By Tom Stosberg
After Saturday’s loss to UConn, the University of Louisville football program’s future is now boiled down to a search.
And with only two wins so far it’s difficult to find four more possible victories from the six remaining games no matter how hard you search.
Yes, most fans assume a win over Arkansas State. Some are even bold enough to include Syracuse and maybe Rutgers. But after the performance at UConn, U of L could hardly be considered good enough to stay in games with Cincinnati, USF or West Virginia. Actually, beating Syracuse and Rutgers would really be a stretch.
Any way you search, it’s 5-7, no bowl game and no improvement over last year.
So match up 6-6, 5-7 and 5-7 with Tom Jurich’s statement before the UConn game that the program is going to be successful and that SK is his “guyâ€.
What’s puzzling is how TJ expects to ignite the fan base next year and sell loge seats at $40,000+ a pair in the new stadium addition. He’ll have a coach who is 16-20 in three seasons and soaring toward mediocrity. Plus a disgusted fan base.
I’m a big TJ fan so I have to assume that he must know some special deep dark secret that no one else knows. And I’m really searchin’ hard to find that comforting.
Kragthorpe’s record against BCS teams is something like 6-24. He had none at Tulsa (0-8) and only six so far at Louisville (NC St., Rutgers, Pitt, Cincy., USF and Kansas St.)
So that would be 6-16 at UofL against BCS schools. Really wonderful.
A 14-23 coach most likely is on target. But more telling would be his record against BCS schools.
A 14-23 coach most likely. And, a coach that needs to go. I would have no trouble playing poker against Kragthorpe. Petrino, that’s one guy I’d never sit down at the poker table with, though.
Find me three more wins in this season for UofL the way they are playing right now and I’ll bankroll your poker game with Jurich.
Sometimes, you just have to realize it for what it is…UofL not a very good football team this year and unless they can put together two halves of football. nobody left on this schedlue is a given win for the Cards.
The only search should be a replacement coach. I, a life long Cards fan, may be searching for another college football team to support if the coach is not replaced. The UofL program is going to have to search for butts to fill the expansion seats. I will put zero dollars into TJ’s hands as long as the current situation exist. This is the only way I personally can effect the situation and I encourage others to follow suit.
The football program has come a long way under Tom Jurich when a U of L fan suggests he or she might become some other sort of fan because of failure in the football program. Just remember Tom has said no one wants the program to return to elite status more than him. That should be sufficient for anyone with doubts about his intentions. Don’t be shortsighted; think long term.
Right on, Zagnut. What do you expect TJ to say, Stosberg? “He’s toast and I’m soliciting resumes as we speak?” That’ll keep the players, commitments and recruits pumped! He has to support him, for now. He has already stated that he wants to see progress this season and that an assessment of that progress will occur at the end of the season. SK is writing his own ticket to the future. So far, it looks like we’ll take another step back this year. Therefore, TJ’s end-of-season rating can only lead to dismissal. I imagine TJ is already laying the groundwork for that likely ending to the season….which may be what is fueling the speculators like Lombardi.
I believe Mr. Stosberg may have been speaking hypothetically. He’s been known to do that.
It’s not what I expected him to say, VF, it’s what I did not expect him to IMPLY…that he will give SK an inordinate amount of time to accomplish the same level of mediocrity he did at Tulsa. I simply don’t see 16-20 as a springboard for excellence. But you and I will just have to wait out the free fall and total absence from college football for the rest of the year. We’ll just both hang tough…Go Cards!
Maybe not. The other Tom, Tom Jurich, has everyone guessing. I would not play poker with either one of them.
5-7 would take a couple of Miracles and Smokey Robinson would have to be one of them. 4-8 is far more likely and I think 3-9 is quite possible.