College Football: 10 coaches on the hottest seats entering 2018
6. Bobby Petrino
Bobby Petrino, for pretty much the first time in his career, may be out of a job soon because of his on the field performance. Past tenures at Louisville, Arkansas, Western Kentucky all ended either because Petrino got a better job, or because he got in trouble. After leaving Louisville for the Atlanta Falcons, he resigned almost immediately because his players hated him and his team stunk.
It didn’t take long for Bobby to find a new job, as he took over at Arkansas. A successful tenure that saw the Razorbacks win 21 games in his final two seasons ended in scandal, as Petrino was fired for motorcycle horseplay and having an extramarital affair. Just two years later, he resurfaced at Western Kentucky, before returning to Louisville in 2014.
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It’s fair to say that his second tenure in Louisville has not been as successful as his first was. the Cardinals have struggled to get over the hump, winning either eight or nine games each of his first four seasons.
The 2016 season was really the first that caused complaints about Petrino, however. Despite a fantastic 9-1 start to the season, led by Lamar Jackson, the Cardinals managed to fall apart late, finishing 9-4 and ruining a chance at a possible playoff appearance. 2017 certainly didn’t help Petrino’s case either.
With Jackson back for his junior season, Petrino once again wasted one of the best talents in the country. An awful defense, baffling hires, and horrendous receiver play led Louisville to an 8-5 season, and put Petrino firmly on the hot seat, and for good reason. Petrino has never been a great recruiter, but his failures to capitalize on Louisville’s on field success has hurt him as well.
With former Louisville quarterback Jeff Brohm rising up the coaching rankings, and looking very good at Purdue in year one, Louisville fans are starting to get a bit anxious. Another mediocre season, with a roster less talented than last year’s would lead to quite a few calls for Brohm to take over for Petrino.
What does Petrino need?
He needs to prove that he has the ability to get Louisville over the hump, and continuously compete for ACC championships and NY6 bowl games. Unfortunately for him, this is going to be a really hard season to prove that. He’ll be breaking in a new quarterback, that will almost certainly be worse than Lamar Jackson was.
On top of that, Brian VanGorder is running his defense, which will not work, and there are no real standout playmakers on either side of the ball. I think Louisville will have to struggle to win six games. That won’t be enough for Petrino to keep his job.