Strong names Mike Sanford new offensive coordinator

by Mike Rutherford on Dec 22, 2009 1:45 PM EST in Football

Charlie Strong will introduce Mike Sanford as the new Louisville offensive coordinator later today. Tom Dienhart of Yahoo! was the first to report the story.

Sanford comes to U of L from UNLV, where he had been the head coach for the previous five seasons. The Runnin' Rebels produced a record of just 15-43 under his watch. The most notable moment of his tenure may have come when he refused to have his team leave the field following a loss to Iowa State in 2006.

Prior to his stint in Vegas, Sanford had served as Urban Meyer's offensive coordinator at Utah. In his final season in Salt Lake, the Utes averaged 43.5 points per game on their way to an undefeated season capped by a Fiesta Bowl victory over Pittsburgh.

Sanford is best known for his innovative spread offense.

Welcome to The Ville, coach.

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Just what we need..... another Mike with last name ending in -ford

DocCardsFan
The 'Ville, KY

by DocCardsFan on Dec 22, 2009 2:00 PM EST reply actions

Nice

by Mike Rutherford on Dec 22, 2009 2:01 PM EST up reply actions

why am I not catching on to this joke?

by tnatburks on Dec 22, 2009 2:30 PM EST up reply actions

1. See previous user name above starting with "Mike" and ending in "-ford"

2. Compare with new Offensive Coordinator’s name
3. Stop sniffing glue

by UL is my hot hot sex on Dec 22, 2009 2:36 PM EST up reply actions

Mike San-ford.

Mike Ruther-ford.

It happnea to the best of us.

by CARD_G6 on Dec 22, 2009 2:37 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

I hope he's got a QB recruit in mind for next year.

Cause with Stoudt leaving, I don’t think we have a QB for the spread right now.

by CARD_G6 on Dec 22, 2009 2:38 PM EST via mobile reply actions

How about DaMarcus Smith?

by TheRealSlimShady on Dec 26, 2009 9:50 PM EST up reply actions

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=rivals-346179&prov=rivals&type=lgns
UNLV also set numerous school records on offense last year, including tying with Ohio State for the national lead in red-zone scoring percentage as well as posting the fewest overall penalty yards in a single season.
Utah, which finished last in the MWC in scoring offense in 2002, ranked third in the nation in 2004 at 43.3 points per game, third in total offense at 499.75, third in passing efficiency (173.41)

Let’s hope for that progress at UofL

DocCardsFan
The 'Ville, KY

by DocCardsFan on Dec 22, 2009 2:48 PM EST reply actions

I mentioned this when this was rumored, but ...

this guy was run out of Vegas on a rail and is rumored to have burnt bridges everywhere he’s been. Maybe he’s an offensive genius who isn’t built for head coaching, or who got in a bad situation at UNLV. Maybe he’s a blowhard faker. I really hope Strong’s got a handle on what he’s doing with this move.

by statprof on Dec 22, 2009 3:04 PM EST reply actions

We had similar concerns with Brent Guy,

but I’d say he actually turned in a solid performance this season. Looks to me like Sanford is not meant to be a HC — which means we might get him for a couple of extra seasons.

by 83fan on Dec 22, 2009 3:07 PM EST up reply actions

Yep he's not very popular in Vegas

but he was good as a coordinator prior to this stint here.

by UL is my hot hot sex on Dec 22, 2009 3:08 PM EST up reply actions

This guy is a proven offensive coordinator.....

For his career as a offensive coordinator his offenses average 240 yards rushing and 260 yards passing a game…… Thats pretty impresive… Everybody’s just not cut out to be a head coach and he took over a program that was terrible and has bad facilities which makes it hard to recruit…. This guy will be great at Louisville now that he can focus completely on putting together a dominant offense….

by TRUCARDFAN on Dec 22, 2009 9:46 PM EST up reply actions

Excited by the Spread

Hopefully get can get a QB who runs it – I don’t know if Froman can get it done, but maybe with good coaching he can do it.

No more traditional power backs at UofL for the near future, although we haven’t really had one since Anthony Allen and I guess Bolen to a lesser extent, although he wasn’t really used as such.

Anderson and Ashley have to be licking their proverbial chops.

by CardsFan922 on Dec 22, 2009 3:52 PM EST reply actions