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Bobby Petrino resigned Sun., Jan. 7, as the head football coach from the University of Louisville, opting to take a new job as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
Petrino left, more than likely favoring the higher pay, larger prestige and fame that comes along with being a coach in the NFL. However, he did so at the cost of alienating many trusting and supportive fans, alumni and boosters of the program.
The resignation couldn’t have come at a worse time. Fresh off a victory in the FedEx Orange Bowl over Wake Forest, and finishing a 12-1 season with a top-five ranked team in the country, the Cards were certainly flying high.
But it seems as though Petrino, in an act of betrayal and disloyalty, left the University of Louisville for a job that will almost surely make him another John L. Smith. Smith left the U of L for Michigan State after a win in the Liberty Bowl in 2001 and has since been plagued with a series of sub-par seasons.
After a 2004 meeting with the Louisiana State University football team, a mere five days before the Cards played in the Liberty Bowl, many football analysts and fans alike had already begun to wonder how many offers Petrino would pass up before finally leaving.
So why now?
Why leave after a near perfect season and bowl victory? Why leave with a star quarterback and nearly three-fourths of the team’s starters available to return? Why leave with a national championship in sight?
The move to head coach of the Falcons was widely considered greedy by athletes and students because Petrino was already making an ample sum of money for his work. What added insult to injury for Cardinal fans was that Petrino had just signed a 10-year contract extension over the summer that awarded him $25 million, with a $1 million buyout.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am with the commitment and the confidence that Tom Jurich has in me and the university has in me,” Petrino said after signing the contract last fall. “I also wanted to make sure that everyone understood, I know I’ve said it, that this is where my family wants to be. This is where I want to be. I want everyone to really believe it.”
Obviously, we can’t believe him. With a bowl championship victory behind the football program and a realistic shot at a national title for the upcoming season, many fans feel betrayed by Petrino’s sudden move.
Stunned players staggered from the locker room Sunday night following Petrino’s announcement to the team, shocked and angry as their beloved coach who had just led them to victory announced his decision to go to another team.
But just as a mother bird must push her babies from the nest, Petrino will soon see if his team can fly solo.
Birds of a feather don’t really flock together, after all.
