Adam Himmelsbach | Petrino's return a relief

When Louisville coach Bobby Petrino walked into the interview room after his team's 31-13 win over Miami on Monday, he appeared relieved and pleased. If you looked closely, his trademark half-smile even evolved into a real, full-blown smile a few times. And it didn't seem forced.

Petrino said that before the game he was more nervous than he had ever been before a football game. And Bobby Petrino has taken part in quite a few football games.

But nearly three years had passed since he had been part of one with a spotlight as bright as this one. And the conditions this time around were clearly different than they were when he guided Arkansas to a Cotton Bowl win in the 2011 season. So much had changed and transpired.

Petrino had been fired for his well-documented missteps, he had taken a year away from football to repair and rebuild relationships, and he had completed a relatively quiet year coaching Western Kentucky. His climb back to this level probably felt like forever in football years.

Ever since Petrino's hiring at Louisville, there has been criticism and skepticism. Many people watched Monday's game because of him. Some wanted to see if he still had it; others might have been curious if he would combust.

Throughout the week, ESPN's promos even featured an image of Miami running back Duke Johnson juxtaposed against an image of Petrino. Even though he clearly and understandably didn't want this game to be about him, this game was very much about him.

When you compound those factors with the expectations that come from guiding Louisville into its first ACC game, you can understand why Petrino was so nervous.

"I haven't slept a lot lately," he said.

According to Cardinals linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin, Petrino actually seemed happy before the game. Mauldin said the Cardinals 'don't really see Coach P smile too much,' and added that when he does smile, it's usually because someone made a good play on a football field.

"If he smiles and it's before the game we haven't even played yet," Mauldin said, "we know he's in good spirits."

Maybe that's what Petrino looks like when he's nervous. Or maybe he just seemed at ease because he wanted his players to think he was at ease. But the guess here is that he was calm because he was finally returning to the field, finally going back to the place where his only concern is touchdowns. It's a kind of safe haven, unless you're the team playing against him.

And so on Monday, recruits and the record crowd and the national television audience watched Bobby finally get back to doing what Bobby does best. They saw him dissect the Hurricanes with a vintage 12-play, 93-yard touchdown drive in the opening quarter. They saw his try-and-stop-me fourth-down conversion from his team's 22-yard line—22-yard line!—in the second quarter of a tied game. And they saw his team's fourth-quarter drive that chewed up 7 minutes, 47 seconds and ended with a touchdown pass on third-and-2, delivering the knockout blow.

Long after it was over, you could still hear some fans chanting Petrino's first name as they happily exited the stadium on a warm summer evening. Yes, Bobby was back, and on this night, he was finally back to the place where he is most comfortable.

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at 502-582-4372 by email ahimmelsbach@courier-journal.com and on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach