Bobby Petrino fired: 5 candidates to be next Louisville football coach
Bobby Petrino has been fired as head coach at Louisville, and here are five candidates to replace him.
The Louisville Cardinals lost their seventh straight game and fell to 2-8 with a 54-23 loss to No. 13 Syracuse on Friday night, as they allowed for the third straight game and for the fifth time this season. On Sunday morning, as first reported by Yahoo!’s Pat Forde, head coach Bobby Petrino was fired.
Petrino’s buyout is believed to be around $14 million. But with just four wins in the last 15 ACC games (0-7 this year), and a second stint at Louisville (36-26) that wasn’t nearly as successful as the first (41-9), the writing on the wall was getting bigger by the week. According to Forde and others, associate head coach and safeties coach Lorenzo Ward will take over as interim head coach.
Petrino’s buyout, and any potential looming financial payout to former men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino if his dismissal can’t be proven with cause, may serve to hamstring Louisville’s search for a new football coach. But there’s definite appeal to the job, with top-notch facilities and a local fan base with no major pro sports teams in town to compete for attention
Petrino’s reputation as an offensive guru dissolved this year without Lamar Jackson under center, but he should be a candidate for other jobs in the upcoming coaching carousel.
As for Louisville, here are five candidates to replace Petrino in 2019.
5. Ryan Day, Ohio State Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
Day stepped in as acting head coach for Ohio State earlier this season, and went 3-0 in Urban Meyer’s absence. Day gets some credit for the development of quarterback Dwayne Haskins, as the Buckeyes’ signal caller is top-10 in the country in passing yards (third), passing touchdowns (second) and passer rating (eighth).
Following Jackson as Louisville’s quarterback is a tough position to be put in, but sophomore Jawon Pass simply hasn’t been good this year (eight touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 54.3 percent completion rate and 30 sacks taken). Getting him on a better track heading into his junior season will be important for Louisville, and Day might be the perfect guy to get it done.
Day has been pointed to as a coach-in-waiting at Ohio State, and amid reported tension with administration and health issues for Urban Meyer that succession plan may be accelerated. But Day will be a a candidate for other jobs this year, and Louisville should be among his options.