Premature Matriculation

Filed in archive College Football on December 12, 2007

Bobby Petrino must have some really unique interview skills. Or maybe just some really compromising pictures of people. How else could he get three different contracts totaling 20 years and $63.25 million dollars in the last 17 months?

It is baffling that this is the one guy everybody has to have. Especially knowing his history of premature matriculation. How can a recruit's parents trust a coach who, since 1997, has now had seven different jobs? ESPN's Len Pasquarelli succinctly put it best:

"Petrino could glance across the fence at the most barren front yard in the neighborhood and he would manage to somehow view it through his special prism as a meticulously manicured fairway at Augusta National."

Remember, this is a man who secretly met with Auburn in the middle of his first year as Louisville head coach, in order to take Tommy Tuberville's job, though he was coordinator under Tuberville the year before.

If you happen to view the inevitable YouTube clip of Petrino doing that ridiculous Arkansas pig cheer (or whatever it's called), maybe we should feel bad for the citizens of razorback nation, who are likely to get burned when some other school calls. Then again, they should know what they are getting into with Petrino. We'll leave you with a telling passage from college football writer Pat Forde about Petrino:

"Even in a profession rife with dishonest posturing, Petrino is singularly mercenary. Loyalty, allegiance, commitment and honesty are foreign concepts to him. It must be a sad existence. I apologize to Alabama's Nick Saban - last year I named him president of the Liar's Club. He's been impeached and replaced by the disingenuous drifter."

(Photo: Flickr)