John Clay's Sidelines

(AP photo)

Hop over to our friends at Card Chronicle, which was on hand for the Charlie Strong press conference today previewing Saturday’s Kentucky-Louisville tug-of-war at Commonwealth Stadium.

Three highlights:

• On the loss to Florida International: “We’re just not a very good football team. The coaches didn’t coach very well and the players didn’t play very well.

• On Saturday: “I don’t know if we can beat Kentucky right now.”

• On what to fix: “The offensive line isn’t our problem. Our problem is the whole team. The whole team needs to play better.”

Click here to read the rest of Strong’s comments.

Mark Story had interesting column this morning comparing Joker Phillips’ first year with Charlie Strong’s first year.

Personally, I’d give Strong a little more credit than Mark offers, but thought I’d look up some other numbers.

Here is how the two seasons compared, using the Sagarin Ratings.

The other statistical categories are by the latest NCAA statistical rankings.

(AP photo)

Big news Saturday night was Miami taking the axe to head coach Randy Shannon after the ‘Canes loss to South Florida. And in such situations, doesn’t take long for the speculation machine to start humming.

Two names receiving a large amount of play: Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen and Louisville’s Charlie Strong.

Mullen is well-known to Miami fans for his tenure as offensive coordinator at Florida. All the Gators did was win a pair of national championships during Mullen’s stay. And the Florida offense has turned into a popgun since he departed for Starkville. Meanwhile, Mullen has State in a bowl game in just his second season.

Continue reading ‘Dan Mullen, Charlie Strong high on Miami list?’

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader reports that Luke McDermott was the big news in Kentucky football on Monday.
• The Cats are intent on running their winning streak over Louisville to four straight, reports Cosby.
• Louisville’s Charlie Strong wants poise and aggressive play, reports Mark Maloney of the Herald-Leader.
• Mark Story of the H-L gives you 25 reasons to watch Kentucky football this season.
• Rookie coaches and old friends will face off on Saturday, writes Ron Higgins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
• Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal writes that Joker Phillips has little room to breathe.
• No jitters for Joker, reports Brett Dawson of the C-J.
• Freshmen Jerrell Priester and Raymond Sanders could be double trouble for Cats’ foes, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• UK wants receivers that can win games, reports Aaron Smith of the Kentucky Kernel.
• Mr. SEC has a formula for Kentucky cotending in the SEC race.
• A Sea of Blue takes a look at the Kentucky-Louisville football rivalry.
• Kentucky rounding back into shape, writes Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches.

(H-L photo/Charles Bertram)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader on the bond shared by Kentucky’s new football coaches: “Charlie Strong was happy when he heard the news that Joker Phillips would take over for Rich Brooks as head football coach at the University of Kentucky, and Phillips had the same sentiment when Tom Jurich tabbed Strong to rebuild the program at the University of Louisville. And both Phillips and Strong were glad to see young up-and-comer Willie Taggart get his shot as the head coach at Western Kentucky University in November.”

A Sea of Blue on Calipari taking a break from basketball to visit someone in need: “Calipari did them one better. Unbeknownst to Kevin, Calipari, touched by the story related to him by Ed Schilling, took a plane to Indianapolis and surprised the youngster by personally visiting him in the hospital. As Cal walked through the door, tears began streaming down the cheeks of the extremely ill young man.”

Mark Story of the H-L on Mark Coury, ex-Wildcat now at Cornell: “When he picked Cornell, Coury became the first men’s hoops player ever to leave the basketball factory here in Lexington for the hallowed academic halls of the Ivy League. Yet that’s not the most unlikely part of the story.”

The Big Lead catches DeMarcus Cousins watching at Erin Andrews. (Hat tip to Walter’s Wildcat World.)

Wildcat Blue Blog looks at what UK does for SEC attendance: “Some SEC schools struggle to fill their seats year in and year out, except when the Kentucky Wildcats come to town. Then, the entire community seems to want to have a ticket and cram into the arena like sardines. UK has played 6 road games in the SEC so far this season and I looked at the average home attendance in conference play of those 6 teams and then compared it to the attendance for the Kentucky game.”

Inner Circle wants to forgive Billy Gillispie: “Many people say he only has himself to blame. He was the cause of his own demise. Nobody told him to drink and possibly neglect his players. Nobody told him to treat the media with disregard. Nobody told him to think narrow-mindedly offensively and defensively. Nobody told him to recruit the players he was recruiting.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Calipari takes a break to visit someone in need’

Charlie Strong

SEC links for Wednesday:

• Shannon Russell of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports on Xavier’s rout of LSU.
• Robbie Andreu of Gainesville Sun writes that Charlie Strong wants to end Florida stay on high note.
• Jeremy Fowler of Orlando Sentinel writes that plenty of uncertainty looms for Gators.
• Peter Kerasotis of Florida Today writes on Florida’s future.
• Chase Goodbread of the Tuscaloosa News writes on Alabama nation.
• Ron Morris of The State writes that today’s rules make South Carolina a bowl regular.
• Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News has an Urban Meyer theory.
• Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean writes about Vandy’s center spot.
• John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes that Tennessee has the opportunity to take over.
• David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger reports that Ole Miss wants to stop the run at the Cotton Bowl.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

The H-L’s Jerry Tipton writes game story from Bloomington on UK win at Indiana: “Prior to this convincing crunching of the Hoosiers, Calipari had consistently poured water on UK’s best start to a season since 1992-93. UK’s play merited a .500 record, he kept grumbling. But not after UK pounded Indiana around the basket on its way to a 49-24 rebounding advantage and similar landslide margins in points in the paint (44-26) and second-chance points (30-6).”

My column saying UK’s young team turned in a veteran performance: “And we’re talking Cal’s wet-behind-the-ears Wildcats here, the team that was really 4-5 (that’s Cal-reality), that drinks the poison, that does some things so ridiculous the head coach cries out (in his sleep), “WHY did you do that?” How did those Cats do? They acted as though they’d been here before and put a hurtin’ on the Hoosiers.”

Herald-Leader slide show from Kentucky-Indiana.

Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star says IU was overmatched: “With Calipari, you get instant gratification, drive-through success. Kentucky is 10-0, ranked fourth in the country, and during stretches of Saturday’s game it was hard to imagine there’s a better college basketball team out there.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Roundup of Kentucky’s win over Indiana’

SEC links for Sunday:

Pete Thamel of the New York Times reports on the Tennessee hostess scandal: “Also on Friday, Keith Easterwood, a veteran summer basketball coach, said that on a visit last year with his son, a football recruit, he had to ask a hostess to stop brushing her breasts against both him and his son. He recalled saying, ‘Young lady, if you don’t stop doing that, we’ve got a problem.’”

Andy Staples of SI.com has incriminating evidence on the Vols: “After Byrnes High finished its 60-7 route of Gaffney on Sept. 25 in Duncan, S.C., people poured out of the stands to celebrate the victory. On the field, Rebels star defensive ends Corey Miller and Brandon Willis mugged for the cameras with a pair of young women who seemed overdressed for a high school football game played in the rain. The women’s names were Lacey Earps and Dahra Johnson, and both are members of Orange Pride, a student group that provides hosts for football recruits at the University of Tennessee.”

Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News on Mark Ingram winning the Heisman: “The biggest myth in Alabama football history used to be Forrest Gump. And then Mark Ingram ran from Atlanta to Atlanta and didn’t stop until he reached New York. The sophomore steadily and single-handedly shattered a bigger myth.You know the one. It says Alabama doesn’t care about the Heisman Trophy.”

Edward Ashcoff of the Gainesville Sun reports that Charlie Strong’s exit is hurting Florida’s recruiting: “Losing Charlie Strong as a defensive coordinator certainly puts Florida in a bind, but it also changes a few of Florida’s recruiting tactics. Strong was known for his ability to develop linebackers throughout his career, but he was also instrumental in recruiting each of them. With him gone – and no predecessor named – Florida could feel a bit of a sting in recruiting on the defensive side of the ball.”

Continue reading ‘SEC links: More hostess allegations at Tennessee’

Charlie Strong

SEC links for Tuesday:

Pat Dooley of Gainesville Sun reports on Charlie Strong’s visit with Louisville: “Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong confirmed to The Sun on Monday morning that he was interviewed by Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich on Sunday night but that no decision was made on whether Strong will be the next coach at Louisville.”

C.L. Brown of the Courier-Journal on Strong: “Joe Headon called Strong a ‘father figure,’ and Janoris Jenkins labeled him a ‘players’ coach.’ And all the players talk as much about what Strong does for them off the field as they do about what they learn from him on it. ‘If you have problems, he’s the one you go see,’ said Jenkins, a sophomore cornerback.

Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser reports on Auburn’s win over Virginia: “The highs and lows came quickly for Brendon Knox on Monday night. The senior missed a critical free throw with 31 seconds remaining. Thirty seconds later, he watched teammate Dewayne Reed miss on a drive and saw the ball carom into a perfect position.
The world slowed down. His moment had arrived.”

Paul Newberry of AP reports on Alabama’s domination of All-SEC selections: “The Crimson Tide picked off Seven first team selections, including the top three individual awards: running back Mark Ingram was named offensive player of the year, linebacker Rolando McClain led the vote for the top defensive player and Nick Saban claimed his second straight coach of the year honor.”

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Louisville talks to Charlie Strong’

Charlie Strong

To me, from the outside looking in, Steve Kragthorpe seemed like the plastic man. Sure he is a good coach and a good offensive coordinator, but there wasn’t much else there. He was nice enough, but no personality. No spark. No passion. John L. Smith had personality. Bobby Petrino didn’t have a lot of personality, and he could certainly be a jerk, but he had passion, aggressiveness, fire. Plus, he’s a heckuva football coach, which is what you need at a Louisville, which is trying to get attention in the same state with an SEC school.

Some will tell you that Krags was trying to clean up a program that was riding on the edge with Petrino, and that may be true. But Louisville’s recruiting was abysmal under Kragthorpe. It didn’t follow up on U of L’s bowl trip, nor did it capitalize on the offensive tradition that started with Howard Schnellenberger, encountered a speed bump with Ron Cooper, then picked back up with John L, and was expanded by Petrino. When you go from Jeff Brohm to Dave Ragone to Stefan LeFors to Brian Brohm to Adam Froman as your quarterback, something’s wrong.

Continue reading ‘Quick take on the Steve Kraghtorpe firing’