John Clay's Sidelines

Saturday’s Kentucky-LSU game includes several coaching ties between the two staffs.

LSU quarterbacks coach Steve Kragthorpe was Louisville’s head coach from 2007-2009. He was 0-3 against Kentucky during that time.

LSU secondary coach Ron Cooper was Louisville’s head coach from 1995-1997. His team beat UK 13-10 in ’95 and 38-14 in ’96. It lost to the Cats 38-24 in ’97 and Cooper was replaced at the end of a 1-10 season by John L. Smith.

UK assistant Greg Nord was an assistant under both Cooper and Kragthorpe at U of L.

UK offensive coordinator Randy Sanders and LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis worked together for 15 years as assistants under Phil Fulmer at Tennessee.

Sanders and Chavis were assistants on the 1996 Tennesee national championship team quarterbacked by Tee Martin, who is now Kentucky’s wide receivers coach.

As for the head coaches, Joker Phillips said he doesn’t know Les Miles well, aside from their dealings in various SEC coaches meetings. Miles was an assistant in the Midwest and the Dallas Cowboys before becoming head coach at Oklahoma State.

“I know he’s done a good job of keeping players in Louisiana,” Phillips said.

(AP photo)

Though LSU’s expected starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson has been reinstated and could take a few snaps on Saturday, head coach Les Miles says Jarrett Lee will remain as starter.

One reason why: Former Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe.

Kragthorpe was hired as LSU’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, Kragthorpe gave up play-calling duties and the coordinator title. But the man who lost three straight to UK as head coach is heavily involved in developing the game plan and coaching Lee.

He has done a terrific job so far. As the LSU starter in 2008, Lee through six interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. This year, when Lee became the starter after Jefferson was suspended for being involved in a bar fight, the senior has thrown for six touchdowns compare to just one interception. Lee ranks sixth in the SEC with a pass efficiency rating of 145.1.

“(Lee) keeps developing,” Miles told Luke Johnson of the Times-Picayune. “I think the quarterback coaching change helped him. Not to bemoan the coaching, it’s just getting another voice and input, reconciled some of his views on the throwing game.”

Said Lee: “Coach Kragthorpe has been great. In the film room and on the field, he helps us be a smarter quarterback — not to make many mistakes and to keep the ball in our hands.”

SEC links for Friday:

• Kragthorpe taking smaller role at LSU, reports Les East of The Advocate.
• LSU’s new leader knows passing game, writes Glenn Guilbeau of Times.
• Video of Les Miles’ announcement, from Times-Picayune.
• Georgia starts new era under clouds, writes Seth Emerson of Telegraph.
• Georgia submits report on Jarvis Jones, reports Emerson.
• Gators’ corner was facing marijuana charge, reports Sentinel’s Rachel George.
• Richt sees similarities between 2011 and 2002, reports Chip Towers of AJC.
• Bulldogs know they have depth issues, says Marc Weiszer of ABH.
• Jeffery back at practice for South Carolina, reports Travis Haney of P-C.
• Florida’s tower has safety in mind, reports Kevin Brockway of Gainesville Sun.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Kragthorpe will still have role with LSU offense’

SEC links for Friday:

• Steve Kragthorpe on LSU offensive coordinator search list, reports Randy Rosetta of The Advocate.
• Tennessee wants a new streak at Georgia, writes Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Can Georgia repeat last year’s win over the Vols? asks Tim Tucker of the AJC.
• Two-sport failure is rare for Tennessee, writes John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Andy Kennedy to pay attention to Ole Miss’ defense, reports Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Brad Locke of the NE Mississippi Daily Journal writes that Jalen Steele is stepping up for Mississippi State.
• Auburn guard Frankie Sullivan will be shut down for the rest of the season, reports Evan Woodbery of the Birmingham News.
• Auburn wide out Darvin Adams entering NFL draft, reports Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News.
• Auburn basketball no match for football, reports David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
• Jemal Farmer’s status uncertain at Arkansas, reports Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News.

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’

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Herald-Leader’s Valarie Honeycutt Spears reports that UK is paying $30,000, plus monthly fees, for John Calipari to join Lexington Country Club.
• Chip Cosby of the H-L reports that Kentucky must avoid early KO against Florida.
• H-L’s Mark Story on Kentucky’s uphill battle.
• Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger reports that Stacey Poole could be a Cat soon.
• Chris Rodgers of Palmetto Sports reports that Poole will make decision very soon.
• Seth Emerson of The State reports that South Carolina knows it trails on Poole.
• Lawrence Journal-World reports that Adreian Payne will visit Kansas on Oct. 31.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Stacey Poole could make choice today’

Some comments from Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe after UK’s 31-27 win over the Cards:

Opening:

I’m proud to walk out of here and say I’m the head coach. I thought they played their tail off today. We have nothing to hang our head about. I’m sick. I’m so sick right now that we didn’t win that gmae. The guys in the locker room are sick. But we will bounce back, we will rebound.

On locker room after game:

We have great guys on our football team. They have a lot of character and a lot of heart. We talked about leaving our heart out on the field and the guys did that today. They played until their tank was empty. There was unbelievable effort out on the field today.

On Trent Guy’s fumbled punt:

I told him not to fell bad. That play did not lose the game. There were a lot of plays where we had a chance to win the game and there was not one play you can point to and say that it was the determining factor. He’s a stud and I’ve got his back. Everything he’s been through and the way he played out there today, the heart tht he showed no one can say anything bad about him.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• My column on how UK’s staff has remained constant, while at Louisville it’s ch-ch-changes.
• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader reports that Kentucky’s kick coverage is worrisome considering Louisville’s speed.
• Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader reports on Louisville volleyball’s win over previously unbeaten UK.
• Jerry Tipton of the H-L blogs that two top 50 hoops prospects will be on campus Saturday.
• Zagsblog reports that West Virginia made a good impression on UK hoops target Tobias Harris.
• CORRECTED: B.W. Jones of the Kentucky Kernel reports that Ridge Wilson plead not guilty to fourth-degree assault.

Continue reading ‘BBL: West Virginia makes push for Tobias Harris’

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Mark Maloney of the Herald-Leader reports that losses to UK stick with U of L’s Kragthorpe.
• Jerry Tipton of H-L reports that UK is to release report on basketball violation.
• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader reports that UK’s Ricky Lumpkin has seen both sides of the rivalry.
• H-L’s Mark Story offers a Governor’s Cup quiz.
• C.L. Brown of Courier-Journal reports Kragthorpe offers an offensive tease.
• Video of Kragthorpe’s Monday press conference.
• Brett Dawson of the C-J reports that Lumpkin feels Louisville’s pain.
• John Calipari’s comments to Dan Patrick.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kentucky-Louisville football links (plus hoops)’

Media balloting has been completed at the Big East football media day and Louisville is not too popular with the voters.

C.L. Brown of the Courier-Journal reports that the media has picked U of L to finish seventh in the eight-team Big East.

Pittsburgh was picked to win the league, followed by West Virginia, Cincinnati, South Florida, Rutgers, Connecticut, Louisville and Syracuse.

Cards coach Steve Kragthorpe had this reaction on his Twitter page: “We’ve got our work cut out for us this year, apparently the Big East media agrees. Nothing to do but go out and work hard everyday!”