Vince Tyra addresses Louisville’s disappointing 2018 season, Bobby Petrino’s future

Speaking to Matt Fortuna of The Athletic, Louisville athletic director Vince Tyra made (I believe) his first public comments about the disappointing 2018 Cardinal football season and the job security of head coach Bobby Petrino.

“You assess everything,” Louisville athletic director Vince Tyra said. “You’re assessing where you are by the freshmen through seniors, where each class is and how they’re performing, (what) the next class of recruits that we’re onto look like. You’re certainly assessing both sides of the ball and the staff, but I think it’s one that I’m not quick to make final assessments when we’re halfway through the season.

“So, I’m pretty thoughtful about when we need to look at things, and I think that we’re going to run this season out and we’ve still got five games left to make some improvements and hopefully we’ll see that. But we’re not meeting the coaches’, the players’ or anyone’s expectations today on where we thought we’d be. Certainly, I don’t think when we started the season that the staff, the players, the administration thought we’d be 2-5.”

Tyra was also asked about his thoughts on Louisville fans taking the financial calculations of Petrino’s large buyout into their own hands. He said he “wasn’t too fazed” by any outside noise and that his past business experience has gifted him with his own set of metrics and line of thinking when it comes to matters like this. Tyra added that he would “not be relying on the fans” to help him if a buyout situation were to ever arise.

At the end of the day, Tyra said what athletic directors are supposed to say in the middle of disappointing seasons: We’ll evaluate all of this at a later time.

“I’ve been clear with our media that once the season wraps up, we’ll do a full assessment of the year, and like we do every other sport (with) the head coaches that I’ve been doing since I’ve been in this role,” Tyra said. “I had that opportunity last year at the end of last year with Bobby and will have it again this year. So, I don’t have any preconceived notions today that I’m trying to decide the outcome of Bobby. I don’t think that’s fair to him or anyone in the program, to do that today.”

To read the entire story — which includes an anonymous quote from a former Petrino assistant — you’ll need a subscription to The Athletic.