Louisville coach search coverage: Bobby Petrino returning to replace Charlie Strong

Two of the offensive coaches eager to see Wittek arrive this summer include Louisville’s former offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, now at Texas, and Louisville’s new head coach Bobby Petrino. In essence, unless he opts to finish his career in paradise at Hawaii, Wittek will either be choosing to replace Teddy Bridgewater by embracing the future first rounder’s position coach in Austin or by taking up his mantle in Louisville.

For Louisville, the departure of Bridgewater leaves a gaping hole that will have to be filled in order for Petrino to match the successes of Charlie Strong and the previous Petrino regime. For both Watson and Petrino, the QB is the maestro of the game and has to shoulder much of the burden for the offense’s productivity.

Garrick McGee is set to become the offensive coordinator at Louisville, according to ESPN’s Joe Schad. McGee spent the last two seasons as the head coach at UAB, where he compiled a 5-19 record. It was his first head coaching job.

Prior to landing in Birmingham, McGee spent four seasons coaching at Arkansas, all of them under new Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino, who was officially introduced on Thursday. McGee coached the quarterbacks in Fayetteville in 2008 and 2009 before taking over the offensive coordinator duties beginning in 2010. In 2011, he was a finalist for the Broyles Award, which is given to the nation’s top assistant coach.

At Card Chronicle, SB Nation’s Louisville site, Mike Rutherford has a nice roundup of the reaction from Twitter, which shows a wide range of emotion.

As for Rutherford’s opinion, he’s well aware of the risks and history associated with Petrino. But college football is a business, and business is only good when you’re winning. In making the case for hiring Petrino, Rutherford points out that athletic director Tom Jurich as a solid record and should not be doubted.

Bobby Petrino, the head coach at Louisville from 2003 to 2006, is leaving after one year at Western Kentucky to reclaim his former job, Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde reports. He’ll replace Charlie Strong, who left to take over at Texas. Forde reports Petrino will be introduced on Thursday. ESPN, Louisville media, and WKU media have confirmed Forde’s report.

SB Nation’s Mike Rutherford reported Tuesday that Petrino was one of U of L’s final three candidates.

With rumors swirling that Louisville could hire Bobby Petrino to replace Charlie Strong as head coach -- Petrino interviewed with U of L athletic director Tom Jurich and is one of three finalists for the job, reports SB Nation’s Mike Rutherford -- Western Kentucky is preparing its backup plan. To make up for the loss of their coach, the Hilltoppers interviewed offensive coordinator Jeff Brohm on Tuesday, according to Dan Wolken of USA Today.

The possibility of Petrino returning to Louisville, where he coached from 2003 to ‘06 before leaving on bad terms for the NFL, is apparently not as farfetched as it might seem. Rutherford also reports that Jurich is “very, very interested” in Petrino and that Jurich “personally forgave Petrino a long time ago.”

Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne took to Twitter to respond to rumors that head football coach Rich Rodriguez may be a target for the Louisville job, speaking highly about Rodriguez’s future with the program.

After great success at West Virginia from 2001-07 (including two BCS bowl wins), Rodriguez left for a higher profile job, as he was hired at Michigan in 2008. Despite increased win totals in each of his latter two seasons, Rodriguez was fired by the Wolverines, and the quick trigger that was employed on him last time could play a role in his decision to pursue a job bigger than Arizona.

Charlie Strong is widely expected to be announced as the new football coach at Texas on Sunday, leaving Louisville looking for a new head coach in his place. Athletic director said Sunday that “100 or 200” coaches have expressed interest in the job. He added that he’s spent four days building a short list and plans to move very quickly -- this search might not even last through the week.

Which names might be on that list? Here are 10 potential candidates to keep in mind as Louisville transitions, based in part on the reporting of Bruce Feldman and others noted below.