Anyone listen to R&R yesterday?

[CardX]

I think it was yesterday. Could've been Monday. I'm getting old. Leave me alone. Anyway, Rutherford apparently is fairly close to some current football players. One player in particular, who he won't name, sent him a text prior to the start of last season. He told Mike the team is not going to be very good, and that Pass needed a lot of work. He said the same player just texted him again recently and said Pass has vastly improved. I think he used the term "night and day."

I find all of this very interesting for a variety of reasons. Most of us are still trying to make sense of last season. Bad coaches, the team quit, everything that could go wrong did. But, this tells me the team had little to no confidence heading into '18. It would appear the team didn't have confidence in Pass, either. So, it wasn't the pivotal interception late in the game against FSU that doomed the season. It was doomed from the get-go. Petrino knew it and couldn't fix it. It takes a players' coach to do something like that, and that's certainly not him.

 

[PushupMan]

I do hope that’s the case. In 2018 Pass was about as ill-prepared to be a Division 1 QB as I’ve ever seen out of a starter at Louisville. I refuse to get excited about the prospect of him as our starting QB until I actually see him play well for a full 60 minutes. After what I saw from him last year, rumors of improvement mean nothing to me.

It’s pretty telling that Pass is a redshirt junior, yet he is not anywhere on Phil Steele’s list of the top 75 draft eligible quarterbacks in college football.

 

[CardsFirst]

I think it was yesterday. Could've been Monday. I'm getting old. Leave me alone. Anyway, Rutherford apparently is fairly close to some current football players. One player in particular, who he won't name, sent him a text prior to the start of last season. He told Mike the team is not going to be very good, and that Pass needed a lot of work. He said the same player just texted him again recently and said Pass has vastly improved. I think he used the term "night and day."

I find all of this very interesting for a variety of reasons. Most of us are still trying to make sense of last season. Bad coaches, the team quit, everything that could go wrong did. But, this tells me the team had little to no confidence heading into '18. It would appear the team didn't have confidence in Pass, either. So, it wasn't the pivotal interception late in the game against FSU that doomed the season. It was doomed from the get-go. Petrino knew it and couldn't fix it. It takes a players' coach to do something like that, and that's certainly not him.

I have two words for Passes problems and those words are Nick Petrino. The dude was over his head and it showed in Passes preparation

 

[BPGhost]

I have two words for Pass’s problems and those words are Nick Petrino. The dude was over his head and it showed in Pass’s preparation

Dude, what are you talking about? Don’t you know that Nick Petrino was primarily, if not absolutely responsible for LJ’s Heisman?

 

[CardsFirst]

I have two words for Pass’s problems and those words are Nick Petrino. The dude was over his head and it showed in Pass’s preparation

Dude, what are you talking about? Don’t you know that Nick Petrino was primarily, if not absolutely responsible for LJ’s Heisman?

I’m old I’ve lost my mind or forgot. What was I thinking

 

[beantowncard]

If it’s an unnamed player, how do you know the disc jockey isn’t just making it all up?

 

[nccardfan]

Dude, what are you talking about? Don’t you know that Nick Petrino was primarily, if not absolutely responsible for LJ’s Heisman?

I’m sure it’s on Nick’s resume!

 

[zipp]

I think it's entirely plausible that a QB coach is 100% responsible for one 4-star quarterback under his tutelage and not for another...

 

[CardX]

If it’s an unnamed player, how do you know the disc jockey isn’t just making it all up?

Rutherford is pretty reliable. If he outed his source, he wouldn't have a source anymore.

 

[BPGhost]

I’m sure it’s on Nick’s resume!

Where’d you go on the baseball board? I was really looking forward to you asking me if I knew more of the players?

 

[fredburgcard]

Rutherford is pretty reliable. If he outed his source, he wouldn't have a source anymore.

I'd put a lot more credence in what he said this year if he had reported the text he got from the player before last season at the time he got it, not a year later.

 

[CardX]

I'd put a lot more credence in what he said this year if he had reported the text he got from the player before last season at the time he got it, not a year later.

He might have.

 

[PushupMan]

It’s very unlikely that he did. On shows geared toward fans of any program, positive news of any kind gets reported immediately, especially if it indicates improvement, while negative news only gets reported afterward, as a way to explain what went wrong.

It would have caused a major shitstorm (that is to say, it would have been considered by the UofL football coaching staff as an attack against the program) if Rutherford would have reported on his show that he had a source inside the program who said that a 4-star QB who had looked good in his mop-up time behind Jackson needed a lot of work and the team wasn’t going to be any good in 2018.

No way Rutherford’s going to bite the hand that feeds him by reporting something that negative proactively.

 

[CardX]

It’s very unlikely that he did. On shows geared toward fans of any program, positive news of any kind gets reported immediately, especially if it indicates improvement, while negative news only gets reported afterward, as a way to explain what went wrong.

It would have caused a major shitstorm (that is to say, it would have been considered by the UofL football coaching staff as an attack against the program) if Rutherford would have reported on his show that he had a source inside the program who said that a 4-star QB who had looked good in his mop-up time behind Jackson needed a lot of work and the team wasn’t going to be any good in 2018.

No way Rutherford’s going to bite the hand that feeds him by reporting something that negative proactively.

Other than going through a year’s worth of podcasts, there’s no telling. I have no idea if him telling his listeners for the first time this week of his source, but it’s not inconceivable he had mentioned it previously sometime between summer of 2018 and now.

 

[Eddiepaul79]

I go back to what I heard Chris Redmon say. To be a good college QB you have to study and play live 1s vs 1s scrimmages in practice. But most important is you have to be willing to spend your free time working on your game. I know for a fact that none of this was going on last year. This yr Pass is working his butt off EVERY DAY. At the complex on his off days working. Not to mention that Ponce said he was amazed by the lack of basic QB fundamentals the QB’s had. If Pass can improve his passing just a little bit and improve his mental game a lot which by all accounts he has done he can be a top QB in the ACC. Don’t forget I watched a Ill prepared,out of shape,bad fundamental having Puma Pass come out and have a decent game against the best team in CFB, Alabama. Imagine him when he can read defenses and improved mechanics. I think the staff is confident and I believe In this staff

 

[zipp]

Bad news before, good news now.

Please excuse me if I don't really consider that "news".

That applies to about any situation where those involved wanna see progress...

 

[Eddiepaul79]

Zipp your pessimism is the stuff legends are made from.

 

[beantowncard]

Bad news before, good news now.

Please excuse me if I don't really consider that "news".

That applies to about any situation where those involved wanna see progress...

I don’t see it as good news, before or now.

 

[gocds]

I just see it as Rutherford sharing something this year that he couldn’t share last year. As someone else said, Rutherford is not going to bite the hand that feeds him by reporting something that negative last year. We, here in Louisville, are fortunate to have two pretty reliable shows about UofL sports. Rutherford has been reliable before and I see no reason why he wouldn’t be now. And, in a critical way, it makes good sense. WTH we all know what kind of coaching staff we had last year and the difference this year. Pass was, in fact, a highly recruited kid out of HS. We just might have the good fortune to see great improvement from him.

GO CARDS - BEAT EVERYBODY!!! God Bless America!!!

 

[zipp]

It's like the culture thing... What do you think you're gonna hear?

"The culture's still bad."

"It's about the same."

Of course it's better. Of course players are improved. What do you think you're gonna hear? What do you think PLAYERS and COACHES are gonna say?

That's not "news", and it has nothing to do with my optimism or pessimism. I'll start to form real opinions in a few months, good or bad...

 

[Eddiepaul79]

It's like the culture thing... What do you think you're gonna hear?

"The culture's still bad."

"It's about the same."

Of course it's better. Of course players are improved. What do you think you're gonna hear? What do you think PLAYERS and COACHES are gonna say?

That's not "news", and it has nothing to do with my optimism or pessimism. I'll start to form real opinions in a few months, good or bad...

I think you will hear what that player said last year “were not going to be good and Pass isn’t ready”. I just don’t know what you read there but I read how a player did exactly what you say their not going to do, Tell the Truth. That’s what makes this whole story is that this single player told the truth last year even tho it was negative. Now he’s saying it’s changed. That’s the story

 

[gocds]

I think you will hear what that player said last year “were not going to be good and Pass isn’t ready”. I just don’t know what you read there but I read how a player did exactly what you say their not going to do, Tell the Truth. That’s what makes this whole story is that this single player told the truth last year even tho it was negative. Now he’s saying it’s changed. That’s the story

We have to remember that “the player quoted” here had gotten used to seeing and playing with a QB of Lamar Jackson’s quality. Kinda like being spoiled as we, as a fanbase, were spoiled and maybe a bit over expectant of a kid like Pass. Perhaps Petrino was a bit over expectant too. We have to remember that it was Jackson that saved Petrino’s @$$ for a couple of seasons. To expect that of Pass is just not fair. Everything I read about Coach Ponce and CSS is that they groom QBs very well. And let us remember that Pass is one of three QBs that should be ready game one.

GO CARDS - BEAT EVERYBODY!!! God Bless America!!!

 

[Art79]

I think it's entirely plausible that a QB coach is 100% responsible for one 4-star quarterback under his tutelage and not for another...

You are not suggesting that the QB coach (or any coach) was 100% responsible for the once-in-a-lifetime brilliance of Lamar Jackson, are you?

 

[beantowncard]

It's like the culture thing... What do you think you're gonna hear?

"The culture's still bad."

"It's about the same."

Of course it's better. Of course players are improved. What do you think you're gonna hear? What do you think PLAYERS and COACHES are gonna say?

That's not "news", and it has nothing to do with my optimism or pessimism. I'll start to form real opinions in a few months, good or bad...

It is almost impossible for this program to not improve from last season.

 

[HoptownCat93]

My thinking is that Pass was representative of the entire year’s collapse. And as I’ve said many times, my grandfather is a 20+ year UofL ticket holder and this is what he heard and thinks happened.

Bobby was all in on Pass. The day he committed, the hype around him was through the roof. Bobby never truly got behind Lamar until the Music City Bowl in 2015. I remember reading on here in 2015...big debates about Bolin, Bonnafon, and Lamar. But..I do remember how ready everyone here was for Puma Pass. Ithink Bobby lost the team after the 2016 Houston game and forced out Grahntham. Bobby also has Tom and the support of the fan base. 2017 was rough, but Lamar carried through.

Move to last summer. The hype Bobby put out about the offense going back to Bobby 1.0. Bobby was all in on Pass, but I think the entire team knew Pass wasn’t going to be good. Bobby told everyone...fans, players, and media to trust him because he was a QB guru. He said they’d show what they were made of against Bama.

Pass got hammered and the team embarrassed after high expectations...but it was Bama and understandable. Then Pass couldn’t get by Indiana State or an awful WKU team. Everyone saw how Cunningham was the better option...but Bobby just didn’t want to give it up. His final stand was the Florida State game, for Pass and himself. Then the interception happened and it all fell apart.

The team, fans, and media knew Pass wasn’t ready...and Bobby kept giving out BS excuses. He failed and the team finally didn’t buy in to his message. They could take his micromanaging because he had a great rep...but things piled up. He forced out Todd. He couldn’t win big with Lamar. And finally Puma failed. With Tom not there to be in his corner, his time was up. The team quit.

 

[Jason Puckett]

Not a surprise. Puma is actually getting legit coaching for the first time in his collegiate career.

JP

 

[CommodoreCard]

My thinking is that Pass was representative of the entire year’s collapse. And as I’ve said many times, my grandfather is a 20+ year UofL ticket holder and this is what he heard and thinks happened.

Bobby was all in on Pass. The day he committed, the hype around him was through the roof. Bobby never truly got behind Lamar until the Music City Bowl in 2015. I remember reading on here in 2015...big debates about Bolin, Bonnafon, and Lamar. But..I do remember how ready everyone here was for Puma Pass. Ithink Bobby lost the team after the 2016 Houston game and forced out Grahntham. Bobby also has Tom and the support of the fan base. 2017 was rough, but Lamar carried through.

Move to last summer. The hype Bobby put out about the offense going back to Bobby 1.0. Bobby was all in on Pass, but I think the entire team knew Pass wasn’t going to be good. Bobby told everyone...fans, players, and media to trust him because he was a QB guru. He said they’d show what they were made of against Bama.

Pass got hammered and the team embarrassed after high expectations...but it was Bama and understandable. Then Pass couldn’t get by Indiana State or an awful WKU team. Everyone saw how Cunningham was the better option...but Bobby just didn’t want to give it up. His final stand was the Florida State game, for Pass and himself. Then the interception happened and it all fell apart.

The team, fans, and media knew Pass wasn’t ready...and Bobby kept giving out BS excuses. He failed and the team finally didn’t buy in to his message. They could take his micromanaging because he had a great rep...but things piled up. He forced out Todd. He couldn’t win big with Lamar. And finally Puma failed. With Tom not there to be in his corner, his time was up. The team quit.

When I want info on UofL football, I sure as hell don’t want it from a Ky fan.

 

[zipp]

You are not suggesting that the QB coach (or any coach) was 100% responsible for the once-in-a-lifetime brilliance of Lamar Jackson, are you?

I'm suggesting that forming your narratives AFTER the results occurred is about as useful as tits on a bull, esp. when an agenda is involved...

 

[beantowncard]

I'm suggesting that forming your narratives AFTER the results occurred is about as useful as tits on a bull, esp. when an agenda is involved...

Shouldn’t opinions be grounded in evidence? What evidence is there before results occurred?

 

[zipp]

Shouldn’t opinions be grounded in evidence? What evidence is there before results occurred?

Conclusions are grounded in evidence.

And there are many degrees of evidence. The art is in using the earliest and least to correctly anticipate outcomes...

 

[Morgantown Card]

I go back to what I heard Chris Redmon say. To be a good college QB you have to study and play live 1s vs 1s scrimmages in practice. But most important is you have to be willing to spend your free time working on your game. I know for a fact that none of this was going on last year. This yr Pass is working his butt off EVERY DAY. At the complex on his off days working. Not to mention that Ponce said he was amazed by the lack of basic QB fundamentals the QB’s had. If Pass can improve his passing just a little bit and improve his mental game a lot which by all accounts he has done he can be a top QB in the ACC. Don’t forget I watched a Ill prepared,out of shape,bad fundamental having Puma Pass come out and have a decent game against the best team in CFB, Alabama. Imagine him when he can read defenses and improved mechanics. I think the staff is confident and I believe In this staff

I have no idea what to expect of this season. Going into last year because of the youth I expected a 7-5, 6-6 kind of year with the team looking better by year-end. I was against "FARRR'n that sonofabeyitch Pertinio" during the 2018 season, I'm a believer in letting the season play out. It played out, I don't have any explanation for it but the staff and the team was completely lost and here we are.

Pass looked great in mop-up work prior to the 2018 season, and everything Eddie says in the above quote makes sense to me. He had his best game in 2018 against Bama and his confidence was completely shaken after that. And same for the rest of the team and staff, and Uncle Rico as the DC was not the answer and we all knew it but held our breath and hoped. I also think there's more talent on this 2019 team that most think, I point to the recruiting rankings (they absolutely have merit) for evidence, even if the talent is not evenly spread (ie the OL). Let's see what happens, but they may look better than we expect because of that talent and a good coaching staff that is dialed in.

 

[MadCard05]

My thinking is that Pass was representative of the entire year’s collapse. And as I’ve said many times, my grandfather is a 20+ year UofL ticket holder and this is what he heard and thinks happened.

Bobby was all in on Pass. The day he committed, the hype around him was through the roof. Bobby never truly got behind Lamar until the Music City Bowl in 2015. I remember reading on here in 2015...big debates about Bolin, Bonnafon, and Lamar. But..I do remember how ready everyone here was for Puma Pass. Ithink Bobby lost the team after the 2016 Houston game and forced out Grahntham. Bobby also has Tom and the support of the fan base. 2017 was rough, but Lamar carried through.

Move to last summer. The hype Bobby put out about the offense going back to Bobby 1.0. Bobby was all in on Pass, but I think the entire team knew Pass wasn’t going to be good. Bobby told everyone...fans, players, and media to trust him because he was a QB guru. He said they’d show what they were made of against Bama.

Pass got hammered and the team embarrassed after high expectations...but it was Bama and understandable. Then Pass couldn’t get by Indiana State or an awful WKU team. Everyone saw how Cunningham was the better option...but Bobby just didn’t want to give it up. His final stand was the Florida State game, for Pass and himself. Then the interception happened and it all fell apart.

The team, fans, and media knew Pass wasn’t ready...and Bobby kept giving out BS excuses. He failed and the team finally didn’t buy in to his message. They could take his micromanaging because he had a great rep...but things piled up. He forced out Todd. He couldn’t win big with Lamar. And finally Puma failed. With Tom not there to be in his corner, his time was up. The team quit.

100% wrong.

A big part of what happened after the FSU game was Petrino trying to throw Pass under the bus.

 

[Morgantown Card]

Are you his boyfriend?

 

[HoptownCat93]

100% wrong.

A big part of what happened after the FSU game was Petrino trying to throw Pass under the bus.

And that goes into it because Pass was so heavily tied to Bobby's plans. Bobby was the one hyping a return to Bobby 1.0 and how the offense could be better without Lamar. With Pass failing to succeed, Bobby couldn't take ownership and threw him overboard. Everyone saw Pass struggling and Bobby thought his "genius" would prevail.

 

[Morgantown Card]

And that goes into it because Pass was so heavily tied to Bobby's plans. Bobby was the one hyping a return to Bobby 1.0 and how the offense could be better without Lamar. With Pass failing to succeed, Bobby couldn't take ownership and threw him overboard. Everyone saw Pass struggling and Bobby thought his "genius" would prevail.

I've mentioned several times that I can't figure out what happened last year. Bobby didn't forget how to coach. The recruiting rankings coming into the season were very good for Louisville and while young the talent was there for a team that looked better by end of season, and finish 6-6 or 7-5 in a rebuild year looking up (which clearly didn't happen).

I think Petrino is a guy who doesn't do well in adversity. When things are rolling, he thrives in that, experienced players fill the depth chart, beat FSU by 40, the D getting interceptions like crazy and Top 5 ranking, Bobby red in the face, calling everyone MFers and slapdicks, smirking during press conferences, riding Harleys wherever he damn well pleases and bending over hot volleyball chicks - all in the world is GREAT. But when that team turned over and they're young, Pass needed guidance and there's adversity to deal with, it fell apart quickly within a season. Plus don't forget he lost his father - who he was famously VERY close to - in the days leading up to the season. Same thing happened with the Falcons, it fell apart when Vick was in prison, I think Petrino left after game 13 (IIRC).

 

[HoptownCat93]

I've mentioned several times that I can't figure out what happened last year. Bobby didn't forget how to coach. The recruiting rankings coming into the season were very good for Louisville and while young the talent was there for a team that looked better by end of season, and finish 6-6 or 7-5 in a rebuild year looking up (which clearly didn't happen).

I think Petrino is a guy who doesn't do well in adversity. When things are rolling, he thrives in that, experienced players fill the depth chart, beat FSU by 40, the D getting interceptions like crazy and Top 5 ranking, Bobby red in the face, calling everyone MFers and slapdicks, smirking during press conferences, riding Harleys wherever he damn well pleases and bending over hot volleyball chicks - all in the world is GREAT. But when that team turned over and they're young, Pass needed guidance and there's adversity to deal with, it fell apart quickly within a season. Plus don't forget he lost his father - who he was famously VERY close to - in the days leading up to the season. Same thing happened with the Falcons, it fell apart when Vick was in prison, I think Petrino left after game 13 (IIRC).

He's like a football computer in a human body. He knows the plays and the numbers to go with it in particular situations. But...the human emotion and management of others probably just went over his head. The first run at UofL and his first few years, Tom probably handled a lot more behind the scenes than people know from a program management standpoint, I bet @zipp would agree with me on that front. He really just let Pitino do his own thing for basketball, so he had more time to do more duties for football.

At Arkansas, that program had a larger infrastructure in a football crazy area on top of just being in an area where recruiting good players wasn't as difficult. Bobby 1.0 was competing mainly against CUSA and Big East programs.

Bobby 2.0 was in a harder conference in an area that was harder to recruit. He also became the CEO for a program transitioning to a top 3 division in the FBS, but had infrastructure of a Big East/AAC school and needed some little changes as now 8-9 games a year he had to compete against already established ACC programs. He needed to be more of a leader and take a little more charge, but with Tom he didn't have to do a lot of the behind the scenes things.

He already had an established pool of NFL caliber players let over from Charlie, and all he had to do was coach em' up. As those players were leaving, Lamar Jackson masked all of the problems with his amazing play. Then all of a sudden...Tom is fired and Lamar leaves for the NFL...and a collapse ensues.

 

[Louis III]

And his supporting cast of coaches was GD AWFUL. Look at any top 20 team and you will see a host of good assistants. Outside of Grantham bolting as fast as he could, name another assistant that left for bigger and brighter things...........NADA. HUGE indicator of the culture or lackthereof.

 

[MadCard05]

And his supporting cast of coaches was GD AWFUL. Look at any top 20 team and you will see a host of good assistants. Outside of Grantham bolting as fast as he could, name another assistant that left for bigger and brighter things...........NADA. HUGE indicator of the culture or lackthereof.

I've always thought the problem here was that Jurich was willing to go and scour for high level talent that would tolerate Bobby for a fat check, but Tyra came in and wasn't about to baby sit Bobby.

Satterfield is a huge reflection on Tyra because he represents a coach that has had tremendous success and has fostered an amazing amount of connections and good will. There aren't bridges being burned Tyra has to roll out of the fire brigade for. Freeing up Tyra to take care of the rest of the AD.

 

[zipp]

Some of these theories are fascinating. And creativity is not in short supply...

 

[Thecycle27]

Petrino always produced a good quarterback. Pass is the first one that was just a mess. That is a lot of history to ignore. I think it would be wise to see him actually perform before getting too excited.

Last year was a total system failure which may explain a lot of things even with Pass. Petrino trying to throw in a freaking monsoon was a good example. The FSU game is a blow out if Pass hits some wide open guys. There were so many issues last year none of us know anything and I mean anything about this team.

The only thing we know is the team quit on the coaches last year. Hopefully, they won't do that again this year.