LSUâs Kim Mulkey doesnât hold back on Saints-Falcons TD controversy, cites Nick Saban
Count Kim Mulkey among those who were against the New Orleans Saints putting another touchdown on the scoreboard in garbage time against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
“You put your knee on that ground, and you do exactly what you’ve been told to do from the head coach,” Mulkey told Sportstalk with Bobby Hebert. “I don’t want to hear it was (Jamaal Williams’) first touchdown. You can tell me if he scored a touchdown he was going to get a million dollars. No, you don’t do that. That is disrespectful not just to your head coach, it’s disrespectful to the other head coach and the other team. Because whatever goes around in this business, comes around. …
“I don’t want to hear anybody defending what they did because that sends the wrong wrong message.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston and the Saints defied their coach and upset the Falcons with just a single play.
Leading 41-17 with 1:10 left, the Saints lined up in “victory formation,” but Winston handed off to Williams for a 1-yard touchdown that made the final score 48-17.
Saints coach Dennis Allen apologized on the field to Falcons coach Arthur Smith, who was livid. Allen explained during the postgame press conference that coaches called for the offense to run out the clock, but they were overruled by the players on the field.
Mulkey told Hebert should wouldn’t stand for it, citing the name of Alabama coach Nick Saban.
“The shot clock is off and there’s 30 seconds or less to go in a game, and we’re winning, you better stand at half court and you better dribble the ball out,” Mulkey said. “And I’ve had coaches that have done that against me. I did all I could to tell them, you could have won by 11. You all went out and got that last bucket. You won by 13. What lessons are you teaching right there?
“You can call it old school. You can call it whatever you want. I tend to call it disrespectful. That is why, truthfully, the Kim Mulkeys and the Nick Sabans can’t coach in the pros.”
Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.