So this is already starting to get fun.
About 24 hours after being introduced as the Cardinals' coach, Strong met with and picked up a verbal commitment from DeMarcus Smith, Seneca High School's highly regarded junior quarterback.
Smith told The Courier-Journal that he talked with Strong by phone Wednesday night and went to the UofL football offices on Thursday to meet the former Florida defensive coordinator.
Smith said he was "very, very excited."
"I could tell he was just as good as advertised, maybe better," he said of Strong. "He let me know he was going to do whatever it was going to take to keep me here. He seems like a very cool guy. I told him I was his guy."
Smith threw for 3,227 yards and 32 touchdowns and run for 457 yards and three more scores during his sophomore season, but missed all of last year with a knee injury. Despite the injury, Smith was widely regarded as Kentucky's top recruit from the class of 2011 and was being courted by Kentucky, Oregon, Ohio State and Tennessee, among others.
According to Jody Demling, Strong will now turn his focus to landing Central linebacker Tim Patterson and Ballard wide receiver DeVante Parker. Patterson is the top-rated recruit in the state for the class of 2010 while Parker, a junior, is a football and basketball star who has previously stated his desire to play at PJCS.
Good god I've missed this.