Bobby Petrino was fired as Louisville’s coach in 2018, but his recent team changes have again popped questions regarding his firing. And here, we will discuss what lead to this. Bobby Petrino is one of the most controversial American Football coaches and one of the perfect ones. Born on March 10, 1961, in Lewiston, Montana, his coaching career began in 1983. It was just after he completed his playing tenure of two years (1980 – 1982) as Quarterback for his college team Carroll.
Bobby’s father, too, belonged to the sport and was Carroll’s head coach for 28 years, from 1971 – 1999. Bobby’s career as a player was concise compared to his gigantic career as a coach. He has acted as an assistant coach and head coach, leading teams to victory numerous times. But despite this, he never really stayed anywhere for too long, and his relationship with Louisville was very complicated.
Moreover, he has been in numerous controversies during his coaching tenures, many false and some true. Hence, I prefer calling him a controversial kangaroo, with a lot of payout from teams. Let’s see what the past of the new offensive coordinator of Texas A&M Aggies has to say about his time at Louisville.
Why Was Bobby Petrino Fired As Louisville Coach?
Bobby Petrino was fired as Louisville’s coach on November 11, 2018, because of the Cardinal’s declining performance after 2017 when Lamar Jackson left for NFL. But this wasn’t Bobby’s first rodeo with Louisville. His time at Louisville dates back to 1998 when he joined as the offensive coordinator, coached for a year, and highlighted the Cardinal’s position in American football, helping the team secure rank I in Division I-A. But, it was not long since he left just after to join the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was in 2003 that Petrino returned to Louisville, but this time as head coach.
His next four years (2003 – 2006) are one of the biggest highlights of his coaching career, building the Cardinals into top competitors at the national level. His performance for the Louisville Cardinals was next to incredible, helping the team win 11 games in 2004 and 12 games in 2006, the best records the Cardinals made in a single season.
Given the extraordinary performance, Petrino signed a 10-year contract with Louisville in July 2006, a multi-million dollar contract. However, he did not last and, within six months, broke off to join the Atlanta Falcons, signing another multi-million dollar contract.
He traveled between three teams before returning to Louisville in 2014, signing a deal of about $24 million with a buyout of $10 million. He faced his best wins and worst defeats as head coach during this tenure. He crafted Lamar Jackson’s offense and made him one of the best, and he won the Heisman Trophy. However, this overpowering did not last long, as the Cardinals suffered severe losses in 2018, including a streak of seven defeats. It was one of the biggest reasons he was fired from Louisville in 2018.
It was the first time Petrino’s team had closed 7th in a league, with an overall score of 2-8. The management then decided that he was no more a good influence on the team, both as a coach and morally. It has been stated multiple times that though Petrino is a good coach, he rarely leaves a positive influence on his players.
It was depicted once when he completely lost his temper and had a show in the Cardinal’s locker room after a close defeat. Also, this wasn’t the first time he was fired for such a lack of character; it happened before when he was with Arkansas.
Where Is Bobby Petrino Currently?
Tending to his kangaroo nature, Petrino is still not consistent. 61-year-old Bobby has joined Texas A&M Aggies as the offensive coordinator, but not after being in the same position at UNLV for 20 days. Yes, that’s correct; he moved on from UNLV to Aggies in a matter of 2-3 weeks.
Before UNLV, he was with Missouri State for three terms (2020 – 2022), during which he took the Bears to win the Valley Football Conference in 2020. Got the runner-up position in 2021 with an overall score of 8-4, but similar to what happened with the Cardinals, in 2022, the Bears’ performance regressed as they finished 8th.
Let’s hope that he stays with Texas Aggies for more than a year and doesn’t get caught in any scandals; wishing him the best for the times to come.
