By Russ Brown
NKyTribune correspondent
LOUISVILLE — Under terms of a lucrative contract extension announced Thursday by the University of Louisville, football coach Bobby Petrino will be 62 years old when the new agreement expires. What will he do then? Not retire from the sidelines, apparently.
“I hope I get another one,” said the 55-year-old Petrino, who was 41 when he started his first sting at UofL. “I’ll be in good health, fired up and ready to go.”
That would be just fine with UofL athletics director Tom Jurich, who recently finalized a new seven-year contract for Petrino worth $30.625 million, or an average of $4.3 million per year. That’s a substantial raise over the $3 million salary he received in a six-year pact when he was rehired as coach in 2014.
“What I wanted to do is basically just show everybody the confidence I have not only in the job that he’s done but the job that he’s doing,” Jurich said. “Our future is extremely bright. I love being in the position being poised for the future, and I really feel that we are. I love evaluating this program from A to Z, and everything I see has just been fantastic.
“I love the growth in this program, I love how our young kids are developing. I love how our old kids are graduating, doing great in the classroom. These are the highest marks we’ve ever had and I’m so appreciative of that. Bobby has earned this. I know this is a place he wants to call home and this is just another indication to all of us how well this partnership and this family has been brought together.”
According to a USA Today database, Petrino’s annual base pay with the new deal would have ranked ninth in the nation in 2015. Among Atlantic Coast Conference coaches next season only Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher at $5.15 million and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, who just signed a new six-year, $31.75 million contract that will pay him $4.8 million per year, will earn more than Petrino.
“I’d like to thank Tom and Dr. Ramsey (UofL president James Ramsey) for their confidence in how our program is going, how we’re progressing,” Petrino said. “I’m very blessed to work with the best athletic director in the country and an (athletic department) that certainly puts all the resources behind us so we can have the most success we possibly can.”
U of L went 9-4 in Petrino’s first season in 2014, with the highlights being a win over Miami in the school’s first ACC season and victories at Notre Dame and against Kentucky. The Cardinals posted an 8-5 record last season, overcoming an 0-3 start and closing with their fourth straight win over UK, then beating Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl.
In Petrino’s two stints (2003-06, 2014-present), he owns a 58-18 record for a 76.3 winning percentage that is the best in school history. He also has the second-most victories at UofL.
Louisville has finished behind Florida State and Clemson in the Atlantic Division of the ACC the past two seasons, going 0-4 vs. that duo, and has yet to defeat a Top-25 team. But that could change in 2016, with the Cards returning a veteran team that should challenge for a trip to the ACC championship game.
“I do like where we’re at right now,” Petrino says. “I really think that as a program we’re making strides in the right direction. Academically, our guys are graduating at the end of their eligibility and that’s something that’s really important. The other thing I really like that our players are doing is their commitment to community service. Right now, we rank second nationally in hours put in toward community service, but more important than that is they truly do enjoy it.
“I like the football team we have coming back; I’m excited about it. My goal, my coaching staff’s goal and our players’ goal is to win a championship, and I truly believe we can do that here. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we have a great nucleus, a great attitude, and we have a lot of returners back, so we’ve been able to take steps forward, build and get better.”
UofL’s instrasquad red-white game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.