The football magazines are hitting the newstands, including a special Big East Conference edition from Athlon which features University of Louisville running back Victor Anderson on a crowded cover.
Everything you want to know, and some you may not, is covered in the Athlon publication, including the perennial put downs of the Big East (ranked sixth among BCS conferences) and the predictable doomsday forecast for U of L football this fall. Also included are the hot seat ranking of coaches, which has Steve Kragthorpe on the third hottest seat in college football.
Their bottom line for the Cards:
“You know a guy is feeling the heat when he makes as many staff changes as Steve Kragthorpe has … He inherited a mess when Bobby Petrino left, and has done a good job cleaning it up, but it hasn’t translated to many wins … Last year, they looked like they had turned it around, getting off to a 5-2 start. All they needed was one more win to get bowl eligible, but they closed the year on a five-game losing streak … They have two good ones in running back Victor Anderson and receiver Josh Chichester, but they also lost their two best offensive linemen (center Eric Wood and tackle George Bussey) … The biggest issue they face on defense is rebuilding their front four. That’s a major concern.”
This is fairly typical of what fans will see in any of the publications coming out. Shouldn’t be any problem with inflated expectations this fall. Any progress will be welcomed.
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Somewhat curious that the families of Kragthorpe’s two new leading football assistants Brent Guy, from Utah State, and Larry Slade, from Tennessee, have not relocated to Louisville yet. Guy and Slade are living in hotels, as reported by CJ beat writer C. L. Brown in this recent article. They apparently eat, sleep and breathe Louisville football these days, depending on room service and team meals for other necessities.
I’ve got to agree. The article said that Guy’s family will be moving here later in the year, but they may be waiting to see how the season develops. If we start the season at 1-3 getting blown out by UK, Utah and Pitt, as we are expected, I don’t think they’ll be coming to town.
Conversely, for a coaching staff supposedly on their last legs, they’ve finally figured out their early season recruiting. It seems like they’ve figured out that the Texas/OK pipeline that Kragthorpe promised simply will not bring players, and that they need to refocus on the Ohio and Florida areas. I don’t think Kragthorpe would be in the make or break situation he is in now if he had listened to Nord early on and focused on these areas immediately, instead of tilting at windmills in Texas.
I think Guy and Slade figure they will be here one year and one year only because Kragthorpe won’t be here next year. So why move your family? Seems logical to me.