Column: Petrino, Louisville jilting of Dutch Fork star shows dark side of college football recruiting

Bobby Petrino is a man with commitment issues.

Just ask Dutch Fork running back Matt Colburn. South Carolina’s Mr. Football.

But while getting jilted by Petrino may be a new experience for Colburn, more than a few others know the feeling. Petrino has a history of commitment issues.

While in his first stint as Louisville’s head coach, Petrino flirted with Auburn, secretly interviewing for the head coaching job while the Tigers still had a coach, Tommy Tuberville.

And it was really no secret.

But he broke it off and stayed married to the Cardinals.

He signed a 10-year, $25.6 million deal to remain Louisville’s head coach. But despite his promises, he strayed.

Less than a calendar year into the union, he split again. This time he took his high-powered offense to the Atlanta Falcons and the NFL, signing a five-year, $24 million deal.

That marriage didn’t last long either — 13 games, in fact. With franchise quarterback Michael Vick sidelined by his dogfighting scandal, the Falcons struggled, and Petrino left a laminated note in each player’s locker as he left the Dirty Birds for Arkansas.

Knowing Petrino had left Louisville for her, I’m not sure why Atlanta ever thought he’d stay.

Maybe Arkansas would last ...

Nope. But he didn’t leave this time. Arkansas threw him out.

He was taking a joyride with a former All-SEC volleyball player on the back of his motorcycle when his house of lies came crashing down.

Arkansas put its foot down, and he was gone.

On the rebound, he hooked up with Western Kentucky, eager to prove to the world he could be true. Both parties knew it wouldn’t last, but they were good for each other.

And then it happened. Louisville, his old flame, left alone when Charlie Strong was lured away by bigger and better things in Texas, came crawling back.

Giving him one more chance, the Cardinals took Petrino back. Things would be different this time.

And maybe, just maybe, they were. At least until Monday.

That’s when he did what he did to Colburn.

Committed to the Cardinals since June, the three-star running back had shut down his recruitment, taking no more visits and entertaining no more offers. He did everything the right way.

Look where it got him. Knowing Petrino’s history, he should have been looking over his shoulder.

With less than 48 hours before signing day, the staff at Louisville informed Colburn and Dutch Fork head coach Tom Knotts they wanted him to grayshirt, sit out the 2015 fall semester and enroll the following spring semester, counting against next year’s signing class.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reported Tuesday that, according to Colburn, assistant coach Tony Grantham called him early Monday afternoon to tell him the Cards decided they needed additional defensive backs in the 2015 class to offset the loss of their starting secondary, so they would not be able to accept a letter of intent from him this week.

“They just had to go with their priorities, and their priority was DBs,” Colburn told the Courier-Journal. “They're not taking any running backs as far as I'm concerned."

Knotts has ended it with Petrino. He told media outlets Tuesday he would no longer allow Petrino or his staff to recruit at Dutch Fork.

With the trust factor with Louisville gone and no desire to sit out a full season, Colburn was left scrambling for a desirable Division I offer.

Petrino walks out on his responsibilities over and over and over again, only to have another offer waiting. He gets chance after chance after chance. Winning trumps class.

Colburn, however, only gets to pledge his service once. He has done everything right. He should be able to expect more in return.

To be fair, Petrino may not directly be responsible for breaking the pact with Colburn. But even if his staff made the call, the buck stops with the head coach.

Unfortunately, that pact means a lot more to the young man than it does to Petrino. It’s a numbers game, and Colburn came up a loser, with virtually no time to make up his losses.

This is a dark side of college football that needs to change. Even if Petrino never will.

This story was originally published February 4, 2015 at 12:27 AM with the headline "Column: Petrino, Louisville jilting of Dutch Fork star shows dark side of college football recruiting."