Former UK football assistant settles a score with Bobby Petrino
Quick hitters from the Heisman House:
21. Bobby Petrino. In his two separate stints coaching at Louisville, Bobby P. was not afraid to accept a recruiting verbal commitment from a high school player only to then renege on the offer.
20. Brad Durham. After committing to U of L in 2006, the former Rockcastle County offensive lineman was blindsided when the Petrino coaching staff pulled his offer. Once jilted, Durham went on to become a multi-year starter at offensive tackle for Kentucky.
19. Matt Colburn. The class of 2015 South Carolina running back had his offer to Louisville rescinded two days before national signing day with Petrino asking him to “grayshirt.” Colburn instead chose Wake Forest, where he became a star.
18. Lamar Jackson. Did Petrino want to pull the U of L scholarship offer to the class of 2015 quarterback recruit who would go on to win the 2016 Heisman Trophy at Louisville?
17. Lamar Thomas. The former Miami Hurricanes star wide receiver, who was working as a Louisville assistant in 2014 when he found Jackson for U of L, told The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman for a recent article that Petrino did want to pull the QB’s offer.
16. ‘He won’t admit it.’ Thomas, who left U of L to spend two seasons (2016-18) as a Kentucky assistant, said Petrino ordered him to cut Jackson loose. “He won’t admit that,” Thomas said of Petrino, “but I won’t forget it.”
15. Just said no. Thomas said he refused Petrino’s directive to renege on Jackson’s scholarship offer because it would have destroyed his credibility as a recruiter in south Florida. “Of course, (Petrino) was pissed,” Thomas told The Athletic, “but it is what it is.”
14. No ‘D’ in ‘Petrino.’ Speaking of Bobby P., in his debut as Missouri State head coach Saturday, No. 5 Oklahoma hung a 48-0 shellacking on the Bears. Defensively, Petrino’s new team picked up where his old one left off. In 2018, Louisville allowed more than 48 points in six of its final seven games.
13. A word of Petrino praise. One thing that cannot be taken away from the former Louisville head man: In Micale Cunningham, Tutu Atwell, Javian Hawkins and Dez Fitzpatrick, Petrino left Scott Satterfield with a core of gifted offensive playmakers.
12. EKU glass half-full. In Eastern Kentucky’s first two weeks playing an improvised, independent football schedule, the Colonels have seen their games at Marshall and at West Virginia broadcast nationally on ESPN and FS1, respectively. For an FCS program, that is a gold mine of national exposure.
11. EKU glass half-empty. You wonder how much good a program ultimately reaps, however, from being strafed 59-0 and 56-10 in back-to-back weeks on national TV.
10. Not so special. Given the irregular nature of college football preseason preparation this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was not shocking that special teams were an adventure this past weekend.
9. Louisville. In its 35-21 season-opening win over Western Kentucky, the Cardinals botched a punt snap and had a punt blocked to set up WKU touchdown drives of 1 and 4 yards.
8. Iowa State. In a 31-14 home upset loss to Louisiana, the No. 23 Cyclones gave up a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown and an 83-yard punt return TD.
7. Texas State. In a wildly entertaining 51-48 double overtime loss to UTSA, the Bobcats missed an extra point that would have given them the lead with 1:16 left in regulation and misfired on a 20-yard field goal that would have put them ahead in the second OT.
6. Not dialed in. Of the 20 games that involved at least one FBS team last week, the place-kickers in eight of those contests combined to make 50% or less of their field-goal tries.
5. Quentin McCord. The ex-Kentucky Wildcats and Atlanta Falcons wideout, who died last month at age 42 after several years of health challenges, wore No. 4 in his days playing at LaGrange High School in Georgia.
4. Remembering McCord. According to ex-LaGrange High School coach Steve Pardue, this season’s Grangers are wearing No. 4 patches on the back of their helmets to honor McCord.
3. A late bloomer. McCord did not play high school football as a freshman. When McCord then asked to come out for the team, Pardue said he stood around 5-foot-4 and weighed around 100 pounds.
2. E.J. McCord. Quentin McCord’s son is a 5-10, 173-pound junior wide receiver/defensive back at Georgia’s Mill Creek High School.
1. A coach’s advice. After Quentin McCord’s death, Pardue said he called Mill Creek Coach Josh Lovelady to talk about the McCord family legacy.
“I just told him not to give up if (E.J.) takes a little extra time (to develop),” Pardue said. “I told him, ‘His Daddy was a late bloomer. And he ended up playing in the NFL.’”
