Bobby Petrino out as Louisville football head coach

After a 2-8 start, Louisville football has fired its head coach, Bobby Petrino.

The Bobby Petrino era is over for the University of Louisville football team, according to a report from Yahoo’s Pat Forde. After going 6-21 over his last 27 games against power five teams, Petrino was relieved of his duties as head coach.

Rumors swirled on social media throughout the last month that Petrino was on thin ice, and after allowing more than 50 points in four out of his last five games, it appeared to be the final straw for Vince Tyra and the athletic board.

At the moment, it appears that Petrino is leaving the program without “cause,” but as the story develops, we may see more unfold as well.

Petrino leaves the Louisville football program having gone 36-26 in his second stint for the Cards, but 10 of those wins came against FCS-level teams. When it came to games against opponents who presented any sort of challenge, Petrino’s teams almost always wilted under pressure.

Petrino’s signature wins were against Miami in his first game of the second stint, at Notre Dame in 2014, and his lone win against a ranked foe came against Florida State early in 2016. This time around, Petrino’s tenure had some of the programs highest highs- like the aforementioned victory over the No. 2 Seminoles, and Lamar Jackson bringing the program its first Heisman Trophy.

However, Petrino’s second tenure was filled with some of the program’s lowest lows in two decades. Losses to Houston (twice), Boston College (twice), Wake Forest (twice), and Virginia were signs that Petrino did not command the discipline of his team that was expected when he was brought back to the program. He was a horrifyingly bad recruiter- given the situation he walked into- and the coaches he brought in who could recruit wanted nothing to do with him.

Ultimately, what cost Bobby Petrino his job was his lack of accountability for both his coaches and his players, and the lack of trust and desire to win within the team. After his teams got down, they laid down and took beatings. Louisville suffered a loss by 10 points or more 6 times over the last 15 games, and sometimes it wasn’t even that close.

It will be hard for those around the Louisville program to say goodbye to the coach who made Cardinal football more exciting than it has ever been. But, at the same time, the Cards have been hurt by Petrino just as much as they were helped. Petrino was the last remaining black eye on a Louisville athletics department that has done an incredible job to clean up its past transgressions.

It’s a new beginning for Louisville athletics, and a new beginning for Louisville football.

Update 12:15 AM: Sources tell SI’s Pete Thamel that Lorenzo Ward will be the interim head coach for Louisville’s final two games.

Though immediate speculation was that offensive line coach Mike Summers, or offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway would take over as interim coach, Ward is among the most seasoned on the staff.

Ward served as defensive coordinator at South Carolina and as a defensive backs coach at  Virginia Tech previously, and has been Associate Head coach as well as defensive backs coach for the Cards since his arrival.

Update 1:00 PM: Coaches LD Scott, Nick Petrino, and Ryan Beard will leave the staff effective immediately, according to multiple sources. The younger Petrino serves as the quarterbacks coach during his father’s second tenure at Louisville, but received widespread criticism from fans and players.

Scott and Beard are both son-in-laws of Petrino who have served on staff since 2014. Scott was a former defensive tackle for the Cards, and has served as the defensive line coach during his stint as a coach. Beard has served as a linebackers coach for the Cards since spring of this year, one year after marrying Petrino’s daughter.

Vince Tyra released a public statement after news broke of the Petrino firing.

Tyra will hold a press conference at 2:00 PM on Sunday.

This article will be updated as the story progresses.