Bobby Petrino Feuding With Todd Grantham, Irking Louisville Players Per SI Report

In their “Inside Read” column for SI, Thayer Evans and Pete Thamel buried a tease for an upcoming piece on Bobby Petrino at Louisville. The snippets suggest not all is going swimmingly on the prodigal coach’s return.

One source told Evans and Thamel there has been a serious breakdown between Petrino and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who has five-years $5 million guaranteed.

"So much that one source insists Petrino would have already gotten rid of Grantham if not for his guaranteed five-year contract that pays him nearly $1 million annually. He came to Louisville after four seasons as Georgia’s defensive coordinator. “He’s stuck with him,” a source said."

Evans and Thamel also suggest some players are upset with the new regime. Some, according to them, considered entering the Supplemental Draft rather than play for him. Jamaine Brooks, who left the program, was not a fan.

"“He’s a mean guy,” said Jamaine Brooks, a former Louisville defensive tackle who left this past spring. “He cusses you out. You’re never doing enough. He’s still Bobby Mother——- Petrino.” Brooks initially supported Petrino’s hiring, which he quickly came to regret. “The way he came in doing business I didn’t like it,” Brooks said. “The way he treated people. He just wasn’t a good coach.”"

Having fractious relationships with others does not seem out of character for Petrino. That said, “thinking of” firing your defensive coordinator or leaving college for the supplemental draft is not the same as doing so. Any regime change involves some level of friction with personnel. It’s hard to gleam a lot from an unnamed “source” and one player who left the program.

Football has not been played yet. Petrino’s MO has been winning a large number of games in expeditious fashion. As with any coach, if he’s winning double-digit games, his “relationships” and other assorted baggage will prove irrelevant.