Below is my account of Wednesday’s post-practice exchange involving myself, Idaho coach Paul Petrino and a colleague, Michael-Shawn Dugar of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. I’ve read and reread Dugar’s column, which was published Thursday morning. I’ve watched and rewatched Thursday’s news conference in which Petrino and Spear offered their own accounts of the incident. I’ll emphasize that I don’t need to and don’t plan to side with either, but rather paint an accurate picture of what I experienced Wednesday afternoon. I work closely with Dugar and Petrino on a daily basis and hope to maintain strong working relationships with both. Following Thursday’s news conference, Petrino met with Dugar and I in a closed setting. I won’t detail our conversation, but can comfortably say I’ve resolved matters with Petrino. That said, here’s my account of Wednesday’s incident:
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Before Paul Petrino launched a verbal assault on myself and a colleague, the head coach was orchestrating the final period of Idaho’s afternoon practice from the middle of the field when he turned to us, standing adjacent to the sideline, and posed a question: “You guys see enough deep balls today?” I couldn’t detect any malice in his tone.
The day prior, a collection of reporters had agreed both Matt Linehan and Jake Luton, Nos. 1 and 2 on the depth chart, struggled with their deep touch during a skeleton drill. It was clear as day — multiple balls were overthrown to receivers who’d created sizable gaps between themselves and the defender. Still, Linehan crafted his best practice of camp, Petrino later told us, by showing proficiency in other areas. i.e. pressure checks and decision-making during a zone-read period. I won’t argue with that assessment.
Both Dugar and I had noted our observations in practice reports. Mine in the form of a blog post and his in a Daily News article.
But the QBs demonstrated improvement in the vertical passing game Wednesday, peppering their receivers during the skelly, team and 1-on-1 periods. Recognizing the progress, Dugar and I responded to Petrino from the sideline.
Yes, we told him, there were plenty..
“Yeah, there were a bunch of them,” Petrino responded.
Petrino began to scold us while still on the field, suggesting he was no fan of the “negative coverage” we’ve given the team throughout camp.
Minutes later, after an interview with D-line coach Kenny Holmes, Petrino approached us for a more intimate outburst. He stood approximately 3-5 yards away.
Dropping in expletives here and there, Petrino berated our coverage of the team — primarily that of his signal-callers and our evaluation of Linehan, which he believed was unfair.
He proceeded to knock our knowledge of the game and once again, our lack of positive coverage.
Eventually, a member of his staff intervened. While I can’t say I recall the staff member tugging at Petrino as if to physically detach him from us, he certainly felt the need to remove Petrino from the situation.
The incident most definitely fell under the category of a verbal attack, though I can’t say at any point I expected it to escalate into a physical altercation, nor did I feel threatened by Petrino.
After a few words with the sports information director, both Dugar and I left the facility.
