By Paul Sykes
The obvious was confirmed today by Steve Kragthorpe:Â Jeff Brohm is no longer the offensive coordinator or on the coaching staff at the University of Louisville. Kragthorpe has assumed for himself the role of offensive coordinator.
The third-year Louisville football coach has said several times recently that he will be the one to point the finger at when questions arise about the program. The first one is what changes will he make in the offensive play calling and schematics.
Way too early to predict that but I’ll do a little speculation. Unlike coach, I’ll not take any credit or criticism for how it turns out:
- Find a quarterback that fits his offensive strategy. He’ll have five to choose from. One would conjecture that the Cards will take advantage of a strong running game and the quarterback might be called on to run an option style offense. This would seem to suit Adam Froman and Justin Burke’s skills. The other guys, we’ll just have to wait and see on.
- Improve communications between the wide receivers and the quarterback. With a healthy Trent Guy, Scott Long and Doug Beaumont, the Cards are not lacking in go-to wide outs. Which QB will achieve the most success with these talented receivers? Can a quality tight end surface to make those clutch short yardage gains? Kragthorpe’s offenses at Tulsa were very dependent on the tight end. With him calling the plays now, that position will be instrumental in picking up yardage. Yardage is good.
- Find a back that can “catch and go”. A quick running back with good receiver skills can be a serious offensive threat. Not only does it give the offense another option, it also gives the opposing defense another thing to worry about. Victor Anderson is the obvious choice here but do Darius Ashley or Bilal Powell have those skills as well? Predictability was one of the downfalls of the Cardinal attack this last season. A good throw-to back would make us less obvious.
Spring and fall ball will give Kragthorpe plenty of time to test his new job and skills. Let’s hope he deserves a promotion at the end of the season.
Charlie–Let me try to paint a picture for you.
What is your opinion of Bobby Knight? Most people including me, would grudgingly say he was a good coach, but a real a**hole, right?
That’s where many of us are with Coach K. I really don’t care if he gets back to .500, or unimaginably goes .750. He is, and maybe always be, the kind of person he is. I don’t want our kids being coached by him, period. He isn’t the kind of example for our young men that we deserve, or they deserve. Let him go.
I am told by a “connected” friend who has yet to be wrong that most of Brohm’s calls the last five games never got to the QB. And when asked by a reporter if the 80/20 ratio was correct Brohm had no comment. I think that seems like reasonable confirmation. Think about how under Stubbs we consistantly threw 5 yard passes on 3rd and 9. Brohm comes in and it’s the same scenario. What is the one constant in this equation? Kragthrope. Those were all his calls, not his OC’s.
The one piece of good here is that if the offense bombs next year (and it will) Kragthorpe has no one left to blame. He will have to take the hit and hopefully get fired.
Charlie to respond to your question “were those Jeff’s calls”: reportedly Jeff wasn’t calling plays after the UK Game, and Kragthorpe’s numbers should be flip-flopped for play calling percentage. Kragthorpe was apparently calling around 80% of the plays last season after the UK game, and almost nothing Jeff was calling on the headset was getting through to the field.
What is about football coaches that brings out the worst in everyone?
I don’t like this whole Brohm deal one bit! Krqgthorpe gets three years to try and have a winning program and Jeff just one year? The hypocracy of it stinks and I’m glad that Jeff Brohm is out of there and going to a place where he’ll be appreciated. I wish he would have had a fair chance to show he could be an effective offensive coordinator. Hey, FAU went to a bowl last year! So, this is an upgrade for Jeff! What this boils down to is a very sad reflection and statement about how this Koach is shoving people underwater to stay afloat. Get out your playbook and reading glasses, Charlie. You’ll probably be a coach doing something down there the way assistants and coaches and coordinators are falling. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if keeping Jeff around to ensure Brian staying another year was in the works somehow. Love the players, love the game. Scratch your head and wonder about the head coach…I guarantee you Howard never would have played these kinds of games, and I’m glad he sees and knows Jeff what he is and what he can accomplish. The ridiculousness of waiting 2 months before telling the paying fans about this is very poorly covered up by claiming they were holding off until Jeff found another job. Something’s rotten in Louisville, and it isn’t the decaying fish down by Waterfront Park! Sorry to all the Krags apologists out there, but I’m really beginning to dislike this Krags guy.
So was Jeff Brohm staying one year after Brian left all about keeping Brian Brohm at U of L for his senior year??
Brohm is going to FAU to be an assistant and work with the quarterbacks. I wish him all the success in the world. Next year should be really interesting at Floyd and Central. Practice hard and learn fast, guys. Come up with some great plays, Coach. Win some games. Over .500 would be great.
You have to admire Coach Krag for stepping up to the plate on all accounts. If the offense sucks this year it will be all on him. On the flip side, if it sizzles, all the credit goes to one man.
He has talent at several positions to work with and a lot of pressure to produce. As they say, diamonds are made with a lot of pressure. Let’s hope Kragthorpe is a diamond in the rough.
My heart says sizzle. My gut says fizzle.
Let’s hope I get my heart’s desire.
Were those Jeff’s calls?
To be a little glib, I bet I can name another person who has even less of a clue…
This was shaping up to be the worst season since Cooper’s 1-10 debacle before today. With Kragthorpe taking over and the “Jet sweep, 5 yd pass on 3rd and 20, and run up the middle on 3rd and 22” taking over, odds are that things will be getting even worse than expected next year.
Thanks for not getting into the Brohm situation. There are going to be a lot of red faces if Kragthorpe turns this program around. The vast majority of the critics have absolutely no clue about how a coaching transition affects a team, even less of a clue of what it takes to build a consistent winner. They see Petrino winning all those games, ignore his flaws, and think it’s always going to be that way.