Charlie Strong wasted no time during a Thursday press conference addressing issues raised by his recent step of banning media from University of Louisville spring football practices.
Rarely pausing to catch his breath during his 13-minute opening remarks, he would address the controversy, as well as how the separate units were performing.
“My actions were blown way out of proportion,” he said. “This isn’t a personal attack on our local media. I do believe this, that in order for our program to take the next step, our relationship with the media has to be outstanding.
“In no way, is this football versus basketball. During the Final Four, I was happy to see two teams from the state of Kentucky. I love basketball. Growing up in Arkansas, my dad was a basketball coach so I understand the magnitude of each program. But in order for us to survive … we need to understand that we can all co-exist.
“My issue with spring practice is this. We had four practices open and we wound up closing practices after that. Even though a lot of you were covering March Madness, there should have been interns or junior reporters who could have done so. I have passion for this program. We are a BCS program, an elite program, I need you (the media) just as much as you need us. Threre’s got to be some way we can get this done.”
Satisfied that he had made his point, the coach would declare, “The media freeze is over.”
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Meanwhile, just outside the conference room, Courier-Journal sports columnist Eric Crawford was seen talking with defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt — who had indicated that Kentucky was receiving preferential treatment. We’ll have to wait for Crawford’s retelling of that get-together.