Louisville Fires Head Football Coach Bobby Petrino

Louisville has fired head football coach Bobby Petrino after a 2-8 record this season.  Since the 2008 season, this is the third head football coaching change (2009 Kragthrope; 2013 Strong and 2018 Petrino).  Petrino inherited a highly productive team with the departure of head coach Charlie Strong to Texas, and while the offense was above average (Lamar Jackson's Heismen awarded season and the following season as well) helped, what really was the problem was the consistent decline in defense since Strong's departure.  Combined with this season's dramatic decline in offensive production, resulted in Petrino's firing.  Since 2008, Louisville's offense, defense and total production are at their lowest this season.  The good news is there is since Louisville is so bad this season, they are likely ready for a rebound next season.

Below is Louisville's productivity rank (total, offense, defense along with the average and worst rank) using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model from the data provided from www.cfbstats.com.  All rankings below are based on the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.  As you can see, 2013 was Louisville's best season, even with Lamar Jackson in 2016 and 2017.  Below are links to Petrino's original and amended contract as well as a season by season overview of of the Louisville Cardinals under Petrino's tenure.

Bobby Petrino (2014 - 2018) [Original Contract; Amended Contract]

2014
At the end of head coach Petrino's first season at the helm of the Cardinal's football program, Louisville had a 9-3 win/loss record, making them bowl eligible, where they played the #8 ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the Belk Bowl, losing 14-37 to finish the season at 9-4.  The Cardinals played against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that Louisville had an SOS plus or minus one standard deviation of the "league" average SOS.  The Cardinals' best win was over #25 ranked North Carolina State (30-18) and their worst loss was to #68 ranked Virginia by a score of (21-23).  Louisville had the #19 ranked team in total production with the #48 ranked offense and the #9 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2015
At the end of coach Petrino's second season as the Cardinals' head coach, Louisville was again bowl eligible, with a 7-5 regular season win/loss record.  Louisville played #69 ranked Texas A&M in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City bowl and defeated the Aggies (27-21) to finish the season at 8-5.  Louisville again played against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Cardinals best win was over #34 ranked Boston College (17-14) and their worst loss was to #57 Auburn by a score of (24-31).  Louisville had the #39 ranked team in total production with the #52 ranked offense and the #28 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2016
Lamar Jackson was awarded the Heisman Trophy during this season after a spectacular season.   Louisville had a 9-3 win/loss record, making them bowl eligible, where they played the #7 ranked LSU Tigers and were defeated by a score (9-29), which made Louisville finish overall at 9-4.  The Cardinals played against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Cardinals' best win was over #24 ranked Florida State (63-24) and their worst loss was to #88 ranked Kentucky by a score of (38-41).  Louisville had the #11 ranked team in total production with the #11 ranked offense and the #48 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2017
Louisville was again bowl eligible, now with a 8-4 regular season win/loss record, but were defeated by #21 ranked Mississippi State (27-31) to finish 8-5 overall.  Louisville again played against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Cardinals best win was over #41 ranked Purdue (35-28) and their worst loss was to #70 ranked Boston College by a score of (42-45).  Louisville had the #11 ranked team in total production with the #6 ranked offense and the #77 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2018*
At the time of coach Petrino's firing, the Cardinals were 2-8, while playing against a "tougher" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS, meaning that Louisville had an SOS between one and two standard deviations below the "league" average SOS.  The Cardinal's best win was over currently ranked #113 Western Kentucky (20-17) and their worst loss was to #99 currently ranked Florida State by a score of (24-28).  Louisville has the #126 ranked team in total production with the #117 ranked offense and the #128 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model. As of today, these are all "lows" in terms of production ranking since the 2008 season.

2018 NCAA FBS Head Coaching Changes
Mike Jinks at Bowling Green
DJ Durkin at Maryland