[Lefty Noob]

Rumor has it that Steve Kragthorpe could be leaving Louisville for SMU.

According to the Associated Press, "Kragthorpe said he was '100 percent committed' to the Cardinals, though the defending Big East champions have tumbled from out of the preseason Top 10 to the bottom of the conference. Louisville (5-6) will need to beat Rutgers next Thursday to hold onto any remote hope of making a bowl game for the 10th straight season." Think he's being on the up and up here?

ESPN - Louisville coach Kragthorpe knocks down SMU speculation - College Football

[bears9]

Kragthorpe said he will stay to fix his mess in Louisville, but other reports say he is 50-50

[Lefty Noob]

Originally Posted by bears9

Kragthorpe said he will stay to fix his mess in Louisville, but other reports say he is 50-50

I could be wrong, but I doubt Cardinal fans would be too upset if he left.

[shortsleeve47]

Kragthorpe said he wasn't leaving, but I still have a suspicion he might leave for reasons good for himself and for the Louisville fan base.

First of all, I believe Kragthorpe is probably a pretty good coach, but his building of a team takes time.

His recruiting roots are in Texas, and he can sway some good players to come his way on Texas ground; even if it is SMU. I really can't see many players from Texas wanting to come to Louisville. Louisville does better recruiting from the Southeast..

It's been an unhappy marriage from the start between Kragthorpe and the fans. Kragthorpe didn't have time to blink due to Petrino's sudden departure and it was unfair to him as well as Louisville not having much time to find a coach.
I think the toll on Kragthorpe's family is something that would make him want to leave. He could take the heat but his family doesn't feel wanted like they were in Tulsa.

Every coach says they are "staying" even when they know they are "going". They do this for player moral so the players can play their last game in a rewarding manner.



Also, I live in the Dallas area and have been watching the Dallas paper for clues of SMU which coaches are considered on their list for the head coach opening.....the atheletic director is still keeping mum on it.

I don't think there are a lot of coaches who want that job because it is a coach killer job.
However, Kragthorpe may just be the one who could turn them around if anyone could. He knows how to do it and will be given time to do it.
It's a fit he would be happy with.
I really don't think there is a happy ending for him at Louisville.

Things just turned out wrong for both sides. They were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I may be wrong, but I am still highly suspicious that the SMU rumor may just become true.
Hopefully there will be a good outcome to all of this.
Otherwise, what a nightmare of a year for all those who put their time into the football year and things went so wrong.

[shortsleeve47]

Kragthorpe held a media briefing last week to quell rumors that he was interested in the coaching vacancy at Southern Methodist. Yesterday he was asked for the first time whether he had had any contact with SMU.

"In terms of that, it's something we really don't need to go into because it puts either me or them in a bad situation," he said. "So we'll just move on."

[Quality88]

Here's the skinny from a person in the middle of red fans(and bleedin blue proudly mind you)... the most of the Louisville fans(mind you I said most and not all) are doin what they have and always do best. Being fairweather fans, they have praised their mighty Cards while they were on top, but as soon as they fall, they down them and are nowhere to be found. What the fans look at are the results of last season and don't see they lost key defensive players. Which is why the defense has not been stellar and the offense for the most part unchanged. They are not givin Kragthorpe a chance. None.

[shortsleeve47]

November 28, 2007


Hey, SMU, what's taking so long?


Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Baylor have gotten rid of and replaced head coaches since SMU fired Phil Bennett.
Still waiting for the Ponies' coaching search to get past the discuss-potential-candidates stage. I thought the whole point of firing Bennett during the season was to get a head start on finding his replacement.
And I don't want to hear about having to wait to interview a guy who already has a head coaching job. That didn't get in Baylor's way, obviously.
SMU better hope that Houston, which was paying Art Briles almost $1 million per year, doesn't have its eye on the same coach. Any coach in his right mind would rather take over a program already competing for Conference USA titles than one that dreams of doing so.
The longer SMU waits to make a hire, the longer the odds that the new coach will succeed. The rebuilding process gets pushed back a year if the coach's first recruiting class is nothing but scraps.


Posted by Tim MacMahon at 12:53 PM (E-mail this entry) | Comments (