Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

12/9/2010 at 8:50am

Coaches should feel emboldened to leave when they want, just like any of us has the right to stand up from our desks and walk out the door at any moment. We feel the same way about student-athletes to an extent. It might not have made a huge difference, but imagine if Ryan Mallett had been eligible to play games for the Razorbacks immediately after leaving Michigan.

And yeah, that goes for Bobby Petrino. Man, we really don't want to see him leave and if he does, we'll be tempted to cast our pitchforks at the UA administration rather than the man. We've never faulted Petrino for leaving the Atlanta Falcons early, knowing that we've been in jobs before where the best thing to do is get out while the getting is good. If Stephens Media drops by and offers us a $100,000 contract to stalk our old college friends on Facebook, we'd quit before the ArkansasSports360.com Christmas party too.

We mention Petrino because, whaddya know, the Florida Gators head coaching job is now suddenly open. Urban Meyer announced his resignation, saying he was quitting after the Outback Bowl. We sympathized with his plight last season when he quit the first time and couldn't help but have doubts when he came back. It just didn't seem like his heart was in it and he was procrastinating the inevitable. It's as if the Dana Altman affair had gone on for a full year at Creighton instead of just the 24 hours or so it really took.

Coaches deserve the right to resign, just like their employers have the right to fire them after 7-5 seasons. We're just not a fan of the long goodbyes.

Tagged: Bobby Petrino, Florida Gators, Urban Meyer