Bobby Petrino's changes are off the field this time

Bobby Petrino wears his hair the same way and cracks the same grin as he did the last time he was coaching football at the University of Louisville.

He talks in the same persistent rhythm, with an almost off-putting calmness and monotone to his voice.

But nearly a decade after leaving, Petrino returns to the head coaching job at U of L on a promise of change — not in football field results, but in attitude and personal accountability.

U of L athletic director Tom Jurich made it clear in January that the coach who guided the Cardinals to 41 wins and an Orange Bowl win over the 2003-06 seasons doesn't have to prove himself on the field, but off it.

"The old Bobby Petrino was not the coach I want to hire," Jurich said in January, the day he announced Petrino's return. "I didn't like him. I really didn't. ... I told him. I'm serious. I'm shocked he stayed those first 30 minutes (when Petrino interviewed). I told him, 'I didn't like anything about you.' "

The day he took the job, Petrino acknowledged the required changes. "The No. 1 thing you have to do is show it," Petrino said that day in January. "I don't think words are going to do that."

He doesn't want to talk about them anymore. He'd rather focus on moving forward.

The first three months back at the job he left eight years ago have involved scrambling to put together the 2014 signing class of incoming freshmen and filling out the coaching staff.

Once that was done, Petrino said, the staff began digging through its current team, identifying strengths and weaknesses. Louisville began spring practice on March 18 and will hold its spring exhibition game on April 11.

Petrino said the transition period has not had many hiccups.

"It starts mainly with communication to the players on what we're going to expect from them," Petrino said. "This (transition) is going to be quicker because these guys already have good work ethic and high expectations. It's fun to come in and try to build on what they're already done here."

Petrino inherits a program that is 23-3 over the past two seasons, with wins in the Sugar and Russell Athletic bowls. The team's losing at least four players to the NFL draft, including quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, but returns plenty of talent.

It's a pivotal juncture in Louisville football's history. The program exits the American Athletic Conference for one of the nation's top football leagues, the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"We could've gone into the ACC and imploded," said Jonathan Blue, a member of the U of L board of trustees. "You don't want to start with an implosion. (Jurich's) decisions got us to the top and kept us at the top."

Jurich re-hired Petrino despite a prior rocky relationship, Petrino's history of job-hopping and the backdrop of trouble that got the coach fired at Arkansas.

In his first year as Louisville's coach in 2003, Petrino admitted to lying about interviewing with Auburn officials to replace coach Tommy Tuberville. He reportedly interviewed for other jobs over the next two seasons before leaving to coach the NFL's Atlanta Falcons in 2007.

Before his first NFL season finished, he abruptly left to coach at the University of Arkansas, where his teams won double-digit games in 2010 and 2011, including a Cotton Bowl victory in his final season leading the Razorbacks.

That next off-season, he was involved in a motorcycle wreck. Details emerged that he was riding the motorcycle with a woman with whom he was having an affair. He'd helped her get a job in the Arkansas athletic department.

Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long, who denied a request to speak about Petrino's time in Fayetteville, dismissed the coach in April of 2012.

Petrino's professional redemption began in 2013, when he was hired as head coach at Western Kentucky University.

And with that came a changed Petrino, according to WKU athletic director Todd Stewart and Petrino's former U of L assistant coach Jeff Brohm, who was his offensive coordinator at Western and took over the head coaching job once Petrino left.

He was the same demanding, determined coach, with meticulous recruiting and scouting processes and a near-obsession with technique and fundamentals in practice, Brohm said. But off the field was different.

"He definitely still displays that he loves the game of football and he loves to compete and win," Brohm said. "But he had his family (at WKU). I did notice more outwardly that they were around a lot. I thought there was a change there — not that he didn't do it before — but they were definitely a lot more visible."

The season at WKU wasn't without controversy.

Danny Cobble, the former head trainer at WKU, told the Chronicle of Higher Education that Petrino had him fired last fall, saying Petrino frequently questioned Cobble's "willingness to do things Mr. Petrino's way and was prone to criticizing him in front of fellow staff members."

In that story, Cobble said a doctor suggested surgery for an injured player and Petrino suggested cortisone treatment instead.

Cobble didn't respond to several messages seeking comment for this story, but Stewart said that Petrino never put players in harm's way.

"He cares very much about the well-being of players," Stewart said.

Petrino's WKU team started the season with a 35-26 win in Nashville over University of Kentucky and finished with eight wins and four losses.

His lone season at WKU was everything the university wanted from him, Stewart said.

"I wouldn't be at all surprised if, in three to five years, Louisville was a national champion," Stewart said.

To some, that is why Petrino was hired: A need to win in the team's first season in the ACC. The hire was widely panned by national columnists, many of whom accused Louisville of sacrificing its principles to hire a winner.

But Jurich, in announcing Petrino's hire in January, said he was convinced this time would be different. Jurich, who declined to be interviewed for this story, told reporters that in January.

"This is the right place for Bobby Petrino at the right time," Jurich said. "I really don't see it as a chance. It was the best hire we could make."

Now, the local and national media are paying close attention to Petrino's every move. How he treats U of L employees and players is under the microscope.

Scores of former U of L players supported his hire when it was announced, with many, like Brohm, saying he's tough, but the results are worth the hard work.

One player, former WKU running back Antonio Andrews, when asked at the NFL Combine what it was like to play for Petrino, replied, "It's just different."

Brohm and others who know him well say the "new" Petrino spends his time on two things: family and football.

"I was fortunate enough to work for him before and know how he operates," Brohm said. "He is a master at motivating his players and his coaches … You have to be always ready to go."

That's fine with Petrino, who's back at Louisville determined to make things right with U of L and its fans, many of whom voiced their support of him in the past three months over Twitter and other social media platforms.

"I'm just working on a daily basis," Petrino said. "We're very demanding. We set high expectations for our guys. They learn to appreciate that. I want them to excel. That is the greatest thing you can do as a football coach. It's our job to teach them to excel."

Reach Louisville writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).

UofL football spring game

• When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

• Where: Papa Johns's Cardinal Stadium

• Admission: Free

Live music and food and rides for kids will be available starting at 4 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. Players will sign autographs after the game.