Petrino’s Back: Do you want to be the pot or the kettle this time?

Bobby Petrino will be the next head coach at the University of Louisville.

That’s what the Internets have been buzzing about since the departure of Charlie Strong late last week. Now multiple ‘sources’ have confirmed that Petrino has interviewed and will be offered the position by UofL Athletic Director Tom Jurich. Read Yahoo’s Pat Forde and his ‘sources’ here. (But remember, you heard it here first.)

Thus begins the Petrino Era Part Deux. And what can we say about that here at Sports Are Involved?

Say what you will about wins and losses, on the field performance versus off-the-field motorcycle rides, and that Orange Bowl win way back when. At the end of the day, the hiring of a new coach says something about the direction of your program.

As far as UK-UL matters go, we’ve both seen our fair share of coaches at the helm of basketball and football programs. Each of them came in with expectations based on their previous experience and coaching record. And each of them, for the most part, lived up to the hype.

Consider when this whole thing started: Petrino’s first stint at the helm of UofL football in 2003. That year UK and UL hired new coaches, Rick Brooks and Petrino. Petrino, we knew, was young and dynamic, and a highly effective offensive-minded coach. Brooks was more of a tried and true coach, having served in various roles before landing the UK job. We knew it would take some time for a coach like Brooks to build a program and we also knew he was in the waning years of his career.

And what did these programs get out of these promising hires? Well…what they signed up for.

Brooks did take some time, but with a patient fan base he was able to build a stable program. He built a solid base of Kentucky talent paired with out-of-state SEC talent and compiled some of the most exciting years of UK football in recent memory. (Yes, I was there when we beat #1 LSU and I still have the handful of grass I pulled up after rushing the field.) And when he felt that the time had come, he handed over the program with advanced notice so that the whole thing wouldn’t come crumbling in on itself.

Petrino, on the other hand, was the bright and shining star UL hoped for. He amped up the offense to some of its highest levels of productivity. Over his four seasons, he amassed a 41-9 record, including an Orange Bowl victory over Wake Forest in 2006. But like a burning supernova, he shone radiantly only to quickly fizzle out and collapse in on himself. We all know the story from there – the short stint in the pros, the made-for-tv disaster motorcycle mistress ride in Arkansas and now a short lived stint at even littler brother WKU. But what’s more, like any dying supernova, Petrino left in his wake an enormous vacuum from which it would take years to recover.

Or consider some of the other hires by these programs: Steve Kragthorpe – a nice guy from some mid-level Midwest team who ran a nice program with a mid-level mindset. Billy Gillepsie – hired to bring in newer and better talent. He delivered, turns out he couldn’t coach…or compose himself in Lexington restaurants. Charlie Strong – brought into to repair an ailing team and bring a big program mindset from a squad reeling from the mid-level mindset. He set higher expectations and with the help of an exceptionally talented QB, they reached his expectations. Mark Stoops – brought in to bring in recruits and a similar big program mindset to a bottom-dweller SEC program. While it’s too early to make a judgment on the change in mindset, Stoops certainly has brought in the recruits.

Coaches carry with them momentum/expectations/baggage that says something about their tenure as coach and the direction of the program.

So where does Petrino 2.0 fit into all of this?

For years, UL faithful have decried UK basketball coach John Calipari for his trail of sanctions, his propensity towards one-and-done recruiting and his pruported ‘sleaziness.’ That’s one side of it and the sanctions are certainly reprehensible. But as far as I can see, Calipari is recruiting the players that anyone else would recruit if they could. And in each case, he has always said he would help his athletes in whatever way he could – whether it be to stay with the program or move on to the NBA. (With the rules being what they are, I don’t see how you can blame the coach or the players WITHOUT first blaming the rule.) He does what we thought he would do – bring in the best recruits, coach them well, win ball games, and help them get to the next level.

So what does it say about a program who, after a year of great success, looks backwards to a coach they’ve already had, a coach who left them just days after promising to stay and a coach who has more than enough history to show what he does. And this wasn’t an aberration. He’s a coach who’s left every time the next best opportunity came along. He’s a coach who carries one of the more corrupt and detestable scandals in recent memory in his baggage. Sure, he’s still got the numbers. But he’s severely lacking in integrity. What kind of precedent and expectation does that set for the years to come in Louisville football?

Oh and as far as the ‘sleazy’ coach business – UofL fans…do you want to be the pot or the kettle this time?