DrunkBomber Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Last off-season, one person familiar with Atlanta’s coaching search said Falcons owner Arthur Blank wanted to hire 49ers assistant head coach Mike Singletary while general manager Rich McKay preferred Bobby Petrino. Almost a year later, now that Petrino has bolted from Atlanta to Arkansas, the Falcons have another head coaching decision to make. All signs point to Singletary becoming the Falcons' next head coach. Mike Singletary will be one of the most coveted head coaching candidates this coming off-season. Atlanta cannot ask permission to interview Singletary until after San Francisco plays its last game, Sunday Dec. 30, at Cleveland. Once the game and the 49ers season is complete, Blank can seek permission to interview Singletary for the second time in a year. It is expected that he will. Singletary could be just the coach the Falcons need to save their locker room and help endear the team to the city. He is respected as a man and a coach, and he already has Blank’s approval. While it waits, Atlanta could try to interview former coaches not under contract. Included on that list is former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, former Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer, former Cardinals coach Dennis Green, former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci, and former Falcons coach Dan Reeves. But even now, Singletary is considered the leader in the clubhouse for a team that has been forced to make way too many coaching changes. Since 2003, the Falcons head coaches have been Reeves, Wade Phillips, Jim Mora Jr., Bobby Petrino and now Emmitt Thomas, the defensive backs coach that took over as Atlanta’s interim head coach Wednesday. Blank knows he needs a coach with ability that will afford his organization stability. Petrino was not the coach. Petrino repeatedly was asked about the possibility of returning to the college game, a theory that had been floating around the NFL for weeks, and when he was, he sounded like Nick Saban. "I haven't given it one bit of thought," Petrino said last month. "I certainly don't want to get into any speculation and rumors and having to deal with that. I'm focused on our football team here.” Here’s one reason why Petrino was so miserable in Atlanta and why he left. In his four seasons at Louisville, Petrino led the school to a 41-9 record. In 13 games in Atlanta, Petrino lost 10 games –- one more than he had in four years at Louisville. It is no wonder that he wound up in Arkansas on Tuesday night. Watching Arkansas fans salute Petrino and his family with the school’s “Woo Pig Souey” chant less than 24 hours after Petrino presided over a Monday night loss to the Saints was surreal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iguana Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Petrino's a punk bitch and I hope he fails miserably for his classes way he handled this. But good for Samuri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flea Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 less than 1 season & he quits?? Pussy never get another NFL shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brletich Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 less than 1 season & he quits?? Pussy never get another NFL shot He didn't even bother to tell his players he was leaving...what a joke. I hope Samuri gets it, though I would LOVE to have him coach the Bears. That is a pipe dream however...for some reason the Bears like to alienate themselves from the '85 team. Big mistake in my book to do that to some of your team's biggest heros... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearsFan Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Hey Drunk: How about incuding the link when you paste a story. Some of us want to check out the source. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoBear Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 A link would be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connorbear Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 He didn't even bother to tell his players he was leaving...what a joke. I hope Samuri gets it, though I would LOVE to have him coach the Bears. That is a pipe dream however...for some reason the Bears like to alienate themselves from the '85 team. Big mistake in my book to do that to some of your team's biggest heros... Petrino showed absolutely no class with his action. I would love to see Samurai get the job. I don't think the Bears would avoid hiring a member of the 85 team to the coaching staff as long as they are qualified (remember Dent served as a D Line assistant coach for a few yrs). I don't want to see them hire some from the 85 team just because of the past glory (I'm sure you feel the same way). I'm sure if the circumstances presented themselves, Samurai would get an interview. Right now, however, we don't have an opening. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Controlled Chaos Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/story?id=090...mp;confirm=true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azbearsfan Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 I can't believe he just left a note. Has anyone ever done that before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_|_ Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 I can't believe he just left a note. Has anyone ever done that before? my ex-wife I'm surprised Mike hasn't had his shot sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 I got to say that I find this whole thing hillarious. I wouldn't find it hillarious if it happened to the Bears but the whole Falcons drama cracks me up (between the whole Vick saga and now Petrino). Petrino is a quitter who gave up but he is also make a stupid decision because he is giving up a whole lot of green to go back into college (so I guess you can't say he's leaving Atlanta for the money, although it was evident that is the reason he went there). Petrino is as slimy as they come and it is too bad he'll probably lure a good number of gullible, talented athletes to go play at Arkansas only for him to be long gone by the time they actually get to the school (which is why I think it is shear crap that an athlete who went to a school in large part because of who the coach was, can't immediately transfer and play in the same season at another school in the instance that the coach that recruited you left). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 I do wish Samuri Mike the best of success if he gets the job. At least the owner is committed to giving the franchise the resources to win (ie money). They just need to better spend those resources and be extremely patient as the team lacks a franchise QB, RB, Wr's, and much of a defense. Quite frankly the Falcons may actually be a bigger mess than the Dolphins or Niners (Niners do have a good nucleus of young talent, it just isn't quite ready for the big time). If I were Singletary I'd hope like hell that a better job opened up and that I was able to get that position as opposed to the Falcons one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkBomber Posted December 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Hey Drunk: How about incuding the link when you paste a story. Some of us want to check out the source. . The link has been in Mike Singletarys name the whole time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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