Bobby Petrino is a firm believer in second chances.
While he has experienced second and third chances (and even fourth chances) throughout his personal career, this story will be told sans any motorcycles, mistresses, or angry birds… or Falcons.
What matters most to Petrino is winning, and he will do whatever it takes to get there, even if that means rolling the dice multiple times.
Enter stage left: Devonte Fields and several other risky transfers Petrino and the Louisville staff are welcoming to the program this season.
Fields may have already received a pass in his domestic violence case, by completing an anger management course and getting off scot-free otherwise. The original incident in question led to Fields’s dismissal at TCU and later a trip to the JUCO ranks, where he dominated in a way that’s similar to what he did in the Big 12. Fields was an unstoppable force in 2012 with TCU, en route to Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors. That season and in part of 2013, he racked up 57 tackles, 10 sacks, and 20.5 tackles for loss.
While his level of talent is clearly substantial on the field, it cannot be ignored that just a year ago, Fields was accused of pointing a gun at his ex-girlfriend, while threatening to “blast her.” While he did not carry out that threat, Fields is accused of completing a closed-fist punch on the woman.
However, that was not the full extent of his off-field problems. Just weeks after being named the 2013 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in the Big 12, Fields was suspended for two games for “violation of university and team policy.” Fields also claims that he was attacked by three males in January of that year. He said that he was beaten and robbed, and that shots were fired in the air. For an unknown reason, he did not press charges.
While Fields is not the only risky transfer that Petrino has brought into Louisville (and the program is still working on getting him academically eligible), he is the one that stands out the most. Petrino has certainly taken the transfer route to attempt to rebuild the program. Some of the players have merely decided to leave their previous schools, while several others were actually asked to leave.
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Along with Fields, this year’s Louisville squad will also feature Josh Harvey-Clemons, who does not have the same violent track record as Fields. However, Harvey-Clemons was still dismissed from the Georgia program for off-field behavioral issues. With some high-powered offenses in the ACC, the Cardinals need to have the kinds of players who can cover a lot of ground, thereby shrinking the field for opponents. While Fields and Harvey-Clemons carry plenty of baggage, they also give Louisville the best chance to compete for a crown this year.
Petrino has also taken on fellow Georgia transfer Shaq Wiggins, whom has already had to remove from a practice. While this could be looked upon as a teaching moment in which Petrino gets to show who’s boss, it is also alarming that the season is still a month away and the point has already needed to be proven.
Having lost his top receiver to the NFL and working through a tough quarterback competition that does not necessarily have a favorite, Petrino could put two and two together. He realized the Louisville offense needed an infusion of significant playmaking ability. Given the competition in the ACC, Petrino knew he needed to reload the program on the fly. A great recruiting class starts this process, but bringing in proven college transfers will enable Louisville to stay there.
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Beyond all this, one still cannot shake the memory of Petrino bolting for the Atlanta Falcons while also leaving behind so many character issues on the squad. His critics will look at this ready embrace of transfers with unsettling histories and ask, legitimately, “What makes this go-around any different?”
While Petrino had no substantial character concerns on his team last season, and produced a nine-win season, there is still concern over the larger track record. Trouble and immaturity always emerge over time in people who demonstrate a tendency to live on the edge. Young people generally do deserve a second chance, but they must be surrounded by structure and not other troubled players if their better angels are going to conquer their worst inclinations. With the likes of Fields and Harvey-Clemons in the fold for Louisville, it is entirely fair to wonder if the pair will have an adverse effect on the locker room, and on particular players who need a more positive set of influences — not just from coaches, but also their peers.
Though other prominent programs have played with fire and lost on players with troubled backgrounds or histories of domestic violence, Petrino is not one to shy away from risks. To be fair to him, he’s the living embodiment of a second-chance recipient, so in a certain sense, he’s only doing for others what Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich did for him.
However, with Petrino’s time in coaching, he has always shown that he is willing to bring in a risky project, love it or hate it. For all the notions of altruism one can associate with this pattern, it is ultimately carried out in the name of winning. Bobby Petrino is intent on competing at a higher level in a major FBS conference that otherwise may be difficult to navigate without the likes of Devonte Fields and Josh Harvey-Clemons.
