IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Cardinals ready for ACC as Petrino returns

Ken Cross

July 25, 2014 at 2:34 pm.

Bobby Petrino has a talented team entering the 2014 season. (Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports)

The marriage of the Louisville Cardinals to the ACC is a strong one. It was destined to happen after the erasure of the Big East from the college basketball landscape as a superpower.

The Cardinals, with their basketball tradition, certainly fit well with Syracuse, Duke, North Carolina, Pitt, and then their history trumps teams like Wake Forest, North Carolina State and Boston College, who have had runs, but have been unable to sustain like Duke and UNC in the ACC and the Orange and Panthers did in the Big East.

Louisville football is now a major attraction for the ACC as well, as the Cardinals enter the league this fall with no Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback, but a strong claim on being the second-most talented league squad behind defending national champion Florida State.

“I’ve been very impressed with our team,” said coach Bobby Petrino at the ACC Kickoff in Greensboro, N.C., earlier this week. “When we had our first team meeting, I congratulated the young men on how much success they’ve had, and told them that things are going to be different.  It’s going to be different because our new staff is going to come in and coach what we know, and that’s different than what Coach Strong and his staff know.”

Petrino left Louisville for the Atlanta Falcons in 2006 after an ultra-successful run of 41-9, as he upped the Cardinals’ national persona with their first BCS bid and an average margin of victory of 26 points per game over that stint. It goes without saying that the ACC wars will be tougher than the Big East of 10 years ago.

“I have been fortunate both times I came to Louisville to follow two really good head coaches that have done a great job in building the program,” lauded Petrino. “I felt that when I got there with John L. (Smith), the program was in great shape, and all I had to do was take it to the next level.”

After the program slipped to 15-21 under Steve Kragthorpe over the span of three years from 2007-2009, Charlie Strong rebuilt it almost immediately as the Cardinals went 23-3 in the last two of his four years with a pair of desecrations of Florida and Miami in the 2012 Sugar Bowl and the 2013 Russell Athletic Bowl.  His 37-15 record in four years earned him the position at Texas, and Petrino, at Western Kentucky, was available to return to a school where he so successful.

“Coming in and following Charlie, he’s done a great job of recruiting and teaching the kids how to work hard and win games,” explained Petrino, “We lose some really good players.  There’s three first round picks that we lose off that team, but we definitely have some really good players coming back and have a good nucleus of talent.”

Petrino, ever the offensive guru, has a keeper at quarterback though in 6-5 sophomore Will Gardner, who appeared in six games last season.

“He’s 6-5 and just under 230,” explained Petrino about Gardiner’s size. “It’s our strength and conditioning staff’s job to make sure he doesn’t hit the 3-0.  We just want him to stay under that because he has had a knee injury, and I think he’ll perform better and stay healthier if he keeps his weight down.  He could be 235, 240 in a minute, so he works hard at that.”

Gardner learned under Bridgewater and has the intangibles that an analytical quarterback guru like Petrino can mold together to make him a force for the Cardinals.

“He can make all the throws you need to make and he’s got arm strength,” noted Petrino, “We’ve got to continue to work on his footwork with his lower body, getting it in the right positions for his accuracy to be where we want it.”

Gardner also has one of the top wide receivers in the nation returning in DeVante Parker, who caught 55 balls for 885 yards and 12 touchdowns.  It will be interesting to watch this combination evolve this season as the Cards still have a wealth of talent at the skill positions which will make the pairing even more lethal.

Parker and his wide receiving pals are licking their chops as they know Petrino is going to stretch the field vertically which with the Cardinals’ speed.

“We know that Coach Petrino likes to put up points on the board, so that’s the best thing about being a receiver in his offense,” said Parker.

The ACC grind comes quickly as the Cardinals host Miami on Labor Day night in a nationally televised contest.  Petrino is excited about the opportunity for his opener to be on center stage against a household name in the Hurricanes, whom the Cardinals demolished 36-9 in the Russell Athletics Bowl last December.

“I’ve always believed that you set expectations high,” commented Petrino, “We have a group of young men that we’re coaching that have been playing for a number of years that know how to prepare, that have played in big games, and know how to win.”

With the return of Petrino and his confidence in the program, where it is right now, and where it can go, the Cardinals could be a force in their new league.