And it's in line with some of my old law school grades.
• Louisville: Bobby Petrino, former Western Kentucky head coach. The Cardinals could very well win big immediately, because Strong left a stocked cupboard and Petrino is an X's-and-O's savant. At that point, Louisville fans will likely inundate me with taunting emails about this column. But four years from now, after the roster has deteriorated (as it always does) and Petrino has bolted for another job (as he always does), the program may be worse off than it was when it hired him. Grade: D
Keep in mind that Stewart Mandel, the SI writer coming up with these grades, already wrote a scathing piece about the Petrino hire earlier this month, so this isn't exactly fresh news.
The D is the lowest grade issued by Mandel, who gave As to Penn State, Boise State and Washington. He also gave Texas an A- for its hire of Charlie Strong.