Pete
Fiutak
Q: Would you take Ryan Perrilloux on your team?
A: Maybe I
missed it, but did Perrilloux get charged with raping anyone? Drugs? How
about assault and battery? Well, there was the incident outside of a
night club, but he wasn't charged with anything. Did he get nailed with
steroids? Gun charges? Leaving the toilet seat up? Using a fake ID to
get into a casino? Well, yeah on the last one, but I can't exactly throw
stones at that glass house. I had a mustache on mine.
Fine, so he's a doorknob who might not be the brightest bulb on the
Christmas tree, blowing his big shot at leading a national title
contender by not going to class and missing some workouts, but it's not
like he's been nailed with doing anything horrifically bad compared to
some past players who ended up getting another shot like Willie Williams
or Lawrence Phillips.
He's also one of the most talented quarterbacks in college football.
If I'm an all-timer of a head coach, like a Bobby Bowden or a Joe
Paterno, I'll take Perrilloux because even if he fails, my reputation is
fine. I'm trying to save a kid's career.
If I'm a rising head coach, like a Brian Kelly at Cincinnati, I'll roll
the dice and hope I can catch lightning in a bottle. This is a talented
enough kid to take my program from good to great.
If I'm a coach of a lousy team, I'll take Perrilloux in a heartbeat.
What do I have to lose? Oh yeah, my integrity and my reputation, but
again, the guy is really, really good.
So this might not be the right attitude to take when it comes to
pampered, spoiled athletes who always get their own way and never have
to pay for their mistakes. Again, it's not like he's a felon or a wanton
criminal, he's a pampered, spoiled athlete. Sorry, but so are most of
the superstars in the history of sports, with almost all masked by a
great PR department.
So go ahead and feign your righteous indignation. Deep down, you really
want to win, and if you don't there's someone else out there waiting to
do it for you. College football is about winning, and if you don't
believe that, ask the coaches who get canned even though they graduate
84% of their players.
And by the way, Rhett Bomar is also welcome on my team.
Richard
Cirminiello
Q: Would you take Ryan Perrilloux on your team?
A:
Not even if he paid his own way and arrived gift wrapped.
Ryan Perrilloux wasn’t a kid that made a mistake, the kind that can be
chalked up to youthful indiscretion and overcome with a stretch of good
behavior. Those types of cases occur every year and in most programs
without notoriety. No, Perrilloux was a problem of a different kind, a
repeat offender that thumbed his nose at the LSU program with no
indication that his juvenile behavior was about to change. Sure, he’s
as physically gifted as any quarterback in the country, but to be the
total package, you’ve got to be all there above the neck as well as
below it. That’s especially true when you’re the quarterback, the face
of the program. In the case of Perrilloux, history indicates that his
next transgression would be a matter of “when” not “if”. In a team
sport, that’s way too much risk associated with a young man who’s proven
to be a ticking time bomb for years. Maybe the next time he blows it,
it’s the night before SEC title game, or he takes a few impressionable
teammates down the wrong path with him.
Hey, Perrilloux might be a great kid, a misunderstood star who’s a few
lessons of tough love from being on the straight and narrow. I don’t
know. I’ve never met him. What I do know is that he’s shown a pattern
of behavior that’s potentially destructive to the fabric of a team. How
do you preach discipline and a team concept with a player like
Perrilloux sitting in the locker room? How do you avoid waking up in a
cold sweat wondering where No.11 is with Alabama looming on the
schedule? The risk outweighs the reward for players, such as Perrilloux.
If I’m a head coach, I’d rather spend my energy developing a quarterback
that has a little more respect for his teammates and his university.
John
Harris
Q: Would you take Ryan Perrilloux on your team?
A: If
I'm as good of a coach as I think I am, I should believe that I can
win without him. I don't need to sell my soul-I'm good enough and my
team is as well.
If I'm not a good coach, then it won't matter anyway.
Matthew
Zemek
Q: Would you take Ryan Perrilloux on your team?
A:
No, and all credit to Les Miles, being the
standup individual he generally is, for not putting up with him any
longer. Miles has had to endure many slings and arrows, so he deserves
hearty applause for saying enough is enough.
We would do well to remember Lawrence Phillips at Nebraska. Yeah, it's
easy to trot out the old "this man needs football in order to grow"
defense, but when violent actions (as opposed to nonviolent ones) are
involved, the playing of football should be seen as a young man's
forfeited privilege, not as his desperately needed tonic.
Well done, Les Miles. Well done.
