The phrase "doing things the right way" was bandied about a great deal during the Steve Kragthorpe era, and became seen by many Cardinal fans as little more than an attempt to soften the sting of losing. For all the talk, Louisville football produced few results on or off the field over the past three years that could be viewed as being anywhere in the vicinity of "right."
And now, after just one semester on the job, we have this:
University of Louisville head football coach Charlie Strong has made many contributions in his short period of time as the Cardinals' head coach.
However, there has been no bigger accomplishment than what the Cardinals did in the classroom last semester.
Strong's first order of business when he was hired last December was to stress the importance of the players going to class and getting their grades up. In five short months, the Cardinals did what Strong asked for and more.
After May grades were posted, the Cardinals recorded a team overall grade point average of 2.7 for players who are on the current roster. A total of 39 players earned over a 3.0 GPA or better and 22 players had between a 2.5-2.99 GPA during the spring semester.
"I'm proud of the players for their dedication and hard work in the classroom," said Strong. "They did what we asked them to do and it paid off. We just need to keep it up and continue to get even better in the classroom. I said when I was hired that I want them to earn a degree first and I will never back off that statement."
The 39 players with a GPA of 3.0 or better is a record for Louisville football.
I would like to take this man to dinner.