Is a dirty dirty program...
From GoUpstate.com
Louisville coach Bobby Petrino Monday morning did what few defenders around South Carolina could do the past three years to Dutch Fork RB Matt Colburn, stop him cold in his tracks. Actually, it was Cardinals' recruiter Todd Grantham who contacted Colburn and Silver Foxes coach Tom Knotts at 10:00 AM Monday morning with the news they no longer had room for Colburn in this class and want him to wait until January to enroll. In other words, here's a grayshirt for you Mr. Football.
Knotts said Monday night Grantham told him they had three junior defensive backs declare early for the NFL draft and they had made a real push for defensive backs and had landed several commitments, thus they needed to use te scholarship for Colburn for one of those defensive backs.
"Needless to say that's not what we though the deal was," a perturbed Knotts said. "We are talking to any and everybody. Wake Forest, Navy, Charleston Southern, Georgia Southern and Kent State, that's kind of where we are right now."
Knotts said the news has not gone over well with his star running back.
"Not good, not good," he said. "I tell my players when you commit, you commit. That's what a commitment is. Matt's been committed for eight months. It's irritating that men can do this. He's just a boy, a young man. He doesn't know how to understand it. He's very upset. Some things have opened up but that's not the way it should be. It's not right. Louisville is only going to hurt themselves doing this. Everybody knows not just what a good player Matt is but what a good person he is. That is not the way to do business and if that's the way to do business we don't want to deal with them. He (Petrino) won't be able to recruit my school anymore and I imagine there will be some other coaches that will say the same thing. Trust factor is just not there. They've known about these three DBs wanting to go to the NFL for weeks now. To use that as an excuse doesn't hold water with me."
As for some of his other players, Knotts said DB Lane Ecton will sign with Georgia Southern, DB Jeremy Addison with Catawba and PK Tyler Bass is considering walking on at Clemson or Georgia Southern.
From ESPN...
When Louisville kicks off the season against Auburn in September, the Cardinals could have two players starting who were kicked out of their first collegiate stops.
Whether coach Bobby Petrino likes it or not, these are facts that simply cannot be ignored. Not only is there a greater awareness of student-athlete misbehavior – and teams willing to overlook it -- there also is the knowledge that Petrino has taken character risks in the past who ended up casting the program in a negative light.
Petrino walks a thin line himself, having been given a second chance to run a big-time college program despite his own checkered past. Any move he makes comes with scrutiny. While he and many coaches have shown a willingness to give out second chances, when Petrino does so, the natural response is for eyebrows to raise.
Bobby Petrino has signed a couple of troubled transfers, which certainly invites scrutiny.That especially holds true with the Cards’ most recent commitment.
Former TCU defensive end Devonte Fields gave a verbal pledge to Louisville on Super Bowl Sunday, news that drew headlines but fell largely under the radar given the game that was to come later in the day. Fields was kicked out of TCU before the 2014 season began after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend, then ended up playing junior college this past season.
He is the second high-profile transfer to come to Louisville with a past. Last year, Louisville took in Georgia transfer Josh Harvey-Clemons, who was dismissed from that program after various off-the-field issues.
There are different degrees of transgressions, mistakes that each coach can be willing to accept while believing the risk to be worth it in the end. In Fields’ case, a domestic violence accusation raises immediate red flags. It also takes on a completely different connotation given the fallout since the Ray Rice situation last year.
Even Fields admits that. In an interview with Sports Illustrated in September, Fields said, “My [stock] is probably down since the Ray Rice situation. It probably dropped me a little bit.” He also admits what happened with his ex-girlfriend was a “mistake.” The legal case, mind you, is still pending.
So what do we make of Petrino's willingness to take Fields? Is he just giving Fields a second chance because he is too talented to turn away? Should Petrino have not even gone that route given the seriousness of the allegations against Fields?
Eric Crawford of WDRB.com in Louisville writes, “There are two kinds of football programs: Those who stand against domestic violence, and those who help perpetuate the problem by being part of the safety net, the net that says no matter what you do, someone, somewhere will give you another chance, if you have enough football potential. U of L now is one of the latter.”
Nobody can argue that Fields and Harvey-Clemons are gifted players. Given all the losses on the Louisville defense, they should step in and help immediately. Harvey-Clemons played for defensive coordinator Todd Grantham at Georgia so at least there is some sort of familiarity there. He has been at Louisville for a full season, with no reported issues.
But a year into his tenure, questions about whether Petrino is bringing in the right character guys have surfaced more than once. During his first-go around at Louisville, he angered athletic director Tom Jurich after leaving for the Falcons because he left behind so many disciplinary problems. Jurich is a smart man with his own reputation on the line. Petrino is no longer operating in a vacuum.
If there is some good news, it is that Petrino had a terrific first season. He had no real disciplinary problems; he stayed out of the headlines; and the Cards went 9-4 and finished in the Top 25. But it takes more than one year to begin changing a reputation. Signing Fields is not going to do much in that department.
The perception that big, bad Bobby Petrino wants to win at all costs just got reinforced. Now he has to hope that Fields and Harvey-Clemons prove him right.