Why Louisville’s Petrino is the coach everybody loves to dislike

Bobby Petrino probably burned more bridges in the South than William Tecumseh Sherman, which might explain why there’s uncharacteristic non-partisan support for Clemson this week around Lexington County.

Louisville to Atlanta to Fayetteville, Ark., to Bowling Green, Ky., and back to Louisville with a side trip to Dutch Fork High School; not a direct route, but you get the idea.

A native of Lewiston, Montana, Petrino was the quarterback on his father’s team at Carroll (Montana) College before spending 20 seasons as a college assistant, primarily in the West, including stints at Louisville and Auburn as offensive coordinator and three seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In 2003, he replaced John L. Smith as head coach at Louisville – the first time – after Smith left for Michigan State. Smith originally brought Petrino to Louisville in 1998 before the jump to the NFL.

During those four seasons, Petrino became football’s offensive genius du jour, going 41-9, winning two conference championships and twice finishing in the top 10. Almost instantly he was courted by the royalty of college football, including, according to several reports, Notre Dame and LSU. Actually, though, during the first season he spoke to Auburn about replacing his former boss, Tommy Tuberville, before there was an opening.

Realizing the potential for it happening frequently, Louisville tried to tether him, signing Petrino in 2006 to a 10-year deal. Six months later, after denying he was interested in the job, Petrino was introduced as head coach of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons with a five-year contract reportedly worth $24 million.

The intrigue was the possibility of having quarterback Michael Vick run his offense, but after Vick’s indictment and charge by the feds for his ties to interstate dog fighting, he never played a snap for Petrino. For the Falcons, it was a nightmare. They complained Petrino was rigid, uncommunicative and dour. With three games remaining in the season after a 3-10 start, he returned to college as head coach at Arkansas, again after denying he was interested in the job.

Many of the players who complained about his attempts at changing the culture were angry by his decision to leave during the season. One, effectively, labeled him a “coward.”

“He preached team and he preached family and then he quit on us,” quarterback Joey Harrington told The New York Times. When Vick couldn’t play, Harrington became the starter, but midway through the season he was replaced by Byron Leftwich. Harrington learned of the change from a reporter. “That’s not what a man does. He lied to us.”

Arkansas craved a savior after the Houston Nutt/Gus Malzahn experiment failed, and in four seasons Petrino returned a proud program to prominence, including 11 wins in 2011. All the warm and fuzzy went up in flames when the following April 1 he and a former Arkansas volleyball player, whom he hired as a member of the football staff, were injured when his motorcycle crashed.

They had been having an affair. Ten days later, he was fired.

Petrino sat out a year before taking the head job at Western Kentucky, a stepping stone at best. “At this point in my career, it’s about getting back and coaching players,” Petrino told the Associated Press. “It just happened to open up at a place we love.

“I hope it can be as long as possible.”

Following an 8-5 season at WKU, he hustled back to Louisville after Charlie Strong was hired by Texas. His seven-year contract pays $3.5 million annually and includes a $10 million buyout. Athletics director Tom Jurich insisted Louisville was getting a “changed person.”

As a new member of the ACC, Louisville played at Clemson for the first time last season, losing when a fourth-down pass from the 1-yard line was knocked down on the final play of the game. Earlier that year, Petrino received a commitment from running back Matt Colburn of Dutch Fork High. Colburn went on to be named Mr. Football as South Carolina’s top high school player last season and offensive MVP of the Shrine Bowl.

In February, two days before Colburn was to sign his national letter of intent, Louisville assistant coach Todd Grantham called to tell him Louisville would not have a scholarship for him. Colburn was encouraged to enroll the next semester as a “gray shirt,” which meant he would sit out the 2015 season. Colburn was devastated. His high school coach banned Petrino from the Dutch Fork campus.

Colburn wound up at Wake Forest and scored his first touchdown against Elon on Sept. 3. Louisville and Wake Forest play Oct. 30.

Three-time all-pro safety Lawyer Milloy, who scratched “coward” on the Dear John note Petrino left in the Falcons’ locker room, hasn’t forgiven or forgotten.

“It takes a lot for somebody to etch their name in stone in my memory,” Milloy told AL.com. “I can’t root for a team that’s coached by Bobby Petrino.”

Colburn might harbor a similar feeling.

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 6:29 PM with the headline "Why Louisville’s Petrino is the coach everybody loves to dislike."