Mike Zimmer calls Petrino a ‘coward’ over his 2007 exit
Former Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer (right) is probably not having Bobby Petrino over for a cookout this summer. (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)
After practice in Cincinnati on Wednesday, former Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer ripped former head coach Bobby Petrino.
Zimmer was the defensive coordinator in 2007, the season that Petrino abruptly resigned 13 games into the season. Zimmer ended up in Cincinnati and has led the defense to its highest ranking in three decades last season at No. 4.
“When a coach quits in the middle of the year and ruins a bunch of people’s families and doesn’t have enough guts to finish out the year, I’m not a part of it,” Zimmer told the Cincinnati media. “And you can put that in the Arkansas News Gazette. I don’t really give a (bleep). He’s a coward, he ruined a bunch of people’s lives, a bunch of families, kids, because he didn’t have enough (guts) to stay there and finish the job. And that’s the truth. Most people in football have enough courage about him and enough fight to stick it out and not quit halfway through the year. It’s cowardly.”
Petrino went back into the college ranks to coach at Arkansas. Zimmer shined some light on Petrino’s exit.
“He came in and said he resigned, (said) he’d talk to us all at a later date, walked out of the office and no one has talked to him since,” Zimmer said. “Not that anybody wanted to. He’s a gutless (bleep). You can quote that.”
Get instant updates on Twitter at AJCFalcons and you can join the Facebook Fan page at AJC Falcons.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
194 comments Add your comment
Hit A Single
October 20th, 2010
8:01 pm
We need some more Mike Zimmers. People that hold people accountable. He would be a great administator in school. He could set some parents straight about their angels.
Jay
October 20th, 2010
8:02 pm
Awesome
Hit A Single
October 20th, 2010
8:07 pm
Did Zimmer coach with Bear Bryant? Dang if he doesn’t sound like him.
Diehard
October 20th, 2010
8:07 pm
Arkansas gets what it deserves – a jackass. Good riddance. Makes me like Mike more.
Jim in Augusta
October 20th, 2010
8:11 pm
Who has left Atlanta as a head coach and gone up to a better head pro job? Answer: nobody. The place is a head pro coach’s graveyard.
No dog in the fight
October 20th, 2010
8:15 pm
Was Petrino the coach that had the secret interview for the Auburn job on a private jet.
TampaGator
October 20th, 2010
8:19 pm
Cam Newton feels the same way about the man! And Gator fans wish the laptop computer had never been invented!
CHUCK UGA
October 20th, 2010
8:20 pm
WOW! Tell us how he really feels…please!
CHUCK UGA
October 20th, 2010
8:21 pm
No dog in flight, that is correct.
falconfan
October 20th, 2010
8:24 pm
Head coaches in the NFL don’t typically leave to be head coaches at other programs. If they leave it’s usually because they’ve been fired. It’s not college.
Esteban71
October 20th, 2010
8:26 pm
Amen, brother Zimmer!
John
October 20th, 2010
8:28 pm
Petrino’s departure was an obvious win-win situation for everybody involved. The Falcons are better off without Petrino and Petrino is better off without the Falcons. Nobody liked Petrino when he was here anyway, so why complain about him leaving?
Benjamin
October 20th, 2010
8:29 pm
I won’t weigh in with personal tones because I don’t know who is responsible to who in this situation. I’m just glad that we’ve got Coach Smith and co. at the helm now.
The Falcons are primed to be a team of the decade-type under the current administration. Frankly, we were not going to get there under Petrino.
bob
October 20th, 2010
8:30 pm
Jim – Joe Torre, Hubie Brown, June Jones, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Bobby Cox had some success after leaving an Atlanta head coaching job.
somelovin
October 20th, 2010
8:54 pm
Did i ever tell you guys about the time me, Chris, and Petrino spent a romantic night out in the wilderness? We rode a train out into the wilderness; then we just laid there, makin pig sounds out into the night….it was so romantic and beautiful.
GaSouthernFalcon
October 20th, 2010
9:00 pm
Section 108, the difference between Patrino and Van Gorder in 2007 is that the folks at Ga Southern were ready for him to leave. VG is a good defensive coach but is NOT a head coach.
Bobby Petrino
October 20th, 2010
9:01 pm
My one message to all of you is STFU!. Just play the game, and bring it. If you can’t you don’t have it. Zimmer is what he is. I don’t hang out with losers, not my style baby. See you on the field, if you’re worthy.
job status
October 20th, 2010
9:05 pm
petrino’s probably already looking around for another job—living in the backwoods of arkansas is not his style and that phony pig sooey thing really gets to him–he hates it. He’ll be heading out soon with a better job for a lot more money.
somelovin
October 20th, 2010
9:05 pm
Oh Bobby, all you can do is “hang”. You’re just not firm enough to stick it in the end zone, ya know? And I’m not the only boy sayin that, either.
Bobby Petrino
October 20th, 2010
9:07 pm
But you’re certainly a boy.
Ueeediot
October 20th, 2010
9:09 pm
Heard the Arkansas QB after the Auburn game…
“Well coach tells us all the time to give it your all…unless you dont want to. Its perfectly OK to quit when it looks like your going to lose anyway. We felt really good about this game til about mid way through the 3ed quarter when Auburn got that kick off return for a TD. After that coach reminded us, there is no shame in being a quitter, so we just followed his lead.”
GetwhatUpayfor
October 20th, 2010
9:13 pm
Couldn’t have said it better…A GUTLESS _ _ _ !
somelovin
October 20th, 2010
9:17 pm
Yep. A boy that can make little bobby yell SOIEE WOOOO!!!! He sure did love it….too bad he just can’t repay the favor?
D. Orlando Ledbetter
October 20th, 2010
9:21 pm
Coach Zimmer is one of the good guys in the league. He was always nice to the media.
D-Man
October 20th, 2010
9:22 pm
Okay, is it a slow news day or what? Everyone in the free world knows Petrino was a Puss-N-Boots for doing what he did and Zimmer is just restating that in a colorful way. This is way old and really not newsworthy IMO. Some names just shouldn’t be mentioned in this paper anymore.
Please STFU, Falcons "Fans"
October 20th, 2010
9:25 pm
Falcons fans still rehashing this literally are the dumbest of the dumb.
These are professional athletes…PAID MILLIONS…to perform. They didn’t listen to Petrino and quit on him too. Anyone remember the crap Roddy White pulled with the “Free Mike Vick” shirt under his uniform after the touchdown he scored in that game before Petrino left? Stop coddling these guys by acting like he was such a traitor and left the cupboard bare.
Around the same time, Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia. While in preparation for a BCS BOWL GAME with UNPAID STUDENT-ATHLETES. He didn’t get half the crap Petrino did, either by BSPN or by the other national media.
He left. The Falcons got Mike Smith and Matt Ryan. You Falcons fans REALLY think that next year’s team under Petrino makes the playoffs with him still at the helm. This franchise is better off without him. Petrino left the pros, just like Saban, Spurrier and numerous others who knew they were better suited for the college game. Did he say goodbye like he should have? No, but who really cares. At 3-10, that team was going nowhere anyway.
My reco: go down to Arthur Blank’s beloved Home Depot, buy a hammer, wood and nails, go build a bridge and get the hell over it already.
Mel
October 20th, 2010
9:25 pm
Zimmer has every right to be mad and every right to express his feelings on the matter. Not only did Petrino not talk to the coaches, he didn’t talk to the players either. And if my memory serves me correctly, he had told the media just one day before he left that he was not looking for another job and that he had no intentions of leaving Atlanta. And then he left a note on the players’ lockers and split in the middle of the night.
I think Zimmer was being kind in calling him a coward.
wxwax
October 20th, 2010
9:32 pm
It sure is good to hear one of Petrino’s assistant coaches unload on him and confirm what we already knew.
Arkansas hired a man with no character. Sooner or later they’re going to regret it.
Sooner, I hope.
somelovin
October 20th, 2010
9:35 pm
Boy, you speak the truth wax. If I had a nickel for every time I unloaded on him….Set, Spike, Score.
Boom Dizzle
October 20th, 2010
9:37 pm
Zimmer went hard in the paint on ole Quitrino……
wxwax
October 20th, 2010
9:39 pm
Petrino’s only communication to the players was a short note left in their lockers.
Here it is, with Lawyer Milloy’s dead-on editorial comment.
http://img.skitch.com/20101021-x72mg9y6nt9hq2agntu6pijpha.jpg
Hollywould
October 20th, 2010
9:41 pm
Man, that is refreshing. When is the last time you have heard someone in the coaching fraternity( and I use that loosley for Petrino) calling out another? I have more respect for Zimmer and I liked him when he was here. As an Auburn fan I was actually happy when the Falcons got Petrino. Screw him
somelovin
October 20th, 2010
9:41 pm
Hard on quitrino, and soft everywhere else…..
DILLIGAF
October 20th, 2010
9:58 pm
Petrino is a coward. He’s never going to succeed within the college coaching ranks because no one that plays for him will ever respect him and he will never be able to recruit quality players because no one wants to play for a loser. Even if I’m an 18 yr. old kid, I’m not stupid enough to play for an unproven loser with a track record such as his and Petrino will never be an elite coach in any league, CFL withstanding.
Look at his soft, doughy face, do you want this man leading you team? My bulldawg, Lumpa has a better winning attitude than this clown. I can’t wait until he bolts fro the “next best thing”.
Sarfdawg
October 20th, 2010
9:59 pm
Petrino and Saban are identical except Petrino doesn’t have and won’t have the rings. As stated earlier, he’ll leave Arkansas soon and another fledgling program will get in bed with him.
Auburn Man
October 20th, 2010
10:08 pm
Chris….I have a feeling you have a big red Hog hat in your closet huh?
techengineer
October 20th, 2010
10:12 pm
Everyone passes judgment without having all the facts on the table. I would love to hear Petrino’s side of the debate.
Tracy
October 20th, 2010
10:18 pm
The thing of it is that Zimmer himself has never had the guts to be the head guy so what the hell does he knoiw about the pressures of being that guy? Part of it is at the pro and major college level these assistants are essentially acolytes hitched to the star that is the head coach. So three years later he is still disillusioned? Whatever.Is Petrino someone who is not really admirable? Hell yeah. Look at how he tried to do an end run around Tommy Tuberville in his attempt at to get the Auburn job. Zimmer is whiny jerk himself who should be thanking Petrino for doing what he did or else he would not be in Cinci with that defense. You know Zimmer was one of the main candidates for the Nebraska job that Bill Callahan took before he wussed out. Zimmer himself is a whiny little (bleep). At least Petrino had the guts to get the hell out when it wasn’t working and the Falcons are better off. Zimmer needs to grow up.
DirtyBird
October 20th, 2010
10:20 pm
@ Please STFU, Falcons “Fans”,
Rich Rod did not walk into the owners office, look the boss’ eye, shake his hand and say ‘I’m your man’. Then less than 24 hours later scream ‘pig suey’ with the rest of the inbred fans in his press conference. The Falcons were already going through enough with their franchise QB throwing his life away. Then this unscrupulous a-hat pulls a Baltimore Colts. Since Jerry Jones help facilitate Petrino going to Arkansas, maybe he can hire him to run the Cowboys when Wade Phillips is fired. That would be sweet.
scott
October 20th, 2010
10:27 pm
my Atlanta falcons(the only thing i still love about the atlanta area)has had its share of lumps…but this year i expect great things from them..a very talented bunch…LOOK FOR THE FALCONS TO BE IN THE SUPER BOWL THIS YEAR!!!YEAH I SAID IT!!!
Hunk Erdown
October 20th, 2010
10:31 pm
Please STFU…
Its laughable that you’re calling people dumb when you’re too stupid to even get the point of the discussion. No one is pining to get Petrino back. No one is saying that He was a good coach or had much of a future in Atlanta. Certainly the franchise is better without him, but all that has nothing to do with Zimmer’s comments.
Zimmer and the other asst. coaches were made promises and uprooted their families, who depended on them to survive, to follow Petrino to Atlanta. Petrino dumped on them and left them scrambling, in a very tough economy, to fend for themselves. No warning or “heads up”, just left like a coward when things got tough.
I can imagine that Zimmer also felt it was necessary to let everyone know that he had nothing to do with Petrino’s decision, since it was never widely publicized how he or the other coaches felt about it. I would want to separate myself from Petrino as far as possible.
As a fan I can say good riddance, we’re better off, etc. etc. and at the same time say that Petrino is a scumbag for how he handled the situation.
Please STFU, Falcons "Fans"
October 20th, 2010
10:43 pm
Thanks, Hunk Erdown. You made my point with your last sentence. You’re better off and sound retarded rehashing the point 3 years after the fact.
And as for the “too stupid to get the point”, Zimmer is a nobody looking to leverage the Auburn/Arkansas game from last weekend to get people talking about him. Obviously it worked since DOL wasted this bandwidth (and presumably newsprint) on his comments. I get where you’re probably still butthurt that he walked into Athens and beat UGA this year, but stick to the topic please, Capt. Provincial.
XOXO
October 20th, 2010
10:44 pm
i heart mike zimmer
Brave Observer
October 20th, 2010
10:53 pm
I don’t even care about a Bobby Patrino but just the mention of that name makes me angry. So those Jim Mora Jr.
JRFalcons09
October 20th, 2010
10:56 pm
I still hate Bobby Petrino and always will for dipping out on us that season. As a fan i thought wow can it get any worse than this. So i will always root against petrino and cheer for anyone who speaks bad about him… GO FALCONS!!!!
Whopper Dawg
October 20th, 2010
11:08 pm
True that. As classless an act as I have ever witnessed. The only loyalty that act showed was to himself. It does not speak well of Arkansas that they hired that dude. They will live to regret it.
girl know better than you
October 20th, 2010
11:20 pm
THE SEC IS FULL OF GUTLESS WONDERS BUT PETRINO TAKES THE CAKE..when a coach sticks around because of his character when it is so easy to take off in the middle of the night with a suitcase full of money, it is almost a rarity. Noone can be as big of a gutless piece of ____ as Petrino but I was even disappointed to see Kelly walk out on his undefeated team at Cincinnati before the bowl game to coach ND. It broke those kids hearts who played their hearts out for him and that was the thanks they got. Notre Dame can recruit on its name it didn’t need Kelly that fast. Kelly should have “Man UP” and told ND he could not leave his players until after the bowl game. I mean my God what was he thinking. It would be like the Boise coach doing the same thing before his players get a chance at the brass ring at the end of the season. Could you be anymore of a coward?
Why cannot coaches think about other lives involved before such actions? Saban is quilty as well and will not admit it either although not as bad. Kiffin, what a joke. Shame on Spurrier for trying to steal the GT players when CPJ was coming on board. That is also a cowardly act.
CPJ by the way was high on Auburn’s list and ND also contacted him in 09. but whatever you think about him, the man is not a coward hauling @ss.
DHD
October 20th, 2010
11:31 pm
What he said.
Hunk Erdown
October 20th, 2010
11:44 pm
Zimmer got a microphone stuck in his face and was asked about his feelings on Petrino leaving Atlanta like he did. Zimmer didn’t comment on Auburn-Arkansas, and it had nothing to do with Arkansas-UGA. In fact, his comments had nothing to do with where Petrino went or football games at all. It was about a man’s character and responsibility to people who’s very livleyhood depended on him. They weren’t depending on him to win the super bowl, it had nothing to do with football at all other than that was how they were all employed. According to Zimmer, families had there lives ruined because when the job got tough Petrino left like a thief in the night. Zimmer wanted people to know that he was not part of Petrino’s decision. Did people’s lives really get ruined? I don’t know… but it was a cowardly and rotten way for Petrino to act, and it definately had a severe and adverse effect on a lot of people; I don’t mean players, but coaches and staff.
ATL Fan
October 20th, 2010
11:52 pm
Maybe Petrino and Saban can coach the Dallas Cowboys.