Louisville Football: Bobby Petrino’s buyout raises serious questions

A lot of money stands in the way of the University of Louisville parting ways with head football coach Bobby Petrino.

It is no secret that there is a lot of talk around the current state of the football program and its head coach, Bobby Petrino. The proverbial elephant in the athletic department, if you will. A 2-5 start, with an 0-4 conference record and no wins against the power 5, sparks the conversations of whether a change needs to be made at the helm.

The big problem with terminating Petrino after this year, or the next 3 years for that matter, is his massive buyout that former Athletic Director Tom Jurich locked in with his contract extension in 2016.

If UL were to fire Bobby Petrino, during or shortly after this season, they would owe him north of $14 million. A current contract that runs through 2023 states that if Petrino were to be fired without cause, the athletic department would have to pay him his guaranteed money for the remainder of the current year, as well as his guaranteed money for the next 3 years.

A settlement paid to Jurich for being fired without cause and a large sum paid to Xavier to buyout current head basketball coach Chris Mack has left the athletic department short on funds. Not to mention the currently unsettled lawsuit with former head coach Rick Pitino.

Also, along with firing a staff comes with completely hiring a new one and more money that needs to be spent. So is the buyout for Petrino even a possibility?

Tim Sullivan of the Courier Journal spoke with Tom Meeker, a member of the University of Louisville Athletic board, on whether the Petrino 2.0 era could be coming to an end. He told Sullivan:

"“The university is not in a position to buy him out and the football program is in good hands and I don’t think its time to stand in the doorway, jump out of the plane and pull the D ring.”"

There is no doubt that if the product on the field does not improve, fan support, attendance and total revenue will see a decline, even with the likes of Notre Dame and Clemson on the home schedule next year.

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The buyout has been the talk of the town over the last few weeks, deservedly so. However, it’s not just the buyout that causes concern. Louisville would likely only owe Bobby Petrino the money for the remaining (if he was fired during the season) and then from there lump sum payments would be made over the course of his remaining years.

However, just like with any coaching hire there are a lot more expenses in play. If Petrino were to be let go and Athletic Director Vince Tyra were to hire another coach, Louisville would be on the hook for paying that coach, that coaches buyout at his respective program, along with the expenses to move on from the current staff plus adding a new staff. That would get pricey quick.

So if paying the $14 million + other expenses isn’t an option, where can the athletic department and Petrino go from here?

During Bobby’s first stint, one of the strengths was the staff that he surrounded himself with. In 2003 when he was hired away from Auburn to become the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals, he brought in a staff that contained many years of previous coaching experience at each position.

The likes of Paul Petrino as Offensive Coordinator, who brought 10 plus years of division 1 offensive coaching experience and an eventual Broyle’s Award finalist for the best assistant coach in college football. A 3 year starter and one of the greatest offensive players to don a UL jersey, along with 6 years of NFL playing experience, Jeff Brohm, as Quarterbacks coach.  Not to mention guys like Mike Cassity and Greg Nord who also brought years of experience at both the collegiate and professional level.

So maybe the quick and cheapest fix is to evaluate the current staff around coach Petrino. He has all but hired his entire family to be assistants, some of who have no collegiate coaching experience, much less playing experience.

Recruiting also needs to be addressed with a mediocre 2019 class coming in. After the 2017 season, 2 key pieces to recruiting in Cort Dennison and Stephen Fields both left for positions at Oregon. With the early signing period approaching and quite a few misses on some real talent right in our backyard, something needs to be done quick.

So maybe the answer to all of this is to spend some money to address the issues around Petrino.

It is no secret that fans are not happy and Vince Tyra has his work cut out for him. The Cards fans currently calling for Bobby’s job, may have to settle for the fact he might not be going anywhere, anytime soon at least.