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USA TODAY Sports

Former Louisville head football coach Charlie Strong is heading to Texas to replace Mack Brown, leaving big shoes to fill in Kentucky. As news of Strong’s move broke, Louisville students made a banner campaigning for the return of current Western Kentucky head coach Bobby Petrino, which hung from a railing of the Swain Student Activities Center Saturday morning.

Petrino coached the Cardinals for four seasons, compiling a 41-9 record. His final game in charge of the Cardinals was a 24-13 win over Wake Forest in the 2007 Orange Bowl. Petrino also spent a year as the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator in 1998.

Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich told USA TODAY Sports that the search for a replacement is “wide-open.”


“It’s a wide-open job; there’s no preconceived notions right now,” he said. “I want to go quick. Time should be of the essence. I want to get the right person, I’ll tell you that…. I’ll consider everybody. Everybody is in play.”

Petrino was the overwhelming choice to replace Strong among voters in an online poll posted by Louisville’s Fox affiliate WDRB.