Chris Redman Says He Was Joking About Charlie Strong to UofL

This is an example of a rumor getting hot and spreading like wildfire, so much so that the subject of the rumor (or in this case, the starter) actually has to deny it.

We’ve reported over the past day or so that former UofL quarterback and current Atlanta Falcon Chris Redman said on the team radio show that he believes Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong will be Steve Kragthorpe’s replacement.

Catching wind of his spreading words, Redman spoke with Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal, shooting down the notion that he was serious about his prediction:

“I said it in a totally joking manner,” he said. “We were talking about golf and the Falcons and then they asked me about the coaching situation. I believe I said ‘I think it’s going to be Curtis Strong.’ I didn’t even know that his first name was Charlie.

“I just said that was what I was hearing. My wife (Ashley) read it on the message boards and told me about it.

“Why would I be the one making any announcement about the U of L football program? I’m not the athletic director. Anybody who would believe that strictly because it’s something that I said would be an idiot.

“But I apologize if I have stirred anything up.”

We’ve said from the beginning that Redman’s words are no where near gospel truth. In fact, we prefaced our initial post by saying “I am not sure what Chris Redman has to do with the Louisville coaching search…”.

Redman’s refutation should not really tell you anything one way or another about whether Strong is a viable candidate (although I believe he is the most likely next coach), but this whole thing is proof of exactly how much interest there is in this coaching search.

If you want to judge for yourself whether or not Redman was joking when he said, “Strong to Louisville”, you can click here and check out his comments on the Falcons radio show. He starts talking about the Louisville job at the 51-minute mark.

The most enjoyable part of this whole story in my book is the fact that Ashley Redman is still all over the UofL message boards…that’s some serious dedication.