Bobby Petrino has worn out his welcome…everywhere

Bobby Petrino has been given his share of second chances, and it’s safe to say he’s used them all up at this point.

More from College Football

Louisville head football coach Bobby Petrino has a well-documented spotted past. But up until now his inability to keep his word or act with any kind of integrity has only affected organizations and his own intimate business and family relationships.

Now, as they say, it’s personal.

Louisville, the school that he turned his back on only six months after signing a 10-year contract in 2006, was good enough to give Bobby Petrino a second chance at living his dream, and now he’s taken that trust and smeared the reputation of the school with high school coaches.

When his slick, Persian bazaar way of handling things derails a young man’s life, then he’s gone too far and should be shown the door…permanently.

Petrino, not unlike every other college football coach, has a limited number of scholarships to give out each year, and has to best decide how they will be used. Schools make offers, kids commit, kids de-commit, schools move on. It’s a yearly chain of events that we’ve all become used to seeing.

But when a school makes an offer, that offer is supposed to hold firm unless the player backs out and re-opens his recruitment or chooses another school. You don’t yank the rug out from under a student-athlete at zero hour.

That is, unless you’re Bobby Petrino.

Matt Colburn is a running back from Dutch Fork High School in South Carolina. He’s a 3-star rated player, and what would be considered to be a good football player. Not great. Not “must-have”. He’s not in that elite class, or one of the players that coaches are fighting over to sign with their school.

Colburn gave his verbal commitment to Louisville eight months ago, and had never wavered in his decision to play for Petrino and the Cardinals. His high school coach, Tom Knotts, is an old-school fellow who is well-known for teaching his kids that their commitment to a school is just that…a commitment.

“I tell my players when you commit, you commit,” Knotts told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. “That’s what a commitment is.”

It’s a shame Bobby Petrino didn’t have Knotts as an influence in his formative years.

This year, Louisville attracted some attention during their first season in the ACC, and Petrino’s reputation as a good coach (the only positive reputation he owns at this point) along with the Cardinals’ successful season attracted more good players than had been expected.

When the scholarship limit had been reached, and more players continued to express an interest in attending Louisville, Petrino did the only logical thing. He said, “no room at the inn”…right?

Wrong.

Instead, he decided to listen to assistant coach Tony Grantham, who apparently wanted to fill some spots at defensive back. Petrino then had Grantham make the call to Matt Colburn to tell him he no longer had a scholarship, and this was done just days before National Signing Day.

Goodness, even Nick Saban isn’t that cruel. He at least has the decency to not wait until signing day or to give a player the option to grayshirt. In doing this, Petrino left this poor kid twisting in the wind. A young man in need of a scholarship was just set adrift as the clock was expiring.

Enough is enough, already. Is it not clear that Petrino’s spots are never going to change, and that he’s a blight on the face of every organization he becomes associated with?

By all rights, Petrino shouldn’t be coaching at all at this point. Louisville was good enough to give him a second chance, despite being one of the organizations he burned in the past. He props himself up as being a gracious giver of such second chances, handing scholarships to players dismissed from other programs, but he can’t live up to his word for a kid who was honorably holding to his commitment.

Tom Knotts isn’t going to let Petrino or anyone from Louisville’s staff recruit at his school ever again while he’s there, and he reportedly has other coaches in the state lined up in solidarity with him. When you start alienating an entire state…yeah, you’re doing it wrong.

Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich should cut his losses, and show Petrino the door, and that’s the only nice way I can think of saying this.

Former head coach Charlie Strong had worked tirelessly to build the Louisville program back up into a national contender after Petrino’s desertion. He had a sterling reputation as a man of solid character and a intense molder of young lives. He was rewarded for his diligence and fine work with an opportunity to coach at a legendary school, Texas.

Louisville was rewarded with the return of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Louisville was in much better hands under Charlie Strong. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

We’ve all seen enough of Petrino’s shenanigans and lack of personal accountability. He’s burned bridges at every turn, and has defiled the trust of nearly everyone who was silly enough to place that trust in him. He’s torched the trust of schools, friends, colleagues, NFL owners and players, and family.

He’s now changed his modus operandi from spurning and manipulating grown adults who have recourse against him, to toying with the lives of young people.

That is where the line should be drawn.

His welcome has been worn out, and how any organization that doesn’t have to teach their employees to ask if a patron wants fries with their order could justify hiring Petrino is beyond me.

Even then, if Bobby Petrino were serving me at a drive-thru, you can bet I’d sit at the window and check every single item and count every french fry in my bag…and I’d probably still park my car and go inside for a replacement order to be served by another paper hat-wearing townie.

Matt Colburn is lucky. He’ll find a school to give him a scholarship. He’s a good football player and, by all reports, a good student. And one day he’ll look back on this episode, and he’ll be grateful that he didn’t spend several years of his life being “coached” by a man who could teach him very little about honor, integrity, and personal accountability.

There are 80 or more players who won’t be so lucky. You’ll see them dressed in Louisville red this season.

Next: This Year's Best College Football Coaching Hires

More from FanSided