Pat Forde reports on the atmosphere around UofL football. Looks like whatever the fans are doing is working.
CJ

Temperature Gauge
Athletic director misery got company Friday night at Louisville's Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Louisville AD Tom Jurich (18) hosted Colorado AD Mike Bohn (19), who was in the neighborhood to see his Buffaloes play at West Virginia the night before, as his guest for the Cards' home game against Pittsburgh.

The two have a longstanding relationship but a freshly shared problem: They might be faced with firing their football coaches. That possibility became more real when the Mountaineers beat Colorado 35-24 and the Panthers routed the Cardinals 35-10, dropping both teams to 1-3.

Colorado is 14-27 during the Dan Hawkins era.
Both schools hired successful coaches from smaller programs and have not seen their success translate to the next level. Colorado is 14-27 in Year 4 under Dan Hawkins, who helped make Boise State the power it is. Louisville is 12-16 in Year 3 under Steve Kragthorpe, who got a dreadful Tulsa program up off the mat earlier this decade.

Colorado had won two straight Big 12 North Division titles before Hawkins arrived but has not threatened to win the division since. Louisville had won 41 games the previous four seasons, including the 2007 Orange Bowl, but has not earned a bowl bid since.

Colorado's desire for change could be tempered by the cost of making it happen. Hawkins has a hefty bailout, and the athletic department is not flush with cash.

Louisville's desire for change is more of a fan revolt than anything actively sought by the school administration. Jurich has been resolutely in Kragthorpe's corner -- but scenes like Friday night, when the stadium rapidly emptied as Pitt pounded away in the second half, will make it harder to maintain that support. Louisville's ambition is evident to anyone visiting its stadium -- the school is in the midst of an expansion from 42,000 to more than 60,000 -- but will anyone want those seats if Kragthorpe returns for a fourth season?


Forde 10/6/09

Well Jim.. get ready for a contract extension.. Program need stability now. LOL

If Jurich gives Kragthorpe an extension it will the his last act as Vice-President of Athletics as he will be shown the door as well. I don't believe it will come to that because Tom is a great AD but a better businessman. He knows his waiting list for season tickets is gone. He knows he'll have nearly another 20K seats to sell. He has a new group of luxury boxes to sell. Kragthorpe won't fill that expanded that stadium next year. Jurich knows it. He knows the ONLY person that will is a "name" coach.
CJ

(10-06-2009 04:24 PM)PatForde Wrote:  in the midst of an expansion from 42,000 to more than 60,000

I must have missed the memo but when did 55,000 > 60,000+?

(10-06-2009 07:06 PM)UofL07 Wrote:  

(10-06-2009 04:24 PM)PatForde Wrote:  in the midst of an expansion from 42,000 to more than 60,000

I must have missed the memo but when did 55,000 > 60,000+?

Just another poorly researched article...but Forde is from Louisville, right?

(10-06-2009 07:10 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  Just another poorly researched article...but Forde is from Louisville, right?

He worked at the Courier-Journal for 17 years before moving on to ESPN and currently lives in Louisville. I say that means he should be familiar enough with Louisville athletics and the city to get the expansion number correct. But as Fox News continually demonstrates, facts aren't really that important in journalism...

(10-06-2009 04:52 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  If Jurich gives Kragthorpe an extension it will the his last act as Vice-President of Athletics as he will be shown the door as well. I don't believe it will come to that because Tom is a great AD but a better businessman. He knows his waiting list for season tickets is gone. He knows he'll have nearly another 20K seats to sell. He has a new group of luxury boxes to sell. Kragthorpe won't fill that expanded that stadium next year. Jurich knows it. He knows the ONLY person that will is a "name" coach.
CJ

good points, based on that krags is done, bad business decision to keep him.
i was psyched when i heard u guys were coming into the beast, its sad how far the ville has sunk..,.

It will be interesting to see if Colorado has to keep their coach for financial reasons. We'll see if there are any rich alums willing to pony up the money to pay the rest of Hawkins' contract.

As for Louisville, I would be absolutely stunned if Kragthorpe returned next year.

too bad about dan hawkins, hes been one of my favorite coaches ever since his "Its division 1 football" rant

(10-06-2009 04:52 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  If Jurich gives Kragthorpe an extension it will the his last act as Vice-President of Athletics as he will be shown the door as well. I don't believe it will come to that because Tom is a great AD but a better businessman. He knows his waiting list for season tickets is gone. He knows he'll have nearly another 20K seats to sell. He has a new group of luxury boxes to sell. Kragthorpe won't fill that expanded that stadium next year. Jurich knows it. He knows the ONLY person that will is a "name" coach.
CJ

What he said!