The Louisville Cardinals placing Rick Pitino and Tom Jurich on leave affects Tennessee football. Bobby Petrino should now be on the UT Volunteers’ radar.
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As they still wonder about what to do with Butch Jones, Tennessee football has a huge gift now. If Jones doesn’t work out, they’re in perfect position to get Bobby Petrino.
And it’s due to a ridiculously unlikely scenario.
Let’s go back to January of 2014 real quick. Petrino returned to Louisville, and the Cardinals were defending national champions in basketball under Rick Pitino.
If someone said at that point that three and a half years later, only one person would not be fired due to a scandal among Petrino, Pitino, and Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich, nobody in the world would pick Petrino to be that guy.
Well, he’s the only one there now. A report on ESPN cited sources saying that Jurich and Petrino were placed on leave due to the program’s connection to a federal investigation into fraud and corruption in recruiting. Pitino is on unpaid leave, while Jurich is on paid leave.
And with the problems surrounding the Louisville athletic program along with the fact that Lamar Jackson could leave after this year, Petrino now may want out of there. Add in the fact that the firing of Jurich cuts his buyout nearly in half, and he may want out of there as fast as possible.
Meanwhile, Tennessee football could be looking for a new coach very soon depending on what jones does over the next four weeks.
It’s not yet clear if they will fire Jones. But with his seat warmer than ever, the Vols should seriously be looking at Petrino now.
The allure of coaching at a higher-profile school in an easier division could have been enough to get Petrino. Add in the loss of Jackson after this year, and he would have had another reason to leave.
Now, with the issues facing the program, there’s a good chance he wants to leave. And we know by his past actions that he’s not beyond actively looking to leave places.
So Tennessee football is in better position than ever to get him. This is not to say they should fire Jones yet.
The guy is still 3-1 this year, recruiting well and has the program on stable ground. You can’t be sure Petrino will bring all of those things to Knoxville. So it’s still important to let Jones’s season play out.
However, if he continues to have issues, then the Vols should indeed cut bait with him and go straight for Petrino.
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As a head coach, Petrino has never been in a situation as good as Tennessee’s. That would be his best chance at a national championship. And it would be the surest bet Tennessee has made in a long time that they would have a guy return them to Top 5 caliber, even if it doesn’t happen on a yearly basis. So this scandal more than ever should have the Vols looking at Petrino.