Falcons taking on Petrino
ATLANTA — Bobby Petrino received plenty of offers during his four years as Louisville coach.
Finally, he got one worth taking.
The Atlanta Falcons lured Petrino away from the college ranks on Sunday, moving quickly to find a new head coach after firing Jim Mora.
A formal announcement was set for Monday afternoon at the Falcons' suburban training complex in Flowery Branch — exactly one week after Mora was let go.
"This is an exciting day for the Atlanta Falcons franchise," owner Arthur Blank said in a statement. "Bobby Petrino is an extremely talented football coach who has done some tremendously innovative things as both an offensive coordinator and head coach."
Mora, who never seemed to get the most out of Michael Vick, will be replaced by a coach who guided high-scoring Louisville to a 12-1 season, capped by a 24-13 victory over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.
The 45-year-old Petrino met briefly with his Louisville players Sunday night to let them know he was leaving for what he feels "is the best job in the National Football League."
"I am excited about the challenge that awaits me in Atlanta, and I'm equally excited about the potential that I see in this team," he said.
His first order of business: getting more production out of Vick. The Falcons star became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards but never seemed comfortable in the West Coast-style system installed by Mora.
This season, the Falcons were last in the league in passing and 25th in scoring with their average of 18.2 points.
Louisville never had any trouble putting up points under Petrino. In 2006, the Cardinals ranked second in the country in total offense (475.3 yards per game) and fourth in scoring with a 37.8-point average.
Petrino had a 41-9 record in four years at Louisville.
