TheCatsDomain.Com Message Boards: Petrino’s Cold-Bloodedness Exposes Yet Another NCAA Flaw

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Posted by eleem (Member # 884) on 02-09-2015, 02:14 PM:

So last year, when the University of Louisville ignited a firestorm of controversy by re-hiring their once-disgraced football coach, Bobby Petrino, I broke with much of the Big Blue Nation and reserved judgment. (My semi-animus for UK’s little brother is reserved for its hoops squad.) Petrino had certainly earned his reputation as an untrustworthy scoundrel, but we all evolve with age. And at least one of his early victims — U of L athletic director Tom Jurich — saw enough contrition and maturity in Petrino to bring him back to the scene of his crime.

And then this Monday, as the nation was recovering from one of history’s most exciting Super Bowls, Petrino shattered the shaky foundation of his trustworthiness. Just 48 hours before National Signing Day, the first time that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent with an NCAA football team, Petrino revoked a scholarship offer to three-star running back recruit Matt Colburn, South Carolina’s “Mr. Football,” who had been committed to Louisville for nearly eight months.

What was the cause, you ask? Career-threatening injury? Legal violation or school rule infraction? An exhibition of immaturity or poor character?

Nope, not even close. Petrino was concerned that the Cards had lost too many defensive backs to the NFL draft, so the team needed to use Colburn’s scholarship to sign a top cornerback or safety. (Of course, Louisville — like the whole football world — knew for weeks that the DB vacancies were occurring.)

Louisville oh-so-generously offered to “gray shirt” Colburn, allowing the running back to delay his enrollment and be part of the 2016 recruiting class. But — surprise, surprise, surprise — the spring graduate isn’t interested in a involuntary gap year, so he’s left to scramble to identify new suitors among the schools he had already rejected due to the Cardinals’ “commitment.”

There’s no question that Colburn will land somewhere; and hopefully he’ll find a college with a more compassionate focus on its students. But there’s also no doubt that the eight-month delay denied the halfback many promising opportunities. And the annual highlight for so many senior high school football stars — National Signing Day — has passed without a press conference, or even a celebratory high-five, for Matt Colburn.

◾A coach like Petrino can jump a contract and coach a new school the next year, while a player who chooses to transfer to a more fitting institution and program must sit out a season — unless he finds a generous-hearted coach to provide him a waiver.
◾A coach like Petrino can be signed to a long-term contract and still earn pay in years after which he had been fired for poor leadership, while a college athlete’s scholarship is renewable every year, and he can be unceremoniously dumped if he underperforms, or if a new coach finds more “suitable” talent.
◾And while a coach like Petrino can find himself in a difficult situation if the places in Petrino-gate were reversed — if Colburn were the one who revoked his letter of intent — the mere nuisance a coach must endure to fill a vacant position pales in comparison to the life-disrupting crisis a teenager faces when having his career rug pulled out from under him at the last minute.

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Posted by Old Norm (Member # 1482) on 02-09-2015, 04:20 PM:

Petrino is a POS. Always has been, always will be. The kid should be able to sue him for breach of contract, but that could never happen.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 02-09-2015, 04:25 PM:

I blame Louisville for hiring a coach with his sordid background. If Louisville wants to improve their image they sure are not making good hiring decisions.

Posted by m hamilton (Member # 127) on 02-09-2015, 08:19 PM:

They don't care, They'd sell their souls for one more win!

Posted by Green-Bean (Member # 13551) on 02-09-2015, 09:34 PM:

VILLE DOES NOT CARE , THEY WILL DO ANYTHING TO TRY AND WIN IN THE ACC.

Posted by catmandoo (Member # 1284) on 02-10-2015, 11:14 PM:

One would think the fan base would realize this and complain but I guess in todays win at all cost mind frame it carries down to fans as well.