As the University of Louisville football team prepares for its 2009 season opener (September 5 against Indiana State), few college pundits are offering hope to recently beleaguered Cardinal fans.
Louisville faces a very tough schedule this year, including road games at archrival Kentucky, Utah, Cincinnati, West Virginia and South Florida.
Nearly everyone willing to put a pen to paper or a finger to a keyboard believes that (1) Louisville will end up deep in the lower reaches of the Big East standings and (2) Steve Kragthorpe is fighting for his job. Here’s a sampling of what is being said around the blogosphere regarding UofL’s chances this year:
It’s taken just two seasons for Steve Kragthorpe to dismantle what Bobby Petrino had accomplished when he was at the controls. Say what you will about Petrino’s exit strategies, but he knew how to win games, going 41-9 in four seasons and basically spoiling the locals. Not only has Kragthorpe failed to take the baton, but he’s completely botched the handoff, winning just 11 games and failing to make the postseason both years. Even worse, the Cardinals lost their final games of 2008 to share the Big East cellar with Syracuse. Yup, the same Syracuse that’s been the league’s doormat for much of the decade.
In response to the team’s collapse, Kragthorpe took a broom to his coaching staff in the off-season, sweeping out offensive coordinator Jeff Brohm and some of his assistants, and hiring Brent Guy to replace the departed Ron English. In another sign that Kragthorpe wants greater control over his fate, he’ll be coordinating the offense and calling the plays this fall. The big issue? He doesn’t have an abundance of talent on either side of the ball. Both lines have been damaged by graduation and there isn’t a proven quarterback on the roster.
The bottomless pit of JuCo recruiting is eating away at the Cardinals. Instead of placing building blocks, Steve Kragthorpe seems to be stuck patching holes, especially on defense. In the 2009 recruiting class 5 of 7 JuCo players taken were on defense, that number was 5 of 9 in 2008. The issue there is the chemistry between the schemes and players is gained and lost in just one or two seasons as opposed to the four or five for recruits right out of high school. The Cardinal quarterback position has heavy competition between 4 legitimate candidates.
The Cardinals are usually led by a pretty good quarterback but that isn't the case in 2009. The offense has some talent but there probably won't be a lot to be excited about this season.
In his third year at Louisville, head coach Steve Kragthorpe could be coaching for his job. Unfortunately, other than sophomore running back Victor Anderson, there doesn’t appear to be enough talent left in Louisville for the Cardinals to avoid another disappointing season. Another last-place finish and it could mean the end of the Kragthorpe era in Louisville.
It doesn’t seem all that long ago that Louisville was being talked about as one of the Big East’s budding new powerhouses. So much for that. Last year the ‘Cards limped to a 5-7 finish and things aren’t likely to improve much this season. The biggest problem—and the issue that has most plagued the program of late—is the defense, where the ‘Cards simply look too small and too slow to compete with the elite. Time is running out on coach Steve Kragthorpe.
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