach and GM was a bad decision.  That's problematic with a lot of high-profile head coaches in the NFL.  I think Spurrier could've succeeded at the pro level, but his stubbornness to turn the Redskins into a retirement home for washed up Florida Gators proved to be his undoing.

If I had to cite dumb decisions that strictly fall to Snyder, it's stuff like charging fans for attending training camp, the hiring and firing of Marty Schottenheimer, firing Norv Turner while still in the playoff hunt, bringing back Vinny Cerratto, Jeff George, etc.

In terms of Snyder's amount of personal liability for the failings of Gibbs, it's kind of hard to pin it all on him.  You have a team, while under performing, that is still in the playoff hunt.  And less then two season ago, he put them back into the playoffs and actually won a post season game.  Not to mention that up until recently, Gibbs might have well been sainted in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.  It's akin to firing Joe Paterno - can you really do that to a man who has done so much for an organization?