FanPost

Defending Bobby Petrino!

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the University of Louisville or Bobby Petrino or any other institution. I have no official or unofficial sources of information. I am simply a fan of the University of Louisville and its academic and athletic programs. There is no money involved here and I’m not paid by anybody or any entity to post this. This is simply me sharing my thoughts with the other fans and readers in our fine, fine gathering place.

I have been thinking about this since the day Bobby Petrino was announced as Louisville’s choice for the football program. The rest of the sporting world and many Louisville fans thought Tom Jurich was nuts or desperate (or both), to even consider Petrino. Many likened it to taking back a partner who has cheated on you in the past. "What the hell are you guys thinking to go back to him"?

So, defending Bobby Petrino. Can it be done? Is it even possible? More specifically, can we defend the hire and the man? Well, yes and maybe both. First off, there are some things that are indefensible; walking out mid-season on your team cannot be defended; understood maybe, but not defended. Cheating on your partner most definitely cannot be defended nor excused. Petrino deserves all the vitriol, the jokes and the embarrassing articles that are piled on him. But you know what, the people who suffer the most from all of that are his wife, children and grandchildren. ‘Sins of the father’ and all that. The person Bobby hurt the most is his wife. The rest of the world has no right to be outraged. Well, Arkansas to an extent because they kind of got screwed in the process too. I have nothing to say about his personal transgressions. He lives with the person he hurt the most and has to face his sins every day.

The rest of the sporting world piling on Jurich and Louisville for the hire; I say to them: BACK OFF! You have no right to lecture us on who we may hire to run our program. What did he do to you? Nothing. Whatever he did in his professional career, he did to Louisville, Atlanta and Arkansas. Atlanta can say whatever they want about him, so can Arkansas and so can Louisville. (Co-incidentally Mike Zimmer, head coach of the Vikings was Bobby’s Defensive Co-ordinator at Atlanta. Zimmer really hates Bobby because of what he did).

The biggest knock on him is that he does not stay in one place for longer than a few years. They all say the same thing. He cannot stay at any job for longer than four years. He’s gone again in a few years. As soon as he finishes his first season, he’ll be out looking for the next big opening. You guys can do better. You should look to Pat Narduzzi or Chad Morris or Vance Bedford and so on and so forth.

Really? Give an up-and-coming co-ordinator his first head-coaching job only for him to leave in a few years. Oh, but you never know, someone might stay for the long term. No, they won’t.

Nationwide, articles are written up saying, ‘All Louisville cares about is winning’. Really? And other programs don’t? Let us be clear; Bobby Petrino would still have been the head coach at Arkansas if he hadn’t put his girlfriend on the payroll. Hiring someone with whom he was having an affair, left Arkansas vulnerable to lawsuits from other applicants. It wasn’t about morality or doing the right thing.

Let’s break it down. Petrino was the Offensive Co-ordinator (OC) at Louisville in 1998, Quarterbacks Coach (QB) with the Jaguars from 1999-2000, OC with the Jaguars in 2001 and OC at Auburn in 2002. He was an up-and-coming hot-shot co-ordinator when Jurich hired him for his first head coaching job in 2003. He stayed at Louisville for four years until the 2006 season when he left for the Falcons in 2007.

During those four years, his name was linked with LSU, Oakland and more infamously, Auburn. Here, I reference Tom Jurich from an ESPN article, Petrino never pursued those opportunities; those programs came after his coach. He recalled seeing a signed contract from Raiders owner Al Davis for five years, $25 million. He turned down one NFL program but couldn’t turn down the next. Didn’t this same scenario play out with the last Louisville coach, Charlie Strong? Turned down Tennessee but couldn’t turn down Texas.

A few months ago, I was listening to The Joe B and Denny Show on 790 WKRD AM radio. I caught the tail end of a conversation that Joe B was having on-air; he was speaking about Petrino and Auburn. What he was saying was, "He (Petrino) knew them (Auburn officials) from his time there as OC. They came down to Louisville, called him and said ‘let’s meet’. He said No, I have a job, I’m not meeting you. They said, just come, we are in town, we just want to see you and then be on our way. They were his friends and colleagues and wanted to see him and so he went to meet them".

Now, I don’t know if that is indeed what happened, whether Joe B knew this as a fact or whether he was simply speculating. I have no idea, but it makes sense in a way if you want to believe it. Coupled with what Jurich has said about him being pursued, I find it more likely to be closer to the truth than the other way around.

So he’s an up-and-coming coach, stuck in C-USA and then the Big East while he knows he can coach and go head-to-head with the best of them. He wants to find out if the grass is really greener on the other side. And I can’t really blame him. I am an engineer and I can see that in my career. For eg.: You are a software programmer and work for Humana or any other decent company in Louisville. What do you do when Apple or Google comes calling? You might be happy and contended at your current job but don’t you owe it to yourself to see what you could do at Apple or Google? That is why I don’t hate Charlie Strong. It is Texas, he wants to find out what it is like to head a program with a rich & strong tradition. Charlie did what Bobby did, exactly the same. Tennessee came after him and the entire Louisville fan base was in an uproar for a few days until he turned them down. He made a big statement & declaration of staying with Louisville and loyalty to Tom Jurich. "I’m not cut like that", were his words on national radio and I’m sure he meant them at the time. Well, what happened next? Texas called and he went. In the end he showed that he is indeed cut like the rest of us!

What is so different about what Bobby did and what Charlie did? Nothing, except that Bobby was kind of a jerk to most people around him and Charlie wasn’t. So when Bobby left, everyone was surprised but not hurt much. When Charlie left, everyone was shocked and hurt a lot. I was too, but I got over it. I understand it is a business decision and he needs to go prove himself at the biggest stage with the big boys. That is fine. Good luck to him, sincerely!

But for us, we are going into the ACC, a bigger conference with a better strength of schedule. Louisville will be facing top-tier football programs in the ACC. Not the meat grinder that is the SEC but top-level definitely. We need someone who can come in and take us to the next level. With another up-and-coming hot-shot co-ordinator, we would have the same thing in a few years, guaranteed! If they are successful, they will have a need to see if they can go and do the same at bigger schools; see if the grass is greener on the other side. We would be faced with the same thing again few years down the line.

With Bobby it is different; he is a changed man. No, I don’t know him personally but the person who can vouch for him is his wife. And she says he has changed. His kids say he has changed. Jurich says he has changed. He wouldn’t have hired him if he was the same. Jurich has more cause than most to hate Petrino. Bobby has been around the block, he has seen the grass is greener elsewhere, but it isn’t so bad here either. More importantly, he has worked for a few different bosses. He knows what kind of boss he has in Jurich.

And Tom Jurich is a BOSS!

Petrino has proven himself at the highest level and has fallen down to the lowest. He has been stomped on and dragged through the mud. And he deserves most of it for his past actions.

But what about redemption? Reclamation? Second chances? Most people forget that the point of punishment is to teach the offender a lesson so that he or she can improve themselves and become a better person and contribute to society.

Do you believe that he cannot be a better person? If his wife and family believe that he has changed and can be a better person, then so can I. I can give him another chance because his wife is giving him another chance; because Jurich is giving him another chance. If we can’t trust Jurich, then we can’t trust anyone in the business.

I believe Bobby Petrino.

I believe him when he says, Louisville is home.

I believe him when he says, I’m here to stay.

I believe him when he says, I want to retire at Louisville.

I will believe in him until he gives me a reason not to.

I believe in him because Jurich does.

And; In Jurich, we trust!

Go CARDS!