I’m envisioning the cover of this year’s media guide:

“UL Football…hey, shit happens” or…

“UL Football…lower your expectations, it’s happening here”

IMO anything less than a 8-4 season with a decent bowl is a failure. We were supposed to be a program on the rise, which we were until Krap came in and dismantled it.

Howard Schellenberger is not walking through the door. NO BIG TIME COACH IS EVER GOING TO COME TO U OF L FOOTBALL. We need a coach that show’s some loyalty and can build a program over a period of time. Coach K may or may not be the guy that can do this. You’ve got to understand that our football programs is just in the middle of the pack as far as fan base, prestige and attendance. Just because you think we’ve arrived doesn’t make it so. Look at Penn St., Notre Dame, Tennessee, Miami, Florida St. ect… We don’t compare with any these schools (football wise) on any level. U of L football has always been a stepping stone for coaches to go to those kinds of schools. Until we get someone in here that can win on a consistent basis, builds a program and stays here for more than 4-5 years (al la Howard Schellenberger) that will never change.

You might be dissapointed if you expect new revenue from an expanded stadium when fans at non-sellout games at Papa John’s were leaving in the 3rd/4th quarter…and that was during the good times. Perhaps a long stretch of good coaching and great results would we then see a comparable fan following as the Cardinal Basketball team. The UofL Athletic program will see revenue from the new downtown arena though, right? I’m too lazy to research this. Perhaps we can substitute this into your suggested plan of buying a bigger name coach. I think we can find someone on the rebound perhaps, maybe someone running away from the NFL…but not an established big name already at the top of the hill.

Agree also that fans who accept 7-5 as “good” years are fans not taking their program seriously in Division I Football (I’m a man…I’m 40). With a Big East schedule, UofL fans should expect 8 wins or better and should never witness a team giving up on their coach or not being challenged enough (you pick the reason why Rutgers over UofL 63-14 happened last year…what’s sad is I didnt even have to fact check that score, I still remembere staring at my TV, listening to the analysts dismantle my will to live).

When fans have a healthy standard for their team and expect them to do great things more often than not, this can only help the program. When you accept mediocrity, you should remove yourself from a BCS Conference and spend the $ elsewhere. Of course, everyone knows football is a cash cow and the AD cannot keep paying it forward to all the other athletic programs w/o fielding an 8-3 or better team more years than not…which is exactly why he should’ve fired Kragthorpe immediately following the Rutgers game last season. An interim coach would be better at this point if no coaches were on Jurich’s radar at the time.

I’m not saying expect the Orange Bowl every season…but being in contention to win the Big East every 3 out of 4 seasons and being in the BCS discussion once every 3 years is not asking much for a University with resources like Louisville, who plays in one of the weaker BCS football conferences year in and year out.

Still— we can get a big name—if and when TJ decides to pull the trigger,

Even during the Orange Bowl season of ’07, the basketball program produced more revenue than its football counterpart.