Coaches Behaving Badly

If you know anything about me, you know I'm a proud Arkansas Razorback fan.

True, I didn't go to college there, but if you're born in Arkansas, you have no choice but to support the Hogs. It's how you are raised. If you're lucky.

So it's no secret that the recently revived football program has taken a black eye over the head coach and married, father of four Bobby Petrino's secret relationship with a 25-year-old former university volleyball player that he put on the payroll.

The dirty laundry was aired out after the pair wrecked on a country road outside Fayetteville.

There is debate within Razorback nation whether Petrino should have been fired since his indiscretions were non-football related. Athletic Director Jeff Long fired him "for cause" (i.e. keeping a relationship secret and lying about it when he has a morality cause in his contract).

This fan feels that Long acted appropriately.

The team already gets downed during recruiting for Petrino's decision to abandon the Atlanta Falcons during midseason for the Arkansas job. I don't think they could've survived this.

There is no doubt he lost the locker room with this little stunt. It's better to have an interim coach who can have some order than a proven coach with players who have no respect for him or his decisions.

The consensus is that Petrino is not a good person. His work history certainly seems to demonstrate this notion. A lot of fans can stomach that when you're winning. But even winning only gets you so far.

Speaking of coaches who made mistakes and have now been cast aside.....

Oh, where to start with the New Orleans Saints. Head Coach Sean Payton's willful ignorance of former Defensive Coordinator Greg Williams' bounty program?

The remaining coaching staff's audacity to appeal their suspensions (including Payton's season-long ban and newly minted interim coach Joe Vitt's five game ouster)?

Or the incredibly damning audio that surfaced of Williams encouraging his players to target heads on players with concussion history and tear ACLs in players' knees?

It baffles me that any fans could be upset about this.

The argument that the game is fast, hard hitting, and all coaches encourage their defenses to be aggressive doesn't apply in this sense. Williams paid money to his players for big hits or injuries to opposition. He encouraged players to try and end careers.

It's disgusting. And it looks like the only career that was ended by all of this was his. Fortunately.

And in a society that doesn't believe in consequences anymore, I'm glad the NFL is trying to send a message. Because changing the culture of the game to reduce dangerous concussions will be met with opposition and growing pains.

Ones that make the aches in north Arkansas seem minuscule by comparison.

But these coaches on two different levels of the game have paid for their arrogance.