He put his signature offense in place, and John L ran with it during his entire stint at Louisville. When John L left, UofL's AD Tom Jurich already knew he wanted Petrino to take his place because he thought he was an offensive genius.
Tougher situation? Not necessarily. Sure, Louisville went 4-8 the season before Strong got there, but most of that was because we had a coach in Steve Kragthorpe that the team had completely given up on and didn't respect or listen to. It was clear midway thru Kragthorpe's first season that he wasn't going to work out. His tenure also happened to coincide with Brian Kelly's dominance at Cincinnati, and Rich Rodriguez's high powered offenses at West Virginia. Our AD just gave him 3 years off GP. Most felt no matter who came in after him was going to get off to a quick start.
Petrino first came in when Louisville was preparing to jump from C-USA to the Big East, which at the time was a major step up in competition. Not only did Petrino make a smooth transition, but he flourished immediately.
Fans didn't buy in to Charlie until the end of his second season. Then his 3rd year he edged out Rutgers for the Big East title the final game of the season, setting up the blowout of Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
You could make an argument that Petrino had a tougher situation when he came in AFTER Strong. Had to lead the team into the ACC. A huge step up in competition.
But bottom line is you can't just build your case based off of some W-L records you Googled fam. I've been a Louisville Fan all my life. Lived in this city my entire life. Went to High School with John L Smith's kids, went to college with Bobby Petrino's kids, and have dozens of friends that have played under every Louisville coach that's been in place since the turn of the century. I'm not going off some damn Wikipedia page. I'm speaking about what I KNOW to be true. What I actually witnessed and lived through.