LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WRRB) -- You think Bobby Petrino’s first exit from the University of Louisville football program was abrupt in January 2007?
You think he quit on the Atlanta Falcons after 13 games?
Petrino was just getting warmed up. Check the Wednesday afternoon news wire.
Merely 20 days after Petrino was announced as the new offensive coordinator for Barry Odom at UNLV, multiple media sources reported Petrino will file another change of address.
Jimbo Fisher is finalizing a deal to hire Bobby Petrino as @AggieFootball’s OC and Petrino will take over play-calling duties, sources tell ESPN. Petrino, one of the top offensive minds in football, was briefly OC at UNLV after spending last three seasons at Missouri State.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) January 4, 2023
Embattled Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher has reportedly hired Petrino to fix an A&M offense that ranked 13th in scoring in the Southeastern Conference last season as the Aggies finished 5-7 and failed to qualify for a bowl.
Unacceptable.
Hiring a coach who walks out on deals, quits via photocopied statements and essentially gave up at his last Power Five head coaching job?
Acceptable.
The story was first reported by Chris Low of ESPN.
It will be Petrino’s third stop in the SEC. He was the offensive coordinator at Auburn before Tom Jurich hired him as Louisville’s head coach for the 2003 season.
And, Petrino also famously served as the Arkansas head coach from 2008-11 before he was fired for an inappropriate relationship with a female staff member.
That led to Petrino sitting out the 2012 season before he coached Western Kentucky for one season. Jurich brought Petrino back to Louisville for the 2014 season after Charlie Strong departed for Texas.
His second stay at Louisville was a wild and ultimately unsatisfactory ride. After coaching Lamar Jackson in his 2016 Heisman Trophy season when the Cards finished 9-4, Petrino lost his mojo.
Even with Jackson, Louisville slipped to 8-5 in 2017. New U of L athletic director Vince Tyra fired Petrino with two games remaining in the 2018 season. The Cards were 2-8 and followed a 77-16 loss to Clemson with an uglier 54-23 beatdown at Syracuse.
U of L paid Petrino more than $14 million to leave. After sitting out the 2019 season, Petrino took the job at Missouri State, where his teams went 18-15, including a disappointing 5-6 finish in 2022.
But the disappointment at Missouri State is minor compared to the complaining in College Station. Fisher’s 2022 team lost home games to Appalachian State, Ole Miss and Florida. The Aggies finished last in the SEC West.
In most circumstances, an SEC coach would be fired after that type of season. But A&M signed Fisher to a fully guaranteed, 10-year, $95 million contract on Sept. 1, 2021.
With critics howling that Fisher has lost his way as an offensive guru, he dumped offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey in November.
Now Jimbo Fisher is counting on Bobby Petrino to save Jimbo Fisher.
The Aggies are scheduled to open the 2023 season against New Mexico Sept. 2. They will host Alabama Oct. 7. They will not play Kentucky in 2023. Too bad.
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