***Disclaimer***
-First off, let me say this exclusive articular by myself and fellow UofL colleague Peter Tom is meant to provoke civil dialogue betwix Cardinal fans who are curious about the state of the football program. We do not in any way condone name calling, personal attacks, or all out rumbles that start as a result of this discussion. However, if you do wind up in a rumble because of this, please film it and send to us so we can post it on the site.

Pre-UofL tenure: Despite what some people want you to believe, Steve Kragthorpe knows how to coach football, specifically offensive football. Without having to run through every single thing on his resume, which is immense, I will simply point out a few highlights. For starters, he coached Drew Bledsoe in his 2002 Pro Bowl season while QBs coach for the Buffalo Bills. In 2003, he took over without question one of the five worst jobs in college football, University of Tulsa. In his first season at Tulsa, he took a team that had won a combined two games in as many seasons and went 8-5. What does that say about him? It says he inherited a team of mediocre to poor players and made them winners, but more specifically it means he can coach. By the time he left Tulsa, he had a 29-22 record, went to bowl games in three out his four years, and he improved the team offensively from 105th in the nation in total offense the season before he arrived to 24th by his final season. What’s Tulsa look like since Kragthorpe left? Well, with a team completely recruited by him they went 10-4 while winning the GMAC Bowl 63-7 in 2007. In 2008, with a team mostly his outside of the freshmen class, they are currently 10-3, once again in the GMAC Bowl, and have been in the top 25 all season. What’s my point to all this? The point is Steve Kragthorpe built a very solid program out of absolutely nothing.

UofL Tenure, 2007 season: He was named head coach on January 9, 2007 which gave him just under one month to formulate his coaching staff and solidify the UofL recruiting class, which he did. Not only did he keep all the recruits in the class, he actually lured a local high school running back named Victor Anderson away from those dirty West Virginia Mountaineers with whom he had verbally committed. And he managed to get the no. 1 rated JUCO recruit in the nation to join Louisville in Woodny Turenne. And let’s not forget he convinced Brian Brohm to say for his senior season. As far as the season goes, I will not insult anyone’s intelligence, 6-6 with that squad was unacceptable. However, if anyone thought that team was undefeated national championship good, you are delusional. The 2007 Louisville Cardinals were not the same team as the 2006 version. Offensively, I agree they should have been spectacular, but the defense was nowhere close to the same. On the defensive side of the football alone, they lost Amobi Okoye, Nate Harris, Abe Brown, Brandon Sharp, and William Gay. Not only are three of those players on NFL rosters, but they were all the biggest leaders of the defense and in many ways the entire team in 2006. Not to mention they also lost potentially their biggest playmaker defensively, Peanut Whitehead, to a career ending spinal injury. That same injury would strike again when starting offensive lineman Mike Donoghue fell victim to the same condition. Despite all that, 6-6 was underachieving, but that team was not elite.

2007 off season: Let’s examine the losses during the time between the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Brian Brohm gone, Harry Douglas gone, Mario Urrutia and Lamar Myles thought they were NFL players, and Rod Council decided he would acquire some money by robbing a gas station with his Uzi. Oh, and let’s not forget perennial knucklehead JaJuan Spillman and his multiple transgressions. Those losses cannot in any way be blamed on Krags. The players that left or were kicked off the team would have been key contributors to the 2008 campaign, no doubt.

2008 season: An pre-season view of this squad was similar no matter who you ask; could be good, but cannot afford any injuries, especially in the areas where they had very little depth or experience. Right out of the gate, WR Scott Long breaks his foot making a WR core already young and inexperienced that much weaker. However, Krags gets the team out to a 5-2 start including a loss to UCONN that they should have won. The feeling amongst UofL fans is positive as a bowl trip looks to be just around the corner, but right after the upset win over a ranked South Florida team the injury bug would strike Long once again. This time he tears his ACL and ends his season. All people of sound mind agree, this injury killed the offense. That being said, the team should still have beaten the beyond atrocious Syracuse, there is no excuse for losing to them again. They fight valiantly through the rest of their games, sans Rutgers, and finish a dissapointing 5-7.

Where do we stand now? Quite frankly, he deserves a third season to prove himself. First, I truly believe any college football coach needs three full seasons before a determination can be made about his job status. Second, when one thinks about the defections from the team that were not of the coach’s doing, I think it’s fair to give him another year. Make no mistake, Krags make or break season is the 2009 season. He will have a squad of almost all his players and will have had two seasons to establish his system. Krags has to get the 2009 Louisville Cardinals to a bowl game in order to keep his job here. If he doesn’t get to a bowl and the team shows no signs of improvement, then it will be perfectly fair to relieve him of his duties. I just ask all fans to keep this in mind, Krags is trying to build a program, not just throw a few good teams out on the field. Now I am not saying having losing records is acceptable, but if that is the price to pay now in order to build a long standing program down the road, then I will stay on board. Krags is capable of building a program, he did it a worse job in Tulsa and he will do it here.