Pro Coaching Career
Petrino's first stint in the NFL was 1999–2001, as he spent two seasons as the quarterbacks coach and a third as offensive coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Petrino was praised as an offensive mastermind. Tom Coughlin, then head coach of the Jaguars, called Petrino “the best play-caller I've ever been around.”
After five seasons as a college assistant and head coach, Petrino returned to the NFL on January 7, 2007, accepting an offer to become the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. His contract in Atlanta paid him $24 million over five years.
Petrino was brought in primarily to make star quarterback Michael Vick into a more complete quarterback. However, before Petrino's first training camp, it emerged that Vick had bankrolled an illegal dog fighting operation near his hometown in Newport News, Virginia. For all intents and purposes, the Falcons' 2007 season ended when Vick was arraigned on federal dog fighting charges on July 26. The terms of Vick's bail barred him from leaving Virginia before the November 26 trial.
With their franchise quarterback effectively sidelined for the season, the Falcons appeared to be a rudderless team. On December 10, 2007, with the Falcons languishing in the NFC South cellar with a 3-10 record, Petrino resigned to take the job at Arkansas. Petrino informed his players of his decision to resign via a four-sentence laminated note left at the locker of each player. This caused some retribution with some of his staff as well, including former defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Zimmer was very outspoken in the media with regards to Petrino's leaving in the middle of the night without communicating with his team or coaches of his decision to leave the Falcons.
Read more about this topic: Bobby Petrino
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