Ever told a candidate they had 24 hours to accept your offer of employment? You probably will before your career is over based on a number of factors...
By now, you have probably heard more than enough about the NFL's Atlanta Falcons. Mike Vick gets caught up in a web of dog-fighting and violations of his bond conditions, and gets sent away for at least two years. The Atlanta Falcons go into a tailspin without their best player and amidst a sea of negative media attention.
Couldn't get worse. Right? Wrong...
The first year head coach of the Falcons, Bobby Petrino, just left the Falcons effective immediately (they
have three games left in the season) to become the new head coach at Arkansas. This was Petrino's first year with the Falcons, and he thought he was walking into the NFL with Vick as his quarterback, which obviously didn't happen.
Petrino's getting blasted in the press and rightfully so. He's being labeled as a coward who left others behind when leadership was needed, etc. A quick review of Petrino's track record indicates some questions on the integrity front. Years ago, he met a plane full of Auburn trustees to discuss the Auburn job while they still had a coach (not received well by the coaching fraternity). Shortly after signing a 10-year contract with Louisville, he started talks with the Falcons and eventually left to join the NFL Franchise. Now, he moves to Arkansas, his third job in less than a year.
So much for honoring contracts or sticking it out...
Leaving the Falcons the same week as Vick is sentenced looks bad. But take a look at Arkansas, the job Petrino's moving to, in order to determine why it happened this way.
Colleges HATE being told no by candidates for their open coaching positions. The rejections by coaches that colleges pursue for openings are always public, and the result is maximum frustration in the alumni network (We're a premier program! Why can't our administration get anyone to take the job?!). As a result of this frustration/egg-on-the-face factor, college programs are beginning to leverage candidates any way they can.
Which brings me back to the concept of having 24 hours to accept an offer. There's no question in my mind that Arkansas, after being rejected by a couple of candidates, talked to Petrino's agent and offered him the job - with one big condition. He couldn't wait until the end of the season to accept, they needed the acceptance now, so that they could get on with the press conference. And once it was announced, Petrino knew he would lose even more control of the Falcons.
So he took the easy way out. He resigned from the Falcons and took the first Greyhound out of town, leaving this letter for the players he didn't talk to in person about his decision. Nice...
I'm not defending Petrino. He should have stuck it out and then looked for a job if that was his intent. Just know that sometimes when you hate the player (or coach in this circumstance), you sometimes have to hate the game as well.
Offer letters, set to self-destruct, can make people make bad decisions. Especially when the star is behind bars. Arthur Blank and the Falcons will ultimately look for signs of integrity (or lack thereof) in their search for a new head coach...
If Petrino's contract contained an at-will provision then both parties knew it. Like in most cases, it is doubtful that the employer would hesitate to end the agreement without notice. The rampant whining about this speaks of a socialist spirit among American employers. Capitalism is great! Get used to it.
Posted by: Toney Holcombe | December 20, 2007 at 06:27 PM