Louisville defensive coordinator Todd Grantham is reportedly feuding with new head coach Bobby Petrino, and it's grown so contentious between the two that Grantham would have been fired before coaching a single game for the Cardinals were it not for a lucrative guaranteed contract.
And Petrino's callous reputation hasn't been improved with his players either, according to Sports Illustrated. Grantham left a much-maligned defense at Georgia after last season to join Petrino's new staff at Louisville, earning nearly $1 million per year on a five-year contract. Grantham isn't the highest paid defensive coordinator in the country -- Alabama's Kirby Smart is set to make $1.35 million this year -- but a five-year deal for an assistant coach is virtually unheard of, and makes Grantham much more of a fixture in Louisville than most assistant coaches.
"He's stuck with him," a source told SI of Petrino's relationship with Grantham.
While Petrino's reputation precedes him, Grantham isn't exactly Mr. Congeniality, either. Recall his confrontation with then-Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin a few years ago. It's not hard to imagine friction between the two. There was also this from a former Louisville player who wasn't shy with criticism of Petrino's way with his new players.
"The way he came in doing business I didn't like it," said former defensive lineman Jamaine Brooks. "The way he treated people. He just wasn't a good coach."
Ex-players often have an ax to grind with their previous coaching staffs, so take Brooks' comments with the proper amount of caution. But it's not as though he's attacking a man destined for sainthood.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
