(03-09-2010 10:24 PM)ECU-DMB Fanatic Wrote: (03-09-2010 09:14 PM)Pervis_Griffith Wrote: (03-09-2010 07:25 PM)Sir Galahad Wrote: I seem to remember that shortly after Louisville got into the Big East, a story broke about how the AD admitted taking kids that would normally never get into school to improve the schools football team. He went on to say he could not get away with that anymore. Could be the reason UL has not done well in recent years.
Nope. Had nothing to do with it.
In fact, after joining the Big East, we went to a Gator Bowl, then followed that up with a conference title and an Orange Bowl victory before losing our head coach to the Atlanta Falcons.
We were just Kragthorped.
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Well your 1st few years in the Big East you upperclassmen were signed while you were in CUSA.
Coach Logan called this one on his Radio Talk Show out of Raleigh after he was fired from ECU....He said Louisville would struggle long term in the Big East because they would no longer be able to sign "any kid with a pulse". He indicated that Louisville was going all over the country and signing all these talented kids that could not get into other schools while they were in CUSA. He claimed that once you guys were in the Big East you would have a hard time recruiting because Kentucky does not produce enough top level players and you guys would not be able to go head to head against some of the bigger programs for talented out of state kids that could qualify.
UofL was able to sign 2 prop 48's like all others in CUSA and several other conferences. So saying "all these kids who couldn't get into other schools" is incorrect and misleading.
Our decline can be laid at the feet of one man; Steve Kragthorpe. He was a horrible coach. The BE rule of not allowing prop 48's is an insignificant factor. The lack of talent due to lousy recruiting and the fact we lost one heck of a ball coach in Bobby Petrino is why we've slipped.
Bobby Petrino coached from 03-06 and his recruiting classes ranked 35, 64,45 and 34. while not great it was added by his outstanding ability to "coach-up" players and his offensive genius. Kragthorpe coached from 07-09. He recruited a large number of JuCO's and his recruiting classes ranked 41, 55 and 77. Did I mention he was a lousy coach?
Kragthorpe's first year was following our Orange bowl season. We had 18 returning starters and the man couldn't even make a bowl game. He never made it to a bowl game and never had a winning season.
If our success was prop 48 driven and not coaching then explain UC's success with Brian Kelley. Cincinnati recruited props just like everyone else in CUSA and had limited success will there. Brian Kelley took over the team in 06, drastically improved their talent and lead them to two BE championships. The man can flat-out coach.
Winning in football isn't rocket science. You need talent and good coaches.
As far as the limited talent in the state of Kentucky, I will not argue that. It is getting deeper and we get our fair share of the better talent. We've now hired Coach Strong so we're looking to get back to recruiting Florida. When we had our most success we did it with kids from the South. So we are looking to get back to our southern roots. I will add to the conversation that I feel confident coach Strong will succeed in his recruiting battles with other programs for these kids. He was able to land the 3rd best class in the BE this year while only having 5 weeks to recruit. We'll see.
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