There is a little stone tablet that was created by the Man upstairs called the Ten Commandments that explicitly states in the seventh commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” That means a lot. It matters to people of faith and there are a lot of them in this country. In that regard, Bobby Petrino not only broke a sacred trust with his wife and children, which is a terrible travesty, but also with the Lord. You may think I sound evangelical about it, and maybe I am, but I believe once you make a commitment to your wife, you’re told by God not to betray that commitment, not under any circumstances. I don’t know the circumstances of Bobby Petrino’s marriage, it hasn’t been detailed anywhere, but there is no excuse for infidelity. He cheated and deceived people in so many ways, but mainly his wife and children, and the sacred trust that is explicitly laid out in the Bible.
His past was questionable enough. The “Jetgate” scandal in which a couple of Auburn trustees flew up to the University of Louisville to try to get him to become the head coach at Auburn while Tommy Tuberville was coaching in 2003. He betrayed the trust of the school where he was coaching, and he betrayed Tuberville, who had employed him as his offensive coordinator before Petrino landed the Louisville head job.

Then it was the Atlanta Falcons, whom he left 13 games into the 2007 season, to become the head coach at Arkansas. I’m not saying the NFL cannot be a total pain in the neck because some of the players are uncontrollable, but to do that to your owner with whom you told earlier in the day that you were staying, is a total betrayal of trust. He has a track record of being amazingly untrustworthy. But this topped it off and was the most egregious error of his unethical track record.

I know Mike Dubose and Rick Pitino had affairs, long term and one night stands, and kept their jobs. They shouldn’t have. They should have been fired immediately afterwards. I’m glad there is someone who was willing to stand up for integrity for once. Society has become too permissive of people’s bad behavior, particularly athletes and coaches. All because they win. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun somehow got out of his performance enhancing drug charge by Major League baseball and a 50 game suspension this season because two of the arbitrators in the case let him off. His is a recent example that comes to mind. O.J. Simpson is the most abhorrent case of injustice in modern times. “The glove doesn’t fit you must acquit” was an acting job by an unethical lawyer and the guy walked. Fortunately, he’s back in jail where he belongs. I don’t believe Orenthal has a very good shot at making it to Heaven.

I know there are other things Petrino did. He lied about the girl being on the motorcycle with him, hired her in the football office over 150+ other applicants and paid her $20,000 as a “gift.” But the affair to me is the most telling of the guy’s character and his integrity. It should have been punished and punished severely. And fortunately this time it was. He got exactly what he deserved. It’s nice and optimistic that someone or a group of people stood up for the right thing to do. I just feel terrible for his wife and kids who have had to suffer through this public humiliation, and, worse, have lost total trust in their husband and father. In my opinion, the guy does not deserve to be coaching for quite a while, a year, maybe two. I don’t even know if the NFL will take him. Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank has to have spread the word that this guy cannot be trusted and is not an honorable guy. With the latest New Orleans Saints incident against Sean Payton, his coaches and players, may think this guy is not a guy you want on your sideline. He may be hired as an assistant in the future in the NFL, I’m sure he has connections and friends in the league, or he may get a job at a smaller school in college. But he needs to be out of football for at least a year. Let him pay the price for his repeated cheating and lying.

Who will Arkansas hire? Garrick McGee, though I would hate it for UAB, would be a logical choice. He was an excellent offensive coordinator for the Razorbacks for the last two years and knows quarterback Tyler Wilson, running back Knile Davis and wide receiver Cobi Hamilton, very well. They trust him. He’s an excellent offensive football coach and there are coaches in place whom he has worked with for four years. They have the players to have a very good year, though I don’t think they can beat S. But what about McGee’s loyalty to Bobby Petrino? He really showed his admiration for Petrino in his press conference upon being hired as UAB’s head coach. Is he trustworthy in the long run?  McGee would probably be a good choice. McGee has a DUI in his past, in 2006 when he was 33 and coaching at Northwestern as an assistant, but he seems to have gotten through that and is a solid guy right now. McGee could be a good choice, but he has no head coaching experience. I think he’ll be a very good head coach. He may need the experience at UAB before he takes on a job the magnitude of Arkansas. Personally, I hope he stays on the Southside. I think he has great potential and would be terrific for the Blazers’ program. Gus Malzahn is another name that’s come up. Possible. No head coaching experience there either though, and his last year at Auburn was not the successful offensively. Somewhat of a disaster really. Butch Davis is another guy, but he has a very questionable reputation from his stint at North Carolina recently. It looked like he was running a rogue program there Jimmy Johnson is a name that’s interesting. I think he would be a pretty good choice, but his character to me is a little questionable, too. Jon Gruden of course come up. When has Jon Gruden not been mentioned in a coaching search? He’s a good commentator on Monday Night football and he had good success in the NFL, but he did get fired by Tampa Bay, so he’s not perfect. Some people in Arkansas will want a slam dunk hire and a couple of these guys could fit that description. But they need a guy who will win and WILL be an honorable guy. As a matter of fact, we need many more honorable guys in the athletic world.  There are guys out there like Tim Tebow and others who are, like newly crowned Masters champion Bubba Watson, who says his religious faith and his family are his first priorities. But many, including coaches, are not honorable. That needs to change. Arkansas need to hire a guy who has character and, of course, can win. Can’t ever forget the winning part can we? It seems to trump everything else for sports fans. Personally, I think you can do both. There’s no weakness in being honest. It’s a strength. You can be a strong personality when you have to be and you can also have character. It’s been done by a lot of people and it’s just not that hard.

It took AD Jeff Long some time to make the decision. I’m wondering if he was brokering a deal with another coach. It’ll be interesting to see if Long goes ahead and pulls the trigger, or waits until after spring ball and finds a coach.

Meanwhile, who knows what will happen to Petrino. I don’t know if his wife will have him back. She shouldn’t, though it’s hard for me to say how she feels about her husband. She may love him and want to stay married to him and work things out. He’s got a lot of work ahead of him to repair his relationship with his wife and kids. Then he can start thinking about coaching again. He needs to get out of his selfish fishbowl and step up and be a man and take care of his family. I’m not sure he’s capable.