Steve Jones

@stevejones_cj

Louisville co-offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway has been suspended for the Citrus Bowl game against LSU for his role in accepting information about Wake Forest's game plans from Demon Deacons radio analyst Tommy Elrod, U of L athletic director Tom Jurich announced Friday afternoon.

In a written statement, Jurich also said that coach Bobby Petrino, who on Nov. 16 and 17 had denied that Louisville had Wake Forest's game plan, "has been firm that on the two occasions in which he previously commented on the matter he did not know about the information provided (by Elrod) at that time."

Wake Forest announced this week that an internal investigation had concluded that Elrod has provided or attempted to provide confidential game-plan material to Wake Forest's opponents on multiple occasions since 2014. Jurich had acknowledged on Wednesday that Galloway had taken a call from Elrod, who used to be on Wake's staff with Galloway in 2011-12, the week of Louisville's Nov. 12 game against Wake Forest and that Elrod had shared a "few plays" that Galloway then shared with U of L's defensive staff.

"It is clear to me that the information should not have been shared by anyone at Wake Forest, and it should not have been received by anyone at the University of Louisville," Jurich said Friday. "Although no one from Louisville sought the information, once it was provided, we did not do what should have been done. The information should not have been accepted. It should have been rejected, and officials at Wake Forest should have been alerted to the inappropriate action taken by Mr. Elrod."

Jurich said he's been in regular contact with ACC commissioner John Swofford and that the Cardinals will accept any other disciplinary action the conference deems appropriate.

In his statement on Wednesday, Jurich had seemed to dismiss the seriousness of Louisville receiving information about Wake Forest plays, noting that the plays ended up never being run in the game, and he said that he was disappointed that the issue had brought "undue attention" to U of L's football staff.

Jurich received widespread criticism from major national outlets for the tone of his statement.

The tone clearly shifted in his new statement Friday, which he said came about upon a careful and thorough review of the incident.

"This is an unusual situation," Jurich said. "When someone receives information they should not be given, it is important that they do the right thing. Even in a competitive atmosphere, the right and ethical thing would have been for us to not accept the information. I regret very much that this took place.”

Galloway, who also coaches Louisville's wide receivers, is in his first season at U of L after serving previously as the receivers coach at West Virginia. He replaced offensive coordinator Garrick McGee, who left for Illinois, and shares OC duties with offensive line coach Chris Klenakis. Both Galloway and Klenakis make $607,500 annually.

MORE WAKE FOREST LEAKS COVERAGE

►Wake coach says Cards had 'very detailed' info

►Pitino defends Jurich's response to leaks

►Sullivan: Jurich just needs an editor, not exile

►Jurich: Cards received Wake Forest plays

►Were any rules broken in Wake leaks scandal?

►Wake QB's dad concerned for son's safety

Before his most recent stint at WVU, Galloway was the co-passing game coordinator along with Elrod at Wake Forest, and Jurich said Wednesday that Galloway and Elrod have been friends since 2007.

In his role as U of L's co-OC, Galloway oversees the wide receivers and has input on the offensive game plan, especially in the passing game, though Petrino has always been U of L's primary play caller.

It remains to be seen who will coach the wide receivers over the next two weeks as U of L prepares for the Dec. 31 the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

Army and Virginia Tech are the only other teams so far to acknowledge having been notified by Wake Forest about Elrod's leaks from the past three seasons. Wake's investigation was prompted after members of its equipment staff arrived at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium the day before the Nov. 12 game and found play cards left behind by U of L that diagrammed special plays Wake Forest had never run, leaving the Demon Deacons to suspect it had a breach.

Elrod has been fired from his radio job at Wake and branded a traitor by the Demon Deacons' football staff.