Smu Vacancy Rumors

[StealthEagle84]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=Av...p&type=lgns

Kragthorpe: "I'm 100 percent committed to Louisville"

By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer

November 21, 2007

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe tried to put to rest speculation that he was entertaining an offer from SMU, saying Wednesday reports of his departure were "total fiction."

Kragthorpe said he was "100 percent committed" to the Cardinals, though the defending Big East champions have tumbled from out of the preseason Top 10 to the bottom of the conference. Louisville (5-6) will need to beat Rutgers next Thursday to hold onto any remote hope of making a bowl game for the 10th straight season.

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"I'm not going anyplace," Kragthorpe said. "I'm not interested in any other job. I'm committed to taking this team and this program back to the championship level."

Kragthorpe said he felt compelled to come forward after seeing published reports that said he was considering taking the head coaching job at SMU. SMU athletic director Steve Orsini did not immediately return a call for comment. The Mustangs fired coach Phil Bennett in October, effective at the end of the season.

"I'm not interested in going someplace else," he said. "I know you've heard that before, but I can guarantee you I'm not leaving the University of Louisville.

"Certainly there have been some challenges with some off-the-field situations that I did not anticipate, but we're working through those."

Though Kragthorpe said he's sure there are some disgruntled fans that would like to see him go, he's not ready to shy away from the high expectations that come with inheriting a program coming off its first Bowl Championship Series berth. The high expectations were among the reasons he decided to leave Tulsa and replace Bobby Petrino just days after the Cardinals won the Orange Bowl in January.

"I want to be here for the rest of my career, hopefully that's a long, long time and certainly I know I've got to win some games for that to happen," said Kragthorpe, who is in the first year of a five-year deal that pays him $1.1 million annually.

Wins have been hard to come by for a team expected to compete for another conference title. Though quarterback Brian Brohm has been spectacular at times, the Cardinals have been undone by a leaky defense that is 81st in the nation in yards allowed. Louisville has lost at home to Syracuse and Utah and was pounded 55-17 by South Florida last week, their worst defeat in nearly two decades.

"The easy thing for me to do would be to leave, to just pick up and leave, but that's not the way I am, that's not the way I was raised," Kragthorpe said. "My parents raised me to never back down from a fight and I'll never back down from a fight and I've certainly got a fight on my hands, no doubt about it."

[tonyhuntoon]

No real reason to take that job. Better conference and team. SMU forgets that they aren't in the SWC any more.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I have no idea why he would leave to go to SMU, but just remember - Nick Saban wasn't going anywhere either.

[scotty474]

I have no idea why he would leave to go to SMU, but just remember - Nick Saban wasn't going anywhere either.

More $$$ and lower expectations at SMU might be a reason he would consider it if the rumor about contract size are true. $1.1 to $1.5 is around 36% increase in salary. That is something I am sure he is considering, or did consider since he now says he isn't going any place.

[Smitty]

Considering the state of SMU's program and that it has a much smaller stadium (10,000 fewer than Louisville, which is planning an upgrade to 80,000), and considering that Louisville is in a BCS conference (Big East) and has already launched one coach into the NFL, that would definitely be a move down, regardless of how much SMU will pay.

[SilverEagle]

Considering the state of SMU's program and that it has a much smaller stadium (10,000 fewer than Louisville, which is planning an upgrade to 80,000), and considering that Louisville is in a BCS conference (Big East) and has already launched one coach into the NFL, that would definitely be a move down, regardless of how much SMU will pay.

The last time SMU was successful, they bought all their players as well as their coach. SMU is not a school that the "regular guy and/or joe six-pack" identifies with. They are never going to get people in the metroplex excited about them. And if they put up the money for a big name coach (current or former), people will just laugh at them for throwing away all that money.

Baylor is in a similar situation. People are never going to identify with Baylor like they do with other schools. Baylor can try and throw money at big name coaches, but the only coach that has ever been successful there was Grant Teaff. They need to go out and find the next up and coming Grant Teaff, regardless of how well he's known, or where he's from, and save themselves a lot of money.

And BTW, the reason why it doesn't matter if he's a known name or not is who the hell ever heard of Grant Teaff before he arrived at Baylor?

Baylor and SMU would be smart to go take a good look at Don Carthel at WTA$M. For that matter, A$M would be smart to look at him too......after they've officially fired Fran.

It's like North Texas. The only coach that ever got the alumni and the metroplex excited about North Texas football was Hayden Fry. The reason was not only his coaching abilites, but his ability to get out there and promote the program,promote the program AND promote the program. .....did I mention promote the program?

So Hayden Fry leaves, and what do the "old nesters" at North Texas do? They go out and hire the most opposite coach to Hayden Fry that they could find....both in style and personality.

Now, 30 years later we finally bring in a "Hayden Fry-like" coach and look at how excited everyone is about our team...as well as our future.

Now, if we could only bring in another Bill Brasher to run the defense.....