LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — In addition to wins, losses, bowl bids and recruiting tussles, we have another item to track as the 2023 college football season unfolds:
Old Friend Alerts.
I tossed the concept to Eric Crawford as we huddled about a sports talk show we’re developing at WDRB.
Then I made a list of the former head football coaches at Louisville (4), Kentucky (1) and Indiana (1) who will patrol the sidelines this season and realized there will be at least a half dozen scores to follow every weekend.
Jeff Brohm will be the ninth head football coach I have covered during my journalistic run in Louisville — and four guys who preceded him are still preparing teams for this season.
Toss one former UK and one former IU coach into the conversation, and it’s absolutely time for an Old Friend Alert column.
Roll call.
Bobby Petrino, offensive coordinator, Texas A&M — After three seasons in the shadows at Missouri State following his embarrassing 2018 dismissal at Louisville, Petrino returns to high-beam scrutiny as the guy trying to save Jimbo Fisher’s job in College Station.
A year ago the Aggies fell out of the Top 25, losing 7 of 12 games while ranking 13th in the Southeastern Conference in scoring and 10th in passing offense.
Many believe the only thing that saved Fisher’s job was his mammoth buyout. Dennis Dodd, the national college football writer at CBSSports.com, wrote that Fisher is one seven FBS coaches who begins 2023 with his job on the line — and he is certainly the most prominent name on the list.
Fisher’s reputation as a quarterback whisperer took a major hit — as it should have after A&M lost a home game to Appalachian State, 17-14.
Petrino will reportedly earn more than $1 million per season to serve as the Aggie’s offensive Mr. Fix-It. With practice underway, inquiring minds want to know if Petrino or Fisher will call plays for A&M.
According to a story by Andrew Olson at SaturdayDownSouth, Petrino said that he was likely to work from the press box, not the sidelines. And as for the play-calling task, Petrino said this at the Aggies’ preseason media day last Sunday:
“It is a collective effort. I’ve been calling the plays in practice, and I will do that. A lot of times, the calls are made throughout the week. You have to be able to be disciplined to be able to do what you did in practice.”
Translation: He did not answer the question.
A&M opens against New Mexico Sept. 2 and will face Alabama and Tennessee on the first two weekends of October.
Can’t wait. And considering Petrino’s track record of job hopping, who expects him to be in College Station in 2024?
Scott Satterfield, head coach, Cincinnati — At Louisville, Satterfield followed Petrino, a coach who was fired and lost the fan base, At Cincinnati, Satterfield will follow Luke Fickell, a coach who was beloved and took the Bearcats to the college football playoffs in 2021.
In other words, I would not expect a long and patient honeymoon.
I would, however, expect turbulence. Cincinnati has transitioned from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12. At the league’s preseason media gathering, the Bearcats were picked to finish 13th, ahead of only struggling West Virginia.
Satterfield has continued Fickell’s tradition of starting UC’s fall camp off campus at a spot in southeastern Indiana the Bearcats’ call Camp Higher Ground.
It appears he will depend upon Emory Jones, a transfer from Florida and Arizona State as his starting quarterback. Nobody has compared Jones to Desmond Ridder, the former UC star from St. Xavier High School.
Cincinnati opens at home against Eastern Kentucky Sep. 2 before visiting Pitt the following Saturday. UC will not play league favorite Texas but will host Oklahoma Sept. 23.
Anybody up for a drive to Cincinnati?
Charlie Strong, defensive analyst, Alabama — In the 10 years since Strong left U of L for Texas, he has worked for the Longhorns, South Florida, Alabama, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Miami Hurricanes.
Now he’s back for Round 2 with Nick Saban as a defensive analyst. Do not check the Alabama media guide for any insight on Strong’s responsibilities. All he earned was head shot photo without even a thumbnail biography.
The word from Miami was that after head coach Mario Cristobal bypassed Strong for the defensive coordinator position with the Hurricanes, Strong quit with his next destination unknown.
Apparently the best position he could find was a non-coaching position with Saban, who is known for helping guys find better jobs.
Ron Cooper, head coach, Long Island University — Cooper is the guy who followed Howard Schnellenberger with the Cards— and has been gone for 27 years.
Cooper could teach Strong something about moving, traveling from Alabama A&M to Wisconsin to Mississippi State to South Carolina to LSU to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to South Florida to Florida International to Texas A&M to Arkansas to analyst position like the one Strong has at Alabama.
Cooper finally jumped off the FBS express train in 2022, becoming the head coach of the Long Island Sharks in the FCS Northeast Conference.
He went 4-7 in year one — an improvement of 2 wins over the 2021 season, Cooper will play Ohio University and Baylor in his guarantee games this season.
Joker Phillips, assistant head coach/wide receivers, North Carolina State — Phillips lost the momentum Rich Brooks created at Kentucky in only 3 seasons and was fired to create the opening for Mark Stoops in Lexington after he went 2-10 in 2012.
N.C. State is Phillips’ sixth stop since UK. Head coach Dave Doeren hired him to work with the Wolfpack’s receivers. N.C. State’s passing attack ranked ninth in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2022. The Wolfpack will host Louisville in a Friday night game Sept. 29.
Kevin Wilson, head coach, Tulsa — After a dynamic 6-year run as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, Wilson, 61, seemed like he was going to be a Buckeye for life.
Nope.
Wilson will run his own program for the first time since he was fired by Indiana after winning 6 games in 2015 and 2016. Wilson did some good work at Indiana but his personality could be abrasive.
Although the Golden Hurricanes went 5-7 last season and 7-6 in 2021, they are picked to finish 14th (last) in the American Athletic Conference by Phil Steele. In a scheduling coincidence, Wilson will play against former Indiana quarterback Michael Penix and Washington on Sept. 9.
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