LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Louisville has suspended Lonnie Galloway for the Citrus Bowl following a review of how the co-offensive coordinator handled Wake Forest game plans he received from fired Demon Deacons broadcaster Tommy Elrod.
Athletic director Tom Jurich announced Galloway’s suspension Friday after reviewing the assistant coach’s receipt and handling of inside information from Elrod. Jurich said in a release that information shouldn’t have been shared by Wake Forest “and it should not have been received by anyone at the University of Louisville.”
“We did not do what should have been done,” Jurich said, noting that Louisville did not seek the information.
The AD said he regrets what happened and that “the right and ethical thing would have been for us not to accept the information.” Jurich, who said he has been in contact with the Atlantic Coast Conference, said the school would accept any appropriate decisions from Commissioner John Swofford.
Jurich also reiterated that head coach Bobby Petrino has been “firm” in asserting he didn’t know about information being provided.
No. 15 Louisville (9-3) plays No. 19 LSU (7-4) in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 in Orlando, Florida.
Galloway was in his first season as Louisville’s co-coordinator and coaching receivers. He and Elrod were assistants at Wake Forest together from 2011-12. His suspension was the latest update in the scandal that has garnered national attention.
Louisville, Virginia Tech and Army are the only schools to publicly confirm their involvement in the scandal in which Wake Forest determined that Elrod leaked or attempted to leak game plan information to opponents. Elrod was fired from his job as the analyst on the Demon Deacons’ radio game broadcasts.
Officials at Indiana also said Friday that their school was not implicated in Wake Forest’s investigation, after conducting one of their own to confirm that finding. Indiana played Wake Forest in each of the past two seasons.
Wake Forest officials have said they’ve contacted every school potentially involved in the scandal, and Indiana athletic director Fred Glass said Wake Forest AD Ron Wellman told him the Hoosiers were not on that list.
The ACC has promised to “do its due diligence” in reviewing Wake Forest’s findings, and league spokeswoman Amy Yakola did not respond Friday to a request for comment on that review.
Elrod’s attorney, former Wake Forest player James Quander, has not commented since the school’s review was announced on Tuesday and Elrod has not returned phone calls or text messages seeking comment.
Wake Forest began its review after documents related to its game plan for the Louisville game on Nov. 12 were discovered at the Cardinals’ stadium.
Coach Dave Clawson revealed four days later that the review had begun into the security of his program but did not accuse Louisville of taking the information.
The school announced its findings Tuesday night, absolving the current football staff and players and pinning the blame solely on Elrod - a former player in the 1990s and assistant coach under Jim Grobe who went into broadcasting when he was not retained during the transition to Clawson following the 2013 season.
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AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Winston-Salem, North Carolina contributed to this report.
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