Troubling Signs For The Cards

UPDATE:I had a chance to talk to Athletic Director Tom Jurich this afternoon about the state of the football program. Some tough questions were asked. Here in a nutshell is what Jurich had to say.

• Coach Kragthorpe will return as head coach next season no matter how the team finishes this year. He says as long as Kragthorpe wants to return next season, the job is his.
• He wants fans to have patience. The program is in rebuilding mode right now. The talent level is not where it's been in the past but he's confident coach Kragthorpe can turn it around. He says the Cards numbers are down and that's just a matter of fact. He said roughly eight walk-ons have seen extended minutes this season.
• He doesn't want to use the Orange Bowl as a bench mark for the program. He desperately wants to get back to a bowl game, no matter which one it is.
• He says he and his family are outsiders in Louisville. He says since they are not from Louisville, they feel like outsiders but his family is doing fine during this critical period. He has no plans of leaving the city of Louisville, but he stopped short of saying he would never leave the Ville. He says he wants to see the turnaround of the football program through.

In his second season as Louisville's head football coach Steve Kragthorpe hasn't done much to quell the calls for his firing. Friday night the Cards lost their third straight game, falling to 22nd ranked Cincinnati 28-20. Losing that one game is nothing to be ashamed about. The Cards were underdogs. But it's hard to ignore the fact, streaks the Cards had going into to Coach Kragthorpe's tenure are now coming to an end.

Before Friday night the last time Louisville lost three straight games was 1997. They had beaten Cincinnati five straight times and 9 out of the last 10. Before Bobby Petrino left Louisville was riding a streak of 9 straight bowl appearances. Under Steve Kragthorpe that streak came to an end and now they're in danger of missing out on a bowl game for two straight seasons. Before Kragthorpe arrived the Cards had won four straight versus rival Kentucky. With Kragthorpe on board they've now lost two straight to the Cats.

The administration and some on the coaching staff will have you believe they needed to get rid of some bad apples, and that depleted the talent level. They'll also tell you Petrino left the cupboard bare. He knew the talent level would drop off that's why he bolted for the Atlanta Falcons. I say "yeah right". While this year's team may be short on talent, compared to some of the previous UofL teams, it still does not explain back to back losses to Syracuse, a three game losing streak, and going 6-6 coming of an Orange Bowl winning season. The Cards had enough talent last year to go bowling but instead they were left on the outside looking in.

I'm not saying Coach Kragthorpe needs to be fired right now or after this season, but Athletic Director Tom Jurich better be keeping a close eye on the state of the program. If the Cards finish the season with five straight losses, and then struggle at the start of next season Jurich will have enough ammunition to make a coaching change.