Bobby Petrino was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in 2007. Mike Zimmer was the defensive coordinator. That season, the Falcons went 4-12, but the bad record was the least of what happened in the eyes of many -- Zimmer included. Petrino left the team after 13 of the 16 regular season games to take the head coaching job at the University of Arkansas.When asked by the Cincinnati Enquirer about returning to the scene -- the Bengals visit Atlanta this weekend and Zimmer is the Bengals' current defensive coordinator -- Zimmer had more than a few choice words for his former boss. And he did not hold back one iota.
"I was never even there," he told the newspaper. "As far as I am concerned, I never even was there. When a coach quits in the middle of the year and ruins a bunch of people's families and doesn't have enough guts to at least finish out the year. I am not a part of that."
A little tame so far. There's more.
"He is a coward. Put that in quotes," Zimmer urged the Enquirer reporter. "He ruined a bunch of people's lives, a bunch of people's families, kids, because he didn't have enough nuts to stay there and finish the job. That's the truth."
He wasn't finished yet. Still more:
"Most people in football have enough courage about them and enough fight to stick through something and not quit halfway through the year. It is cowardly," the coach went on about Petrino.
"He came in and said he resigned, he would talk to us all at a later date, walked out of the office and no one has ever talked to him since. Not that anybody wanted to.
"He's a gutless b-–d. Quote that. I don't give a s-."
At this point, reportedly Zimmer was told the paper couldn't print the "b-word," so he went even further.
"How about this, gutless MF. You can use that."
Suffice it to say, Mr. Zimmer is not a fan of Bobby Petrino.
