Louisville Football: Is Jeff Brohm a better fit than Bobby Petrino?

With Bobby Petrino’s Louisville football team struggling for answers, rumors continue to swirl around Jeff Brohm as his possible successor. But, is it really time for Petrino to go, and is Brohm truly the best fit?

There have been better times to be a Louisville football fan.

A little over halfway through their 2018 campaign, Bobby Petrino’s Cardinals are staring a double-digit loss season square in the face for the first time since 1997, and only the second time in school history. The Cards play three of their remaining five games against ranked foes, and they are given less than a 15% chance to win four of the last five match-ups, according to ESPN’s FPI.

Recent times have seldom been worse as a Louisville Cardinals fan. What began as a season of great optimism- a new stadium expansion, new crop of talent, and one of the most exciting schedules in school history- has spiraled into complete chaos.

Petrino has lost control of his team. The once highly-respected sideline drill sergeant no longer has the respect of his players- and it shows. His teams are undisciplined, they lack focus, and are chalked full of undeveloped talent.

Don’t get it twisted, Petrino’s staff- current and former- brought in some of the most talented players in school history. High school studs like Puma Pass, CJ Avery, Russ Yeast, Colin Wilson, and PJ Blue- all highly sought-after four star players- have yet to pan out. Though they show signs of brilliance, their lack of discipline, poor scheming, poor game preparation, and poor focus have been common themes during Petrino’s second stint at Louisville.

Dating back to 2016, Louisville is 10-13 over their last 23 games. Even more concerning, they have only won 6 out of 19 games against FBS-level opponents. Since the beginning of 2017, the Cards have lost seven games by 10 or more points.

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Knowledgeable football minds were quick to point out Louisville’s lack of discipline during the Lamar Jackson era. It was easy to write off, however, because the Cards still managed to reel off electrifying plays and find ways to win against lesser teams.

Still, the Cards ranked 126th (out of 128) in sacks allowed in 2016, 104th in 2017, and are currently ranked- that’s right- 128th nationally in sacks given up in 2018. Although most wrote off Jackson’s unpredictable style as the reason behind the lack of development in the line, Louisville has given up 4.0 sacks per game with a new group of quarterbacks this season.

It should come as a surprise to no one that the Cards ranked 126th, 51st, and now 56th in penalty yards per game over the last three seasons. Now, the Cards rank 121st in turnover margin thus far in 2018, with little hope of improvement.

It is one thing to say that Louisville is having a down year, or that they are in a slump- the fact of the matter is that the Cards are continuing on a downward trend in the areas that really matter. A poor record is one thing, but if you rank behind teams like Rutgers, Coastal Carolina, and UTEP in stats that you can control like penalties, turnovers, and sacks given up, there is more than just a talent gap- there is a serious issue within the program.

Petrino has blamed everyone but himself. Every game, he gives the same vanilla answers in his postgame press conference about “working hard,” “going out there and getting better,” and thinking “we had a good game plan.” He tries to blame assistants. Lamar Thomas: Gone. Todd Grantham: gone. Peter Sirmon: Gone. Terrell Buckley, Stephen Field, Garrick McGee, Keith Heyward, and Cort Dennison all left for greener pastures and are having success elsewhere.

The one common denominator in the recent demise of Louisville football is Petrino. And it doesn’t seem like he has any answers.

In a world where college football coaching and recruiting is very much about coaching personalities and meshing with the players- Petrino fits in like Calvin Borel at an NFLPA meeting. He is devoid of personality- especially one that attracts 16-18 year old kids, and he lacks the fire and passion that fans grew to know and love. A recipe for complete disaster in the college football world.

What Louisville needs is a fresh start, and many think that the answer could lie with former Louisville quarterback, offensive coordinator, and hometown hero Jeff Brohm.

Brohm is a hot commodity in the college football coaching world. A bright up-and-coming mind who is lighting up scoreboards and turning heads. So much so that Purdue- a perennial Big Ten bottom dweller- signed Brohm to a new 7-year $29 million guaranteed contract before the season began.

Brohm spurned the likes of Tennessee in the offseason to stay and continue to build at Purdue, and now he has a team that puts the foot on the gas and makes for an exciting product on the field. His style of play is similar to Bobby Petrino’s of the early 2000’s, but molded to match up well for today’s game.

While Petrino’s offenses of recent lack creativity, and his defenses lack the ability to stop the other team from gaining yards and scoring points, Brohm has taken what he learned under Bobby and his brother Paul at Louisville, and made it his own.

Not only does Brohm excite Louisville fans with the prospects of bringing fun football back to Cardinal Stadium, but he has the personality is takes to build and sustain success at a high level. Brohm is a fiery guy who certainly likes to tell it like it is.

His style resonates with recruits, too. Brohm’s first recruiting class finished ranked 49th, which was up from 68th and 74th the two previous seasons. In 2019, Brohm’s class is currently ranked in the top 25. His staff has reeled in four 4-star players, and they have some more talented players on their radar. In comparison, Louisville’s 2019 recruiting class currently sits at 55th nationally- the 3rd worst in the ACC.

Brohm has long been rumored as Petrino’s successor at Louisville. He was born and raised in Louisville, where he played high school football at Trinity. He was a quarterback at Louisville from 1989-1993 under Howard Schellenberger- who he later coached under at Florida Atlantic. His brothers Greg and Brian played college football at Louisville. Brohm was the offensive coordinator for Louisville’s electric offenses in Petrino’s first stint. He again took over co-play calling duties under Petrino at Western Kentucky in 2013, and then was ultimately Petrino’s successor in 2014 before being hired at Purdue last year.

Brohm is a Louisville Cardinal through and through. Were he offered the position, it would be hard to imagine that he would be able to turn it down. Louisville is his home, it is where he built his life, his family, and his legacy. The opportunities are limitless. Louisville plays in one of the best divisions in college football, have some of the best facilities, and gives Brohm one of his best chances at success.

However, before Louisville crosses T’s and dots I’s there is a lot of work to be done- namely monetarily. Petrino has a hefty buyout- around $14 million. And if Louisville were to move forward without him, it is unlikely it would be because he left for a position elsewhere. Not to mention that Brohm’s buyout would be an additional $4 million if hired away in 2018.

Petrino still has chances to prove himself in 2018. But, in order for him to survive into 2019 and beyond, he will have to muster up at least a couple of wins against a more than formidable back end of the schedule.

Brohm, meanwhile, is sure to have big name programs calling his name in the offseason.

It is hard to imagine Louisville’s administration waiting another season before making a decision about Petrino’s fate. That $14 million buyout looms large, but the number grows the longer he stays with the Cards. Meanwhile, Cardinal stadium has hardly mustered half capacity for any game in 2018. An average of 34,968 tickets have been scanned through four games this season- a number that figures to drop as the season continues in a stadium that could comfortably seat 65,000.

The fans are speaking with their checkbooks, and Vince Tyra and the rest of the administrators will have to take action quickly if they want to halt the loss in revenue. Louisville concludes the 2018 season against a top-20 Kentucky team that will draw much more blue than red to Cardinal Stadium, and they open 2019 against a Notre Dame team who figures to make a run at this year’s playoffs, and who have a huge following in the area.

Petrino helped continue to lay the foundation that began with Lee Corso, Howard Schnellenberger, and John L. Smith started. There is certainly not a lack of respect for what the Petrino family has meant for this program, the University, and the city of Louisville. But the numbers don’t lie. The downward trend in performance is more than concerning, and the fan and donor support is following suit.

The time for a change may be sooner rather than later- and the Jeff Brohm era could breathe new life into a Louisville football program gasping for air.