Written by: Emilee Harvey, staff writer

The University of Louisville fired football head coach Bobby Petrino after the seventh straight loss, bringing their record to 2-8 for the season. In four seasons, Petrino had a 41-9 overall record from 2003-2006 before he left to coach the Atlanta Falcons for 10 games in the 2007 season. He came back to the University of Louisville in January of 2014. The Cardinals lost at least four games in the past five seasons, making this season a trainwreck.  

Petrino coached Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson in the 2016 season. After Jackson left, the last two seasons were plagued by poor offensive line play and horrible defense. This season, the Cardinals allowed 50 points in five of the last 10 games.

Petrino worked at Arkansas from 2008 to 2011 until he was fired in 2012. The athletic director from Arkansas fired him for “a pattern of misleading behavior” when he was in a motorcycle accident, revealing that his passenger was his mistress. Former athletic director Tom Jurich hired Petrino for a second time because he believed he was a changed man.

Vince Tyra, athletic director of the University of Louisville, said he “did not have the confidence” that Petrino could do better next season and bring the program back up. Tyra felt that change “needs to start happening now.”

Lorenzo Ward, associate head coach and secondary coach, will be the interim head coach for the final games of the season. The University of Louisville will also let go of quarterbacks coach Nick Petrino, son of Bobby Petrino, as well as the team’s linebackers coach and defensive line coach, who are Petrino’s sons-in-law.

The Cardinals have a seven-game losing streak and a five-game stretch of ACC defeats by at least 18 points every game. Most recent was the blowouts from Clemson and Syracuse. Clemson was on November 3 with a 77-16 loss. Syracuse was on November 9 with a 54-23 loss. The Cardinals have the lowest average of points in the ACC at 21.7 points per game. That’s different from the past two years when they lead the conference in scoring.

Petrino leaves Louisville with a 77-35 overall record. This is the first Louisville team coached by him that will not go to a bowl game. Petrino has an 119-56 overall record in his coaching career with Louisville, Arkansas and Western Kentucky.

Cardinals will finish the season with home games against ranked teams NC State on November 17 and Kentucky on November 24.

Emilee Harvey is a communications major with a focus in film and design and is the graphics coordinator.