Careful Hiring Can Prevent Smoldering Crises

Want a crisis in your football program? Bobby Petrino might be available to coach soon.

When he was at the University of Louisville, Petrino signed a multi-year contract, saying he wanted his children to grow up there. Yet he interviewed secretly with Auburn behind the back of Coach Tommy Tuberville, who was formerly his boss. A few weeks after signing his Louisville extension, he broke that contract and took the head coaching job with the NFL Atlanta Falcons. After he left, U of L suspended a bunch of players for illegal and inappropriate behaviors. The program now is clean, but it has never returned to national prominence on the field.

The Falcons were bad under Petrino. With three games to play in his first year there, he left a note in the locker room to say he was taking a coaching job at the University of Arkansas. The Falcons never saw him again.

Petrino had great on-field success at Arkansas, as he did in Louisville. The team went 21-5 in the last two years and made its first BCS bowl appearance in the 2011 Sugar Bowl. Yea, Petrino!

Ah, but wait. He  hired 25-year-old Jessica Dorell to his staff last week without making his superiors aware that he had a relationship with her. When he had a motorcycle accident, he left out the fact that Dorell was riding with him. When that news ultimately hit the fan, he had to apologize to his wife, his four kids who he wanted to raise in Louisville, the athletic department, the university, the fans, and all of Arkansas for having an admitted "inappropriate relationship" with this woman half his age.

"The question is whether his on-field success will insulate him from what is a messy scandal that is really just beginning. (Athletics Director Jeff) Long will be the one providing the answer. He said he will conduct an internal review after citing trust as an important part of his relationship with Petrino. Trust issues could be a big hurdle for the coach."  (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/post/2012/04/arkansas-bobby-petrino-future-suspension/1)

The old cliche is winning isn't everything. That's never been more true than it is in the Arkansas football program. Petrino has a record of dissing his employers. We all make mistakes. But Petrino has more than enough strikes to be called out. He is now suspended -- but with pay.
 
"Bobby Petrino isn't the first person caught cheating. He certainly won't be the last."
 
Unfortunately, true. All of us need to be careful about the backgrounds of the people we hire. That's part of crisis prevention. Arkansas, do the right thing and undo your mistake four years ago. Get rid of this freak show.