Dan's Even More Instant Replay

Integrity in coaching is a dying concept. College athletes are limited in their options if they want to leave a school. They can either transfer to another school in the same classification(like going from Georgia to Georgia Tech) and sit out a year, or transfer to a school in a lower classification (like going from Georgia to Georgia Southern) so they can play immediately. Professional athletes can sit out and not get paid or harm their public image obnoxiously lobbying to get traded or released. So why is it that coaches, the leaders of men, allowed to break a contract without much of, or any, penalty?

The Bobby Petrino mess has been talked to death in this town. The Falcons hired Jacksonville Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith to be their new head coach. Smith's apparent choice to be his defensive coordinator is Brian VanGorder. VanGorder has local ties having spent four years as the defensive coordinator at Georgia and spent last season as the linebackers coach for the Falcons. Those ties make him a logical candidate for the job. There is only one problem. VanGorder has agreed to be the Defensive Coordinator at South Carolina. An agreement that made barely a month ago.

Looking at VanGorder's record, he makes Bobby Petrino look like Joe Paterno. In January 2005 VanGorder became the Linebackers coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Since then he has had five jobs. He spent a year in Jacksonville, a year as the Head Coach at Georgia Southern, a year with the Falcons, a month with South Carolina and now apparently he's taken the DC position with the Falcons.

Arthur Blank would be a hypocrite if he allows VanGorder back on the coaching staff of the football team he owns. If Arthur Blank is going to stand in front of a podium and say that he feels "stabbed in the back" how can he hire a coach with arguably less integrity than Bobby Petrino.

Steve Spurrier isn't exactly a sympathetic figure, especially in these parts. However, it would be incredibly wrong of Mr. Blank to treat Spurrier the way that Arkansas treated him.
Arthur Blank is a man who carries him self with class and integrity. His coaches should be held to the same standard.

Be sure to listen to my show "The Instant Replay" Wednesdays from 8-9pm and Saturdays from 1-2pm only on Radio Sandy Springs.