Bobby Petrino: "It's time to go to the next level"
New Louisville coach Bobby Petrino on Wednesday compared his return to his old job to a familiar feeling.
Petrino, speaking to reporters on the ACC post-spring-practice conference call, said 2014 feels like 2003, when he replaced John L. Smith.
Louisville had five consecutive winning seasons under Smith, leaving the program in good shape for Petrino's first go-round.
Eight years later, Petrino takes over a team fresh off a 12-1 season. Louisville has won 23 games over the past two seasons, including a Sugar Bowl win after the 2012 season and a Russell Athletic Bowl victory this past winter.
And just like Petrino did with Louisville and the Big East in 2005, he's now charged with guiding the U of L football program into a new conference, the ACC.
"It's time to go to the next level," Petrino said. "It's an exciting time ... We feel like we can go in and compete. That's certainly our goal. We're going to have to show it."
It'll help having a confident quarterback in Will Gardner, Petrino said. The redshirt freshman "moved right to the start of the line" to replace star Teddy Bridgewater, and then dropped a 542-yard, four-touchdown performance in the spring game.
"In his mind, there was no doubt who the starting quarterback was going to be," Petrino said.
Other notes from the call
You may remember Tyler Murphy, the former Florida quarterback who briefly considered Louisville before transferring to Boston College.
Murphy (6-2, 210) started six games for Florida but left Gainesville after a disastrous 2013 season. Well, now he's the starting quarterback at BC, and Louisville will likely face him when the teams meet on Nov. 8
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher "rejected" a question about college athletes unionizing, saying players' voices "need to be heard," but that he wasn't sure what unionization would do for them.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was "caught off-guard" by the recent controversy surrounding his team's culture and the religiosity he brings to it.