The coaching carousel goes round and round.

Greg Nord is reportedly leaving the University of Louisville as an assistant football coach to join Paul Petrino who is said to be joining coach Ron Zook’s staff at Illinois as the new offensive coordinator.

Greg Nord
Greg Nord

Paul has worked on the staff of his brother Bobby Petrino for the past seven years, with stints at Louisville, the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL and at the University of Arkansas. He was among the interviewees for the head coaching position at Western Kentucky in November.

Nord has been the one constant among assistant coaches at U of L for 15 years, having served along side coaches Ron Cooper, John L. Smith, Bobby Petrino and Steve Kragthorpe. He had strong ties to the Louisville area and is widely respected by high school football coaches throughout the state.

Illinois was in the market for an offensive coordinator after Zook fired four coaches — including offensive coordinator Mike Schultz — last week following the Illini’s 3-9 season. Illinois ranked 50th in the nation.

Louisville football will have an entirely new look next season, at least on the sidelines.

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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.

6 thoughts on “Greg Nord May Be Leaving Louisville”
  1. Recent reports have Jeff Brohm joining him at Illinois as QB coach. Bloomington, Ill. has become Louisville Midwest all of a sudden. .

  2. The problem with being an assistant is you have to live and die with the head coach. I doubt Zook will be at Illinois more than two years tops which means these guys will be looking for a new job. The salary is good, the job security sucks.

  3. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Remember all the coaching changes here in the Kragthorpe era if you can. Personally I’m trying to forget them and concentrate on the future.

    Both Paul Petrino and Greg Nord have displayed loyalty to their previous employers or brothers. They are highly marketable and will land on their feet again if the Zook experiment doesn’t work out.

  4. Sounds like Ron Zook is in the next to the last year of a strategy to retain his job, firing four assistants. I regret that Greg Nord will get caught up in that. Maybe he will return to Louisville some day.

  5. Hate to hear that, Charlie. May be a mistake on Nord’s part but love to see Paul Petrino get out from underneath Bobby’s thumb.

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