Fire Jurich and Kragthorpe

by cardsfanatic63 on Jan 8, 2009 7:32 PM EST Comment 38 comments

I hate to advocate the firing of anybody but if there is not any improvement in our Football program next season ,improvement would be a winning record and Bowl appearance and Jurich does nothing about it then there needs to be a serious campaign to put serious pressure on the University to Fire both Jurich and Kragthorpe. Jurich and Kragthorpe obviously have some special relationship and Jurich is not going to fire him. Tom Jurich is a great Athletic Director but there are lot's of very capable Athletic Directors that can replace him. Louisville would be a Primo Job and I would have to think that Pitino would be a Possible Canidate along with many others. This program needs a high Profile Coach that will turn this program around and that would attract Top Recruits. If this program continues with the current Coaching staff and Coach it will continue to fall into an abyss it will never recover from. Just 2 years ago we were in the Top 10 and had just won the Orange Bowl and now we are a nobody and have not gone to a Bowl Game in 2 years. I am tired of hearing the excuse from both Jurich and Kragthorpe that this is Petrinos fault, My opinion is that both Jurich and Kragthorpe did not want any immediate success to be attributed to Petrino so they both decided to clean house of all remaining Petrino players so that any future success would be all thiers. It is time that Kragthorpe and Jurich take responsibility for the programs demise and not continiue with the blame game.

Poll

If Steve Kragthorpe does not improve the Football program next year by having a winning season and a Bowl invitation and no action is taken by Tom Jurich should both Steve Kragthorpe and Tom Jurich be Fired?

Yes

41 votes

No

82 votes

No Opinion

3 votes

126 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 38 comments

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Comments

No.

I love Tom and this has hurt his image in my eyes a bit, but we can’t afford to fire him. Someone the pressure just needs to be ON, a lot. If we go 3-9 next year (which is my prediction) and it doesn’t look like Tom is gonna do anything, people better do whatever it takes to get Krag out

by sam34gtr on Jan 8, 2009 8:01 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

No.

It’s really too early to talk like that. When Krag came we knew he’d get 3 years, so give him 3 years. If we are as weak as everyone is saying next year, then TJ will have to fire Krag. If he doesn’t, then we can talk about this. Jurich has done an amazing job with all of our sports. Bringing Krag in was obviously a mistake, but let’s not forget how much UofL has changed in the last few years because of Jurich.

by Dais on Jan 8, 2009 8:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

No

Give him the final year. And then look at firing Krags. But don’t fire Jurich, he knows what he’s doing most of the time.

by CARD_G6 on Jan 8, 2009 8:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

yes

jurich’s ego is out of control. fire em both.

by davidson07 on Jan 8, 2009 10:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I vote no...

TJ will come to his senses when he sees this Klown can’t win next year.

by Linda on Jan 8, 2009 11:26 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

not both

just one

Go Cards!

by Red Rage on Jan 9, 2009 12:28 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Oh for heaven's sake, not Jurich

by frankpos on Jan 9, 2009 6:34 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

If he lets Krags have a 4th year

after 3 of the same BS……….Id say TJ has lost touch with reality. Yes, in that case- fire him too.

I love TJ and everything he has done for this program, but we all know friends and business rarely succeed.

by twistedwedge on Jan 9, 2009 7:35 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

K won't get a 4th...

by frankpos on Jan 9, 2009 8:56 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I hope youre right....

For both UofL football and Tom’s sake. I just dont see many people ponying up those extra dollars to attend a game, let alone buy season tickets if it gets any worse.

Man, to look forward to a pigskin game once again….

by twistedwedge on Jan 9, 2009 9:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

cardsfanatic63

You’re part of the reason college sports is so out of wack. Let Coach K do his thing and be a fan. Maybe you should start to like UK football and basketball because you’re already acting like one of their fans. UofL is a basketball school. Get over it. We show up late for the games if we show up at all. We leave early if we even make it to our seats after half time. I have had season tickets for over ten years and have seen us at the top and at the bottom( I go to every game). Things have a way of working out. Coach K has only had two years at the helm and I’ll be the first to say that after 4 years if we are no better off, it’s time to fire coach. He was a great up and coming coach 2 years ago and now he doesn’t now what he’s doing? Come on. Firing TJ is absolutely ridiculous. He’s the best thing to ever happen to UofL and you want to get rid of him for making a one questionable hiring in coach K. Just look at all the other sports UofL is involved in. We are one of the top university’s in the country in all sports. Get a life and enjoy the basketball season.

"You win some, You lose some but you never stop trying to do your best" Denny Crum

by DANCARD on Jan 9, 2009 10:54 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

We are allowed to voice our displeasure...

To defend Kragthorpe at this point is beyond ludicris. Great up and comer? Now he’s awesome at sucking. 2 losses to freakin Syracuse?? Indefensible. I have a life, and football is part of it. But the life is draining quickly.

Go Cards!

by Red Rage on Jan 9, 2009 11:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hey, we had to beat somebody...

… I mean, Syracuse going 0-7 in the Big East? That’s crazy.

by drothgery on Jan 9, 2009 3:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

DANCARD

You are obviously not a Football Fan, if you were you would get the awful nausiating feeling in your stomach that I get when I think about how close our Football program was to winning a National Championship and fulfilling Coach Schnellenburgers Dream and then in a matter of two short years the bottom falling out of the program. We now are not even in the Top 100. My heart goes out to all the players that Busted thier tails,sacrificed there bodies, lifted all those weights, put all those hours of practice to start that collision course to a National Championship. Jeff Brohm, Sam madison, Chris Redman, Ibn Green, Michael Bush, Harry Douglas, Brian Brohm, Mario Urrutia, and many, many more. Let’s not forget the Coaches and there Staffs Either Schenllenberger,John L and Bobby Petrino.Our Football Program has been set back at least 20 years, if not more. We were a Top 10 team and had just won the Orange Bowl, We could have gotten any Coach in the Country, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, any of the Top Coaches in the Country to Come to Louisville but instead Tom Jurich Picks a Unknown Coach from Conference USA without even interviewing anybody. I am Sorry but Tom Jurich Blew it and needs to take responsibility for the demise of the Football Program and Fix it. I am sorry but anybody with any Football knowledge could have improved the Football program at Tulsa I think Tulsa averaged like two wins a season when Kragthorpe took over, any number of wins over two would be improvement. It doesn’t take rocket scientist to figure out that Kragthorpe has sucked the life right out of this program. Anytime you have a mass exodus of players like we have had in the last 2 years something is wrong, heck they can’t even get a stable coaching staff. Obviously Coach K is not a players Coach or a Coaches coach for that matter. If there was a Glimmer of hope that things were getting better I would be more tolerant, but I don’t even see a glimmer. Why Can’t Louisville be a School for all seasons. I hate that term Basketball School or Football School the Goal should be to Win the Championship in all Sports and no sports program should be favored over the other. More importantly no sport program should be neglected either. That is why 1 more year is all that should be given to this Coach to prove the nay sayers wrong. If buy some Miracle that happens then I will be the first to get on this blog and apologize.

by cardsfanatic63 on Jan 9, 2009 6:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree...

… that the goal should be the win the championship in all sports and that all programs should be equal. And in the last few years, the Louisville Athletics program has been in the elite, top of the nation, with ranked teams in nearly every sport at the end of the season. Football has been the exception for the last two years, and everyone recognizes that, but the deed is done. The coach gets three years, and after that, if we have a terrible year again and another terrible recruiting class, I believe Jurich will do what is needed and get rid of Kragthorpe. He’s not an idiot and he doesn’t want to see any athletics program fail.

You’re just like all the Oklahoma fans calling for Stoops’ head despite the fact that he’s had five consecutive bowl appearances and solid seasons just because he hasn’t won them. Sometimes the cards just don’t fall for you. Look at what the Red Sox had to deal with for so long. You’re also the reason we can’t get a professional sports team in Louisville. A lot of fans in this town are too fickle.

Calling for Krag’s job is one thing, but calling for Jurich’s is something completely different. He deserves the benefit of the doubt.

by CARD_G6 on Jan 9, 2009 7:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I Resent you comparing me

to an Oklahoma fan. I would not be down Stoops neck because Stoops is a proven winner at Oklahoma and has made it to BCS Bowls on a consistent basis. Comparing Bob Stoops and Steve Kragthorpe is like comparing apples and oranges. Kragthorpe has not proven anything to the Louisville Fans except that he is an expert at destroying a Top 10 Football program. Another difference is that Bob Stoops brought the Oklahoma program back to one of the top 5 programs in the country he did not destroy it. The reason we haven’t been able to get a Professional Sports team is because we do not yet have a State of the Art Arena and we basically are a College sports Town. It might change once the Arena is finished downtown. As far as Jurich, His football team won the Orange Bowl and was one the Top 10 teams in Country. Doesn’t a Top 10 team in the country deserve to be replaced by at least a Top 25 Coach ? Tom Jurich sold our Football program short. If he can get us Rick Pitino and Bobby Petrino he can get us a Nick Sabin or Urban Meyer. I think what happened was he was so tired of what Petrino put him through year end and year out that he was willing to settle for mediocrity so he would’nt have to deal with it. Well Mr. Jurich welcome to Big Time College Football. Once you go from Little ole Louisville Football at Fairgrounds Stadium to Top 10 College Football in the Deep Dish you can’t expect the Fans to be patient and tolerate the destruction of the program in 2 years. You sold the program short and the fans short by picking mediocrity. If you can’t handle the Big Time go to a smaller school. If we have another losing season and Jurich does nothing, yes he does deserve to be fired along with the Coach

by cardsfanatic63 on Jan 9, 2009 8:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Coaching Staff

has been an upgrade this year. English and Lewis leaving for EMU wasn’t CSK fault. He brought them in last year and they moved on. Bill Miller is a proven DC with MIami(95-08) and AZ St. (05 – 06). Some would say an upgrade over English. Slade worked with the DB’s at Tenn for the last 10 yrs. A definate upgrade over Lewis. The special teams coach quit, and who on here wants him back? Latterious Thomas must have something else going on and I hate to see him leave, but playing for this DB coach is an upgrade big time. Simms, who cares. That was the caliber player Bobby brought in to be the future and I’m sorry, I didn’t see his sidearm style working with a D-1 football team and if Bobby did, I question his evaluation of players. This current coaching staff has brought in a lot of JUCO’s this year. I really feel that they have been told to be at least a .500 team or else. Cheer if you want, maybe K won’t work out here, but 2010 we’re back down with a new coach starting over again. Don’t fool yourself and think it will be a Urban Meyer or Stoops caliber, Louisville cannot afford that kind of coach with a 40,000 seat stadium that won’t fill when the team loses games.

by swedgeblock on Jan 9, 2009 10:19 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Swedgeblock I hope your

right and these are good coaches and they do have a positive impact on our team. It would make me so happy if a miracle did occur and we were mildly succesful next season. I don’t however feel the best way to build a program is the JUCO route. I think you should go full steam to get as many 2,3,4 star players coming out of High School as possible. How can you build a legit program if they are leaving every 2 years. I totally don’t understand why we would go out and get a JUCO QB when you have Zach Stoudt who is supposed to be terrific with a boomer of a arm. Are team needs continuity. I suppose this Juco is going to be the starter, why else would they waste thier time recruiting him if he wasn’t going to start. That is just going to do wonders for Stoudts confidence. We may not get a Urban meyer or Stoops but we do need a Coach with some name recognition. Tommy Bowden, Skip Holtz, Turner Gill, Tommy Tuberville. There are also lot’s of Top Notch Programs with excellent assistants wanting there first Gig. I will try to be more positive but it is very,very hard.

by cardsfanatic63 on Jan 9, 2009 10:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Now it don't look good

with Bill Miller leaving. He still has good coaches he could promote from within, but its the timing of his leaving is something you have to considered – what’s going on. The way UL is recruiting JUCO’s is not to build a program, but to win now. I still think Louisville has good young talent on this team. The defensive side of the ball – not so much in terms of depth – which is why L.T. leaving is such a blow. The effort to sign the JUCO D linemen is going to help instantly in that depth issue. The secondary is alot harder. To bring in a JUCO who has to learn all of your schemes and play at a high level with confidence is different than on the D-line where you either rush the QB or stop the run. I know that is why Turraine struggled his first year and Josh Wiley last year. Both guys a 4 and 5 * JUCO D-backs. I hope the bleeding stops soon. BTW If Nord and Brohm do leave, I’m not so sure thats a bad thing. Nords job since he’s been here is to recruit local kids, and we see where they are going – UK and Ohio St.

by swedgeblock on Jan 11, 2009 11:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I never compared Kragthorpe to Stoops, I compared you to an Oklahoma fan

And my point was that you’re treating Jurich, not Kragthorpe, like Oklahoma fans are treating Stoops. Just like people were calling for Pitino’s job a few weeks ago. It’s absolutely ridiculous and you people are jumping the gun. Jurich, like Pitino, has earned the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes, things just don’t work out, and you have to move one. The only point at which Jurich’s position should be in question is if we have another terrible year and he is still standing behind Kragthorpe, like you said. But we’re nowhere near that point, so there’s no reason to be calling for Jurich’s job.

Look, everybody makes good decisions and bad decisions. Sometime they take risks and sometimes they don’t work out. It’s life. You can’t start bitching every time the sky isn’t blue. Grow up.

by CARD_G6 on Jan 11, 2009 5:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Good blog...

you make a lot of good points. He’s not just going through players but coaches as well….good point.

by Linda on Jan 9, 2009 7:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

CardsDan

CardsDan, is that you? If ti is, you can’t get me banned from this site.

by Whacker77 on Jan 10, 2009 6:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know what you're talking about dude.

"You win some, You lose some but you never stop trying to do your best" Denny Crum

by DANCARD on Jan 10, 2009 11:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry

The resident internet tough guy at Cardinalsports.com is CardsDan. He is a moderator there who has posters banned if they are critical of Kragthorpe. He’s a prick, sorry to accuse you.

by Whacker77 on Jan 11, 2009 10:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wow...

It’s hard to see how or why anyone would be trying to defend Kragthorpe at this point. Reminder… Petrino’s last year 12 – 1. Kragthorpe’s first year 6 – 6…. 2nd year 5 -7. My prediction for Krag’s 3rd year, 4 – 8. Notice a pattern? Worse, Krag’s record against KY… 0 – 2… against Syracuse (who fired their coach mid-season) 0 – 2. Something HAS to change before we find ourselves at 0 – 12 and no one in Cardinal Stadium except the player’s parents.

I’m not in favor of canning Jurich, yet. But I stress the YET.

Grog

"There is no OFF position to the genius switch" - D. Letterman

by GrogInOhio on Jan 12, 2009 3:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You can't be serious

My opinion is that both Jurich and Kragthorpe did not want any immediate success to be attributed to Petrino so they both decided to clean house of all remaining Petrino players so that any future success would be all thiers.

Please tell me you are joking when you make comments like that. That makes absolutely no sense, and does nothing but make it appear that some fans are conspiracy theorists.

by CardinalPoint on Jan 9, 2009 1:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

no, it's the media and athletic dept that's full of conspiracy mongers

notice how NO ONE in the media ever calls jurich on completely backpedalling on his opinion of Krapthorpe. For instance:

Day PoopKoop was hired: “his job is going to be more polishing than building”
Later that year: “I’m not looking forward to rebuilding the next two years”

Day PoopKoop was hired: “PoopKoop is the right coach to continue the momentum of this program…yada yada”
Later that year: “The program was full of bad apples and now has to be rebuilt the right way”

The REAL conspiracy theorists are people like Howie Lindsey who choose to ignore these comments and act like the never happened. Meanwhile, the rest of the fans are told that they’re “bad fans” for actually remembering and holding jurich accountable for these statements. Now most of the fans FEEL LIKE THEY’RE TAKING CRAZY PILLS HERE!

by davidson07 on Jan 9, 2009 5:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Your argument would hold more water

if it appeared that less than half the dismissed players were academically ineligible or breaking the rules of the team. The reason nobody was expecting this “rebuilding session” was because nobody knew just what kind of situation we would be left with after Petrino left. For all the good things he did (which were a lot), he let a lot of things slide. Look at all the suspensions Stripling had before Petrino left, and yet was never cut. He obviously left a pretty miserly defensive recruiting class in his wake, and he probably knew it.

Now I’m not saying that Kragthorpe is better, because I don’t believe that he is. But there were unexpected setbacks that people, including Jurich, didn’t see coming.

by CARD_G6 on Jan 9, 2009 7:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You are making up facts.

The players were academically eligible when Petrino was running the show. He didn’t get them bad grades for their future. His last recruiting class was the best one in our history. And I don’t believe Stripling was ever suspended, and if he was, it was never announced because Petrino privately disciplined the players and never used the “we have a bunch of bad kids” defense even though he was left with much more trash from John L than Kragthorpe got from him. Brohm, Douglas, Wood, Heyman, Allen, Bolen. Petrino left Krag with some of the best (not just most talented) kids the program has ever had.

But, no, there is no way we should be trying to get rid of Jurich. I believe he is making a mistake, maybe not so much in giving Krags another year, but in badmouthing the fans just because they can tell shit from shinola. But that makes him about 100 for 101 in coaching hires, so I’m going to let it go.

by 83fan on Jan 9, 2009 10:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

We can't do that...

We can’t fire Jurich. He’s the best AD we’ll ever have. Period. As for Kragthorpe, it was a mistake to hire him, but we’re going to be stuck with him through at least next season. I heard somebody on the radio say this and I agree….we’re just going to have to suck it up for the next season and be Cubs fans. This thing is going to have to be completely blown up before it’ll be fixed…and we’re on our way.

Cardinal Football is getting worse by the week. I don’t think we’ve hit rock bottom yet, but when we do, we’ll be back with a vengeance.

by bluelou01 on Jan 10, 2009 6:33 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Bluelou01

If you worked for a company and you were the Department Head of a Department that was ranked in the Top 10 of a particular industry and had to replace the previous manager who elevated your office to the Top 10 who left to pursue bigger and better things and you had a friend that needed a job but really was not qualified for the position but you hired them without interviewing more qualified canidates and three years later the Department went from the Top 10 in thier industry to the bottom 10 and you were getting pressure from your corporate office to get rid of him but you refused to fire him because he was your friend don’t you think you would be fired for insobordination despite your past performance in your position. Yes, Tom Jurich is a great Athletic Director but he is not GOD, despite what Tom Thinks. Tom’s Ego is so huge that he thinks he is Untouchable. If after next year we do not have a winning season and Tom refuses to make a coaching Change he deserves to be fired for mismanagement of the Football Program. By allowing the Football Program to decline like it has and not do anything to correct it is mismanagement. We were a Top 10 Program 2 years ago.and we deserved to get a new Coach with the Credentials to Coach a Top 10 program not some unknown Coach from Tulsa. Tom Jurich never even Interviewed anybody, he never even took the time to see what other Coach might be interested. That is plain irresponsible and in the Words of our next President " YES WE CAN" Fire him.

by cardsfanatic63 on Jan 10, 2009 8:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

How old are you?

Most people learned in 5th grade that sentences with more than 10 complete thoughts and 40 words were called run-on sentences, and are grammatically incorrect.

Also, people are agreeing with you that Kragthorpe should not be here after next season and that if Jurich does keep him here, he should be held accountable. It’s like you’re just arguing for the sake of arguing. If you agree that action should be taken at the end of next season, not now, then why did you even make this post? That’s a year away.

by CARD_G6 on Jan 11, 2009 5:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

So That

So the Heat would be turned up NOW so we don’t have to risk a 4th year with this clown that they call a Coach.

by cardsfanatic63 on Jan 11, 2009 6:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Guys, c'mon, this situation is bad, but you're both Card fans. This is a good board....

lets’ not get carried away.

by frankpos on Jan 11, 2009 7:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No

Jurich AND Kragthorpe shouldn’t be fired if they have a terrible season next year. Just Kragthorpe. Jurich is a good AD. He’s improved all of UL’s athletics. It would be a mistake to fire Jurich, but not a mistake to fire Kragthorpe.

Competition brings out the best in products, and the worst in men.

by Christoph006 on Jan 10, 2009 2:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs