The hounds are nipping at Bobby Petrino’s heels after an unimpressive start to the season (Cindy Rice Shelton photo).

Anybody want to start all over again in football at the University of Louisville? Not that that’s going to happen anytime soon, not with eight more games remaining this season. Yet that seems to be what some people want, jumping on the coach after only four games.

One shouldn’t be surprised, not with all the short memories, not with the what have you done for me latelies, all the loud voices. Seems to be a lack of patience, impartiality and critical thinking these days. Hostiles ready to make accusations, innocents eager to believe them. A mob scenario, with actions based on emotion and feelings, little regard for evidence or past performance.

Bobby Petrino’s team has gotten off to a less-than-impressive performance this season, 2-2 after four games, getting demolished by Alabama, struggling against two mediocre teams, and losing to a bottom feeder in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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How quickly some forget. Just three years ago, in 2015, the Cardinals got off to a disastrous start, losing their first three games. Petrino managed to turn his team around with a young quarterback named Lamar Jackson and UofL won eight of it last 10 games, including a Music City Bowl championship over Texas A&M.

A season later UofL won its first four games, including an ESPN Game Day appearance and a 63-20 romp over Florida State. The Cardinals were riding high, ranked in the top five in every college football poll in America later in the season, in contention for a college playoff spot and a possible shot at a national championship.

UofL football fans were giddy, their man was Bobby Petrino. All was right with the world. They were ready to believe former UofL Coach Howard Schnellenberger’s prediction about time being the only variable to a national championship. They had never been there before and weren’t quite sure how to act but Petrino was making it happen.

At least until James Quick ran out of bounds instead of into the end zone against Clemson, resulting in a six-point loss in the next game. The crushing blow that season was a humiliating 36-10 loss to Houston. The loss exposed a non-existent offensive line and squashed any further national championship hopes.

 Disappointing, yes. Shocking, no. Fans don’t like losing, or missing out on big time opportunities. Many have never gotten over UofL’s cathartic collapse against Houston. Believing, perhaps, that some other coach could achieve what Petrino has not accomplished, making UofL a perennial national contender.

Petrino remains, however, the winningest coach in Louisville football history, with a 79-31 won-lost record, including a 4-6 post-season bowl record. An estimated 35,000 fans made the trip to Miami in 2007 for UofL’s 24-13 BCS win over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.

Petrino deserves credit for what he has accomplished during seven seasons at Louisville, taking the program to new heights. Those who would condemn him so quickly after a slow start aren’t doing the program any favors.

He’s not going anywhere soon anyway, not with a $12.4 million buyout in his contract. These are the same fans, remember, who were angry because he was considering other programs during the coach’s first stay in Louisville. The buyout conditions are in there for a good reason, with fans having such short memories and those tar-and-feather mentalities.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

2 thoughts on “Bobby Petrino not leaving Louisville anytime soon”
  1. BP needs to go. This is a cancer of a human being . Ask any player or coach that has been around him. This team has zero morale. They have mailed it in and his nepotism has destroyed any college experience these players might have. Forget wins and losses . He has no business being around young men this age. He has left sore a#%#* everywhere he has been and his 2nd stint at Louisville is no different.

  2. Charlie, the problem I see as does other is:

    We are currently fielding a team that barely beats Indiana State a 1AA team. Then we struggled with WKU, which is a G5 team. We are in the ACC and do not look so good and received another UVA butt kicking. This week 5 of the 5th year under Bobby Petrino. If loses today to FSU, the heat on him is only going increase more.

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