Petrine back to Louisville as head coach

[donovan]

Poor Louisville....I wonder if he had a choice in leaving Ga.

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2014/todd-grantham-leaving-for-louisville/

A million bucks as an assistant...you would have to work for ....for..something like an internet security company to make those kind of bucks....well..take a little pay cut......

[Spence]

Luke Fickell at Ohio State makes 775K and our defense sucked this year.

[RazorHawk]

Poor Louisville....I wonder if he had a choice in leaving Ga.

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2014/todd-grantham-leaving-for-louisville/

Well if he didn't have a choice a $150,000 raise was very fortunate.

[Derek]

Poor Louisville....I wonder if he had a choice in leaving Ga.

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2014/todd-grantham-leaving-for-louisville/

A million bucks as an assistant...you would have to work for ....for..something like an internet security company to make those kind of bucks....well..take a little pay cut......

HA! If I made that kinda money, I would make the trip to Couer de Lene more than once every few years, and bring you with me.

[Swamp Daddy]

Well, at least we can look forward to a high powered offense with Petrino. I only hope he won't slack off once he gets a lead as he used to do in his last stint here.

My question is, "will Todd Grantham give us a defensive mind like Petrino's is on offense". Might be interesting next year.

Swamp Daddy

[billybud]

We hear, down here, that Todd Grantham may have gotten very lucky.

Some are saying that he was asked to look around by Richt..and ended up getting a raise.

Now...Georgia is taking FSU's DC, Pruitt, who has had one year of DC experience. A Championship year, but only one year.

Pruitt was a position coach at Alabama before FSU hired him as a DC. He is a SEC guy, through and through. I am not sure that it was about the money although Georgia is paying him $350,000 more then his FSU contract pays.... FSU was not given the opportunity to renegotiate.

Soooo...this all started with Mack Brown having a few bad years, thus Strong leaving Louisville for Texas, Petrino moving up to Louisville and grabbing Grantham thus leaving an opening for Richt to grab Pruitt.

Did I forget to mention Kevin Bacon?

[Derek]

We hear, down here, that Todd Grantham may have gotten very lucky.

Some are saying that he was asked to look around by Richt..and ended up getting a raise.

I think what you are hearing is correct. A friend of mine is an alumnus as stays in contact with the program and several boosters. He said he heard the same thing.

This just confirms to me that Richt is a stand up guy.....not the best coach in the world, but a stand up guy.

[Cane from the Bend]

A 10 million dollar buyout will pretty much keep him there, for as long as the want him. From strictly a football standpoint this is an excellent hire for Louisville.

A 10 million dollar buyout would protect the coach from being fired.
From a Football standpoint . . . maybe. If you mean on field success.

But off field incidence, talk and buzz can effect a programs on-field presence, too.

Tom Jurich's post hire press event is available on-line; and he plus others agree that Petrino seems a changed man. Perhaps his ego has shrunk a bit which would be all to the good.

I hope for Louisville that this is the case.

But, people saying Petrino seems like a changed man is something that has to be said, whether true or not; in order to justify the hire.

My guess, regardless if he has changed or not, is that Petrino knows he is walking on eggshells right now. I wouldn't expect anything foolish from him, at least for a while. (then again, a fool usually does things foolish, because he is a fool)

The ACC is far from being out of Louisville's league, right now. Petrino's impact could be felt right away. His pass heavy system seems to be effective, irregardless of where he plays. 8-4 may be selling them short. It will all depend on what the QB position looks like for the Cardinals.

Here is what Louisville has currently for Quarter Backs listed on their roster:

#11 Will Gardner 6'5" 230 lbs --- RS FR
• Sat out last season after tearing ACL in the summer
• Coaching staff loves his upside and ability to throw the football
• Needs to continue to learn the office

#12 Brett Nelson 6'4" 231 lbs --- JR
• Played for Ed Carberry at Southwestern Community College
• Enrolled at Louisville in January *(last year)
• Played two seasons at Southwestern Community College
• Was named one of the top pro-style quarterbacks in the state of California
• Threw for 4,472 yards and 34 touchdowns with 17 interceptions in two seasons as starter
• Passed for 2,833 yards and 23 touchdowns, completing 63 percent of his passes
• Completed 21-of-32 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns in a win over San Diego Mesa
• As a freshman in 2011, Nelson completed 139-of-his 261 passes (53.3 percent) for 1,639 yards
• Tossed 11 touchdowns and six interceptions
• Attended St. Francis High in La Canada, Calif
• Threw for 1,555 yards and 18 touchdowns in his first six games at St. Francis

#13 Andrew Risher 6'0" 186 lbs ---RS FR
NA

#14 Kyle Bolin 6'3" 196 lbs --- FR
Played for Bill Letton at Lexington Catholic High School
• rated a four-star prospect by Scout.com and 247Sports.com --- three-star recruit by Rivals.com and ESPN.com
• rated as the No. 4 prospect in Kentucky by Rivals.com and ESPN.com --- ranked as the No. 17 quarterback by Scout.com --- rated as the No. 30 quarterback by ESPN.com
• passed for 7,038 yards and 63 touchdowns during his career
• was 27-of-40 for 269 yards in a loss to Ensworth (Tenn.). . .completed 113 of 207 passes for 1,556 yards and 14 touchdowns with six interceptions before tearing his ACL
• rushed for 187 yards and four touchdowns
• completed 211-of-366 passes for 3,088 yards, 29 touchdowns and only 11 picks during his junior season and led his team to the state finals
• rushed for 300 yards and five scores as a junior
• was the first sophomore to win the school's Most Valuable Offensive Player of the Year and the Coaches Award
• attended the National Underclassmen Football Combine
• played in the eighth grade Army All-American game
• attended the Columbus Elite 11 camp
• received offers from Kentucky, Cincinnati and Illinois.

#19 Jerry Arlinghaus 6'4" 213 lbs --- RS SO
NA

...

So gauge this for what value you put into this sort of thing.

Patrino has a knack for taking a solid passer, and fielding him with receivers who are adept at catching several repetitions per game ... and presently, there is a fairly deep selection for him to pick from this roster.

.

.

.

[billybud]

I think that Will Gardner might start if he has recovered.

He has an arm and can make the throws...reading defenses is where he needs to grow.

I was impressed with Louisville's defense in the bowl game against the Canes. Having Duke out for Miami certainly hindered their running game, but Louisville was still impressive.

[Swamp Daddy]

Petrino has put together a staff:
OC/QB - Garrick McGee
OL - Chris Klenakis
RB - Kolby Smith
WR - Lamar Thomas

DC - Todd Grantham
DL -
LB - Tony Grantham
DB - Terrell Buckley
DE - L D Scott

Which looks ok so far as I've heard about these people. Local opinion is divided on Clint Hurtt leaving. Some think he'll spend a year or so in the pros and join Strong at Texas. Some others think Strong encouraged him to go to the pros so he wouldn't have Hurtt recruiting in Florida against him. And, many other 'reasons' have been advanced. New staff has been on the recruiting trail now for awhile.

Lots of shake-ups among the recruits, some moving on to TX, some to elsewhere, some staying. Some new recruits on a visit already; they are probably the kind that fits Petrino type offense. I am hoping the Todd Grantham hire will give us a good defense. And, we lost the most to graduation on defense.

We'll sure miss Teddy Bridgewater as he made Hail Mary throws exciting on both ends. And without much windup he could flick a ball almost 50 yards with ease.

Our first ACC schedule looks mighty tough compared to recent years; including the back to back rematch with Miami. No one can complain about that schedule.

Swamp Daddy

[Swamp Daddy]

Petrino and staff are hard on the recruiting trail trying to stabilize previous commits and get some new speed on defense.

This weekend:
Four-star offensive lineman Lukayus McNeil, who committed to the previous staff before decommitting after the coaching change, has now recommitted to the Louisville Cardinals.

Will give other details later on after the signing period. Looks like things have evened out for next year. And, we are looking OK on paper.

Swamp Daddy

[Swamp Daddy]

Plenty of high class recruits for 2015, some good ones and JUCOs for 2014. The coach seems satisfied with progress so far. But, I knew someone in the media would have to do some trash article on Petrino based on his past record (personality wise) which is crappy. I just didn't expect Sports Illustrated to step up to the plate and do it. Silly, baseless journalism, SI is slowly declining into a blog outfit.

Swamp Daddy

[Swamp Daddy]

The moment of truth is close at hand for Bobby P's second stint at Louisville with game day less than 5 days away. He is much more at ease with the press than 10 years back; it's quite noticeable. He has guardedly praised the team.

World class wide receiver DeVante Parker is out with an injured ankle. Other injuries minor. Transfer Michael Dyer coming off injuries from last year is now day to day with several injuries and is questionable for the first game.

Ready to go, Swamp Daddy

[Swamp Daddy]

Another 4-star QB out of Florida commits for 2015.

But, tomorrow night is the start of 2014 and we'll get an idea of what is what.

This is actually Petrino's 3rd stint at UL.

1) Offensive coordinator under John L. Smith
(Falcons)
2) Head coach stint #1
(screws up at Arkansas)
(spends a year at WKU)
3) Head coach stint #2

Maybe the third time's a charm.

Swamp Daddy

[Swamp Daddy]

UL opens the ACC era with a win. This might have been our best opponent yet for an opening game. A true Petrino game with a 16 play 8-minute drive in the 4th qtr. eating up a lot of time and scoring as well. Hopefully, we'll have super receiver DeVante Parker back for the 3rd game (or 4th.) And, maybe a healthy Michael Dyer soon; he has a deep thigh bruise that isn't healing very fast.

Others stepped up. A lot of first game jitters and miscues on both sides in the first half. Both teams settled down in the 2nd half. It will be awhile before my nerves settle down.

Swamp Daddy