Petrino interviews with Louisville

[Apis Bull]

This smacks of desperation

[Triple B]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10263027/louisville-cardinals-offer-job-bobby-petrino

 

Looks like its only a matter of time.

 

When the BM reports it, I'll know it's only a few minutes away from the public announcement ...

[gobulls83]

Well, the crow I'm eating is delicious, thanks. Looks like Petrino is heading back home after all.

 

I still don't think it will end well for Louisville, and I have to wonder about the balance of power between the administration and Petrino - this really feels like an endorsement of his slimeball behavior. I have no ill feelings toward Louisville, but no respect for Petrino; I really hope this blows up in Louisville's face. Time will tell.

 

It's probably true that Petrino burned fewer bridges in leaving Louisville than he did the Falcons or Arkansas, but he left that team in such poor shape... Maybe it was all Kragthorpe, I just think Petrino has a track record that suggests he probably should at least share the blame.

Edited January 8, 2014 by gobulls83

[CPR]

Good hire, the man can win and that's all that matters in football.

[bullsbucsfan426]

Well, the crow I'm eating is delicious, thanks. Looks like Petrino is heading back home after all.

 

I still don't think it will end well for Louisville, and I have to wonder about the balance of power between the administration and Petrino - this really feels like an endorsement of his slimeball behavior. I have no ill feelings toward Louisville, but no respect for Petrino; I really hope this blows up in Louisville's face. Time will tell.

 

It's probably true that Petrino burned fewer bridges in leaving Louisville than he did the Falcons or Arkansas, but he left that team in such poor shape... Maybe it was all Kragthorpe, I just think Petrino has a track record that suggests he probably should at least share the blame.

 

I think a LOT of it was Kragthorpe. The cards went from Orange bowl champions  (just missing out on a NC shot) to 6-6, to 4-8 in his final year. It says much that Kragthrope has been demoted from an OC to an admin assistant at LSU since. I heard he also has Parkinson's, which probably has something to do with it (not making light, it's very sad). 

[Flowers4Heisman]

I wonder what he said to WKU to get a second chance? Maybe something like, "I'm here for the long term; I want to build something special here."

 

How can anyone trust that guy?

 

I guess winning is everything, just as long as there's not an NCAA sanction coming down.

[gobulls83]

 

Well, the crow I'm eating is delicious, thanks. Looks like Petrino is heading back home after all.

 

I still don't think it will end well for Louisville, and I have to wonder about the balance of power between the administration and Petrino - this really feels like an endorsement of his slimeball behavior. I have no ill feelings toward Louisville, but no respect for Petrino; I really hope this blows up in Louisville's face. Time will tell.

 

It's probably true that Petrino burned fewer bridges in leaving Louisville than he did the Falcons or Arkansas, but he left that team in such poor shape... Maybe it was all Kragthorpe, I just think Petrino has a track record that suggests he probably should at least share the blame.

 

I think a LOT of it was Kragthorpe. The cards went from Orange bowl champions  (just missing out on a NC shot) to 6-6, to 4-8 in his final year. It says much that Kragthrope has been demoted from an OC to an admin assistant at LSU since. I heard he also has Parkinson's, which probably has something to do with it (not making light, it's very sad). 

 

 

 

Yeah I would be inclined to believe that, if the Falcons and Arkansas (7-17 since Petrino left) weren't so poor after Petrino left too. But it's not something that can be answered definitively. I agree that at least it was more Kragthorpe than Petrino, if Petrino is to blame at all.

 

There's also the fact that for two straight offseasons, he leveraged other job offers into improved contract terms from Louisville, then walked out on his long-term contract anyway the next offseason. And the slimy way he left Atlanta. And the scandal that forced his exit at Arkansas. The guy's a liar, a jerk, and an embarrassment to his employers.

 

Someone on Around the Horn just made an interesting point: Louisville's outgoing coach, Charlie Strong, is a winner who has a near-universal great reputation as a coach and as a person. I've never heard a bad thing about Charlie Strong. He wins, and is a positive face for the university's athletics. Bobby Petrino is the total opposite: He may win games (we'll see if that continues), but there is a greater chance that he will do something to embarrass the university than there is a chance that he won't.

Edited January 8, 2014 by gobulls83

[gobulls83]

Just to clear up a fact I got wrong: Petrino only signed one contract extension with Louisville, six months before he walked out on it to join the Falcons. But it was three consecutive offseasons that Petrino interviewed for other jobs, including interviewing at Auburn in secretive, shady fashion at one point. If you doubt that Tom Jurich is failing to learn from a mistake here, check out what he and Petrino had to say at the time Petrino signed that extension:

 

LOUISVILLE — University of Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich does not expect suitors to stop pursuing football coach Bobby Petrino despite the 10-year contract worth at least $25.5 million the coach signed Thursday.

 

But he does expect Petrino to stop listening after becoming one of the highest-paid coaches in college football.

 

"I fully expect him to turn his back on other jobs," Jurich said.

 

"Granted, if it's the New England Patriots and its $10 million or something, he needs to take it. ... But we've spent a great deal of time talking about this. I know that some great jobs are about to come open and he's going to be at the top of a lot of lists. It's my job to put together a package that's attractive enough to keep him, and that's what we've tried to do. He put a lot of thought into this. I truly believe this is where he wants to build a legacy."

 

That was Petrino's message Thursday.

 

"For me and for my family, Louisville is home," he told Louisville's athletic board.

 

The coach, who has interviewed for other jobs after each of his three seasons at Louisville, said the new contract is intended to send a message.

Jurich offered to do deals with shorter terms, but said Petrino in the end wanted the long-term deal. And Petrino insisted on including a $1 million buyout clause, the first buyout that Jurich ever has put into a Louisville contract.

 

"We did want to make a statement," Petrino said. " ... I also wanted to make sure that everyone understood — and I know I've said it — that this is where my family wants to be and where I want to be. But I want everyone to really believe it when it is said."

 

Asked later if he was emphatically telling other teams not to pursue him, Petrino said, "Yeah. That's why we did the buyout. That's why I wanted the buyout, so everybody understands that."

 

Petrino will make $1.6 million in base salary next season. But he'll also have more than $700,000 available in performance incentives, plus a $1 million loyalty bonus if he's still the coach through next June. Those bonuses and incentives could push his compensation to a level occupied by only a handful of college football coaches.

 

His base salary will rise steadily to a maximum of $2.6 million in 2016. His incentive package will be worth a possible $1 million at that time. The contract also offers million-dollar loyalty bonuses to be awarded in 2010 and 2013, and a $2 million bonus if he completes the contract.

It is a dramatic turn in what has been a sometimes-strained relationship.

 

Near the end of his first season at Louisville, Petrino interviewed secretly with Auburn while that school still had a coach, and while denying publicly that he had spoken to the school.

 

After his second season, Petrino interviewed with Louisiana State just a week after agreeing to a contract extension that raised his guaranteed salary to $1 million. That prompted a tense period in which Jurich admitted to thoughts of not retaining Petrino as coach.

 

This past spring, Petrino interviewed with the Oakland Raiders but wound up turning down a four-year deal worth a reported $20 million. And that offer, according to both Petrino and Jurich, forced the coach to weigh whether he truly wanted to move on.

Jurich said any tension the two have had in their relationship is in the past.

 

"You know me, I can get mad, but I can also forgive," Jurich said.

 

"... I said before that I think he loves the chase. But he's not the same person he was. In these talks, he's been a different guy. I've been wrong before, but I believe in his desire to be here. I believe he's genuine about not wanting to be an NFL guy. And, if you are going to leave for another college job, where is it going to be? I honestly believe we're making this into one of the best in the country."

 

The salary increase also represents the school's most significant financial commitment to football since the building of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Petrino's base salary when he was hired for the 2003 season was $450,000. John L. Smith was making $800,000, including incentives, when he departed in 2002. Louisville assistants received a significant boost in pay after last season and are due for another raise this month.

 

Jurich said that the athletic department is well-situated to handle the added expense. Louisville athletics ran a $2 million surplus last season, its first in the Big East, and Jurich said much of that will be plowed directly back into Petrino's compensation. Louisville received bonuses from the Big East this past season for its second-place football finish and its appearance in the Toyota Gator Bowl.

 

"We've had some good years financially," Jurich said. "We had some good revenue from television and from the Gator Bowl. We're only scratching the surface financially with the Big East. And the new revenue, to a large degree, is going to be based on how the football program does.

 

"It behooved us to invest in the football program at this time. Expanding Papa John's Cardinal Stadium is now our top priority, but this plan was put together without figuring that expansion in. It's something we felt we could do and needed to do."

 

Louisville president James Ramsey said he hopes the contract ensures stability. "This is a very important day for the entire university," Ramsey said. "... It makes a huge statement, not just to Bobby and athletics, but to our long-term goals at the university. Stability in the athletic program is absolutely critical to me. ... For all the things we're committed to, we need the best people. We want to go out and get them, and when we get them, we're going to keep them."

 

This was six months before Petrino walked out on the deal. SIX MONTHS! Anyone who trusts this guy is a fool. For Jurich to do it after already having egg on his face from trusting him in the past is baffling.

[JTrue]

Because he's hiring a football coach, not a priest. He knows exactly what he's getting and so does the president of the university.

[gobulls83]

Because he's hiring a football coach, not a priest. He knows exactly what he's getting and so does the president of the university.

 

Total garbage. If his dishonest, scumbag behavior were irrelevant, he never would have been fired at Arkansas. You don't think that had a negative impact on the future of their football team? Of course it did. And his first job after that humiliation wouldn't have been at Western Kentucky.

 

And then of course there are the countless other coaches in the history of the sport forced out because of their unacceptable behavior and questionable morals.

Edited January 8, 2014 by gobulls83