Lights, camera, action! Petrino wants you to know he’s sorry (UPDATED with video)
Unfortunately, Petrino won't be wearing neck brace tonight. (AP)
(Updated with link to ESPN story and video below)
So of the least-enviable jobs tasks imaginable, where would “Bobby Petrino-image repair rank”? North of Barry Bonds (post-[alleged]-steroid use) but south of BP (post-oil spill)?
Petrino has agreed to/orchestrated his first television interview since a somewhat comical motorcycle crash and face plant exposed his affair with an Arkansas subordinate and submarined both his career and his personal life. (Not his reputation. That already was a wreck.)
Petrino recently sat down with ESPN’s Joe Schad. The interview will air sometime tonight during the 6 p.m. Sportscenter. Maybe the Falcons for a chuckle to loosen up before their exhibition game against Baltimore. It totally should be on the big screen at the Georgia Dome.
According to Schad, Petrino appears both “remorseful” and “apologetic.” Both emotions would, of course, qualify as precedent-setting.
The funniest description I’ve seen of this interview came from the blog site Arkansasexpats, which wrote, “This is arguably the most anticipated interview in Arkansas history since Barbara Walters scored the first sit-down with Monica Lewinsky in 1999.”
Bobby Petrino. Monica Lewinsky. Perfect.
(Update: Here’s a link to ESPN’s story on the interview. A video excerpt is below. One of the money quotes: “Instead of standing on the sideline with [Arkansas players], I’m going to be sitting on the living room couch, watching them. And I just can’t believe I screwed up so bad.”)
“I’ll be a better coach because this happened, because I’ll coach the person and not just the player,” Petrino said in the interview, according to SB Nation. “I have a better understanding of what life is really about. Put your energy into people that love you and count on you.”
Sounds great. He should put that on a plaque.
Petrino has not spoken publicly since his firing but his temp replacement John L. Smith said at SEC media days that the two spoke last month.
Here’s the reality: Petrino knows his reputation has been soiled. No NFL team would touch him. At this point you wonder what major college program would touch him. He has a reputation for job-hopping, lying, manipulating and leaving wreckage in the rear-view mirror.
With the Falcons, he showed himself to be a coward. What happened at Arkansas was even worse because his affair with an underling exposed a public university to considerable damages (not to mention what the scandal did to the players).
Petrino won’t be speaking to you tonight. Nothing personal, but he really doesn’t care about you. He will be speaking to college presidents and athletic directors, whom he will try to convince that he is a changed man. (Or a man at all.)
But we judge people by actions, not words, and there are lot of actions to overcome. A TV interview doesn’t qualify as a cleansing.
•
Some previous blogs on my favorite guy, Bobby Petrino
– Arkansas living with deserved humiliation after Petrino firing
– Petrino saga explained in Taiwan cartoon
– Arkansas had no choice but to fire Petrino
– Arkansas fans should be ashamed of themselves
•
ESPN video
By Jeff Schultz
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177 comments Add your comment
Bhorsoft
August 9th, 2012
3:51 pm
Future coach of Georgia Regents College!
It's raining here
August 9th, 2012
3:52 pm
My 3PM appointment just walked in and they smell like rotten garbage.
Styles
August 9th, 2012
3:53 pm
Almost got himself killed for a piece. You should get fired for that.
N
August 9th, 2012
3:55 pm
That’s right! Git him!!!
~piggly wiggly~
August 9th, 2012
3:58 pm
Is Petrino also “sorry” for leaving a four-sentence laminated note at the locker of each Falcon player before he skipped town during his 3-10 campaign?
Sid
August 9th, 2012
3:58 pm
Enjoyed the read Jeff. It would be ok with me if nobody hired him for another 20 years…….maybe he can be the greeter at Walmart.
~piggly wiggly~
August 9th, 2012
4:06 pm
A nice unknown woman waved someone down to help
Petrino after his viagra wore off.
DawgNole
August 9th, 2012
4:14 pm
Bob Jr.
August 9th, 2012
3:50 pm
Ok, DawgNole, the article was written in Atlanta by an Atlanta writer. Anything Petrino did prior to coming to ATL obviously wasn’t a problem because the Falcons offered him a head coaching job.
For most people in ATL their point of reference is his infamous tenure as the Falcons coach.
Obviously, there are other factors, but I was referencing one. Nothing I wrote suggets that his issues were limited to the Falcons problem.
Try to relax. Maybe read a self-help book. Try to be less ironic when you call people “lamebrain.”
Also, study up on irony. It’s a key literary device.
_______________________
You’re wrong again, ironically. Obviously what he did prior to coming to ATL indeed was a problem. His ATL performance simply continued his well-established pattern of questionable behavior. You cited his ATL issues in your pompous scolding of those of us who would judge him. Let me repeat: he’s being judged here on far more than what he did in ATL alone.
Do you get it now? Probably not, ironically.
Skeezix
August 9th, 2012
4:24 pm
What a jerk this liar is and ESPN is doing us all a disservice by giving him airtime, but of course ESPN knows it’ll increase ratings. Why don’t these kind of jerks just go away and crawl under a rock somewhere forever? They have no shame. The worst part is some college somewhere will probably hire him and he knows it.
I plan not to watch it.
Really?
August 9th, 2012
4:26 pm
He’s never come clean on the bike ‘accident’ (i.e., wasn’t one, his main squeeze girlfriend’s fiancee beat him when he found out). What a dick…
Peter
August 9th, 2012
4:38 pm
It took him 50+ years and a getting busted having an affair to figure out what life is all about? What an idiotic d-bag.
Gee how could anyone have said it better ?
Pitiful Petrino
August 9th, 2012
4:38 pm
Hey! What would have done…did you see her? She was smoking hot and I owned it!
Damn motorcycle…screwed up everything!
Bob Jr.
August 9th, 2012
4:40 pm
No, I’m pretty sure most people are referring to his abandonment of the Falcons in 2007.
Whatever happened before that is relevant, but not to me.
Much like you, DawgNole. Irrelevant.
Dr. J.
August 9th, 2012
4:52 pm
Hilarious!!!! I love the fact that he relies on his “faith”. Reminds me of Mark Richt. These coaches are all losers. Where’s a Bear Bryant when you need one?
Dan Cathy
August 9th, 2012
4:56 pm
Bobby ought to go on TV and say something negative about the gays.
Everybody in the SEC will fall in love with him all over again.
Mark Richt might even propose to him.
chuck
August 9th, 2012
4:56 pm
Hey Jeff and some others. How long are you going to hate on Petrino. You are not hurting Petrino, you are only hurting yourselves with all the hate. I guess you folks have never made a mistake. Must be nice to be perfect.
Hillbilly D
August 9th, 2012
5:07 pm
He will be speaking to college presidents and athletic directors, whom he will try to convince that he is a changed man.
And in a couple, three years, somebody, somewhere will bite and hire him. That’s the reality of big-time college sports.
Mike Bobo 17 INT
August 9th, 2012
5:09 pm
He got what he deserves…..
Well
August 9th, 2012
5:11 pm
“Bobby will be the HC at auburn in 2014 if not 2013.”
UGAG needs him more since UGAG hasn’t been relevant since 1980.
r cagle
August 9th, 2012
5:11 pm
Wrong, Jeff. The perpetrator sleeze bag matchup is Bobby Petrino and Bill Clinton. Monica Lewinsky was just another victim of the latter.
JSS
August 9th, 2012
5:13 pm
“I’ll be a better coach because this happened, because I’ll coach the person and not just the player,” Petrino said in the interview, according to SB Nation. “I have a better understanding of what life is really about. Put your energy into people that love you and count on you.”
Please let Liberty or Bob Jones University hire that buffoon and I can die a happy man! Snakes serve a purpose (in nature), that cretin serves none (like certain AJC bloggers) but to serve as witness of real life hubris looks like!
Well
August 9th, 2012
5:14 pm
UGAG logic: Auburn will hire Booby and fire Chizik.
Booby never got close to playing for a national championship. Chizik actually won one.
Well
August 9th, 2012
5:14 pm
” Monica Lewinsky was just another victim of the latter.”
Hardly a victim.
NCBravesFan
August 9th, 2012
5:16 pm
Petrino wept.
Jackson
August 9th, 2012
5:21 pm
Desperation for success will lead someone to hire him, regardless of baggage. He may have learned a lesson, short term, long term your colors always show. He will be successful again, then the arrogance will come back. I hope not for his family’s sake. But, a snake is a snake.
JSS
August 9th, 2012
5:22 pm
BS Bob Jr. and types like you! I said it on the day the Falcons hired him (urged on by the likes of John Kincaid) that they were making a pact with the real version of that imaginary Devil so many of you are scared of!!! Requested my season ticket refund away and washed my hands of them!
And you nuts still trust Arthur Blank’s judgement!
JSS
August 9th, 2012
5:28 pm
Somewhere old Max Howell is laughing uncontrollably!
Right Wing Bible Thumpin' Gun Nut
August 9th, 2012
5:36 pm
Petrino will be HC at Tennessee in 2013.
Arkansas not fooling me
August 9th, 2012
5:40 pm
Does anybody realize what is happening here? This is all part of Arkansas’ master plan to rebuild his image and come back after the scab John l smith is gone. He has never been fired but is instead on leave. Take that to the bank. Typical chicanery from an SEC school..
Spud Webb
August 9th, 2012
5:50 pm
This guy is something else…no bike accident and this would still be going on!! SCUM BAG
Beast from the East
August 9th, 2012
5:54 pm
Jeff,
He’ll either be coaching at Kentucky or Tennessee next year.
b
August 9th, 2012
6:02 pm
Answer the dang question!
b
August 9th, 2012
6:04 pm
You forgot to mention the engagement he wrecked!
Hillbilly D
August 9th, 2012
6:12 pm
You forgot to mention the engagement he wrecked!
That ol’ boy sure dodged a bullet and I ain’t talking about Petrino.
Petrino wants you to know he
August 9th, 2012
6:14 pm
[...] [...]
thomas
August 9th, 2012
6:25 pm
Enter your comments here
TampaGator
August 9th, 2012
6:26 pm
Beast….
I disagree. I don’t think the SEC comish will let allow him to coach in the SEC again….and I am sure he has already communicated such desire already. I think he will end up out west somewhere……or as an assistant in the NFL. I am wishing his best coaching offer will be in the Arena leagues.
JSS
August 9th, 2012
6:57 pm
Hillbilly, you speak the truth! He should send Putrid a thank you note every April 1st!!! That guy and the Runaway Bride guy missed a sure shot at misery!!!
DawgNole
August 9th, 2012
6:58 pm
Bob Jr.
August 9th, 2012
4:40 pm
No, I’m pretty sure most people are referring to his abandonment of the Falcons in 2007.
Whatever happened before that is relevant, but not to me.
Much like you, DawgNole. Irrelevant.
___________________
Doesn’t matter what you’re sure of, because you’re wrong. How many times do you have to be told, ignoramus. And it also absolutely does not matter whether or not his past is relevant to you–because YOU don’t matter.
His past IS relevant to those on here who are judging him; those to whom you directed your pious sermon. You’d do well to wise up before flapping your gums in a public forum.
Seriously?
August 9th, 2012
7:08 pm
Does this guy really think anyone believes a word that comes out of his mouth? This interview was nothing more than a PR attempt to get back in the game by apologizing and trying to sound contrite. I’ve seen better acting at grade school plays than the bit where he chokes up during the interview. Give me a break, Petrino. Go away…
Slick Willy
August 9th, 2012
7:10 pm
Bobby,
I think you’ve screwed the pooch on the coaching gigs so you probably should just stay in Arkansas. With some acting lessons you ought to consider going into politics or becoming a teevee evangelist. Since the motorcycle didn’t have training wheels I left a well loved and loved in El Camino down there you can have. Still has the padded Astroturf in the bed. Oh, and Cash is King, they were paying you 7 figures, you didn’t have to put her on the payroll. Gotta’ go, Hillary is in Africa an’ I’m gettin’ busy here if ya’ know what I mean.
Ex-Pres & Loving It,
Bill Clinton
Rise UP!!
August 9th, 2012
7:18 pm
Bobby Petrino is no longer a Razorback, but he will Always be a pig!
abby normal
August 9th, 2012
7:18 pm
F…Bobby Petrino. He’s pond scum and I hope he never gets another job in football.
Gordon
August 9th, 2012
8:55 pm
We get it Jeff. You don’t like Bobby Petrino.
Integrity
August 9th, 2012
9:01 pm
People deserve to be forgiven if they are truly remorseful and make amends. They don’t necessarily deserve million-dollar college coaching jobs. Being forgiven does not mean you get back everything you once had before you fudged up. I hope Bobby has a long and successful career coaching at a mid-level high school.
jerry sandusky
August 9th, 2012
9:05 pm
I say the guy deserves a second chance. Speaking of second chance, has anyone seen my old buddy, JoePa, lately?
Ol' Timer
August 9th, 2012
9:22 pm
This ol’ boy is a zero on a ten scale. I wouldn’t trust him in a hen house with a muzzle on. He’ll climb a tree to tell a lie when he could stand on the ground and tell the truth. He’s such an empty suit he doesn’t even cast a shadow when he walks down the street.
native atlantan
August 9th, 2012
9:33 pm
Justice has been served. This man deserved what he created, and for crapping all over the Falcons.
Karma
August 9th, 2012
9:38 pm
Hello, Mr. Petrino…I’m Karma, nice to meet you.
RC--apoi
August 9th, 2012
9:41 pm
Well, I read all these comments and all I got to say is, make one teeny little mistake and they’ll ride you out of town on a rail. I mean, one little motorcyle ride with a
hottie young supporter behind you, one little spin-out, and you’re out on your hind end.