With so much going on I wanted to condense some fairly short nuggets into one post just to keep you all as updated as possible on what is going on.
- Louisville had their first practice yesterday in the post-Petrino era and while it was very short, I heard from several people that there was a noticeable difference in the energy level of the team. Another thing I heard mentioned was that there was a "very new feel" to the team. It's hard to say if these things will transfer over to the field on Saturday, but I'd be shocked if there wasn't at least a little boost in the absence of Petrino.
- Pete Nochta & Richard Owens have done an excellent job recruiting for Louisville during/after Stephen Field and Cort Dennison led the Louisville recruiting efforts the past couple years. Since they are both in recruiting roles (although Owens is the fill-in tight ends coach too) it will be interesting to see if Jeff Brohm (or whoever the coach is) decides to retain them on staff. From what I've heard, both Pete and Richard were calling the commitments along with Vince Tyra as a group and talking to them which would at least entertain the possibility of Pete and Richard being retained.
- I reached out to 3-star OT Tanner Bowles to see if he would be reconsider his commitment to Alabama if Brohm ended up at Louisville. In his words, "That would be an awesome move for him but I wouldn't have any intentions in opening recruiting. I am 100% committed."
- I reached out to former Louisville DL commit Kristian Varner and said if Brohm comes to Louisville he would indeed be open to Louisville as a potential destination.
- In talking with Jaden Johnson, he reiterated that he is "100% committed to the program and Vince Tyra is making sure that he gets all of us commits there on campus for next season." He did mention that all commits seem to be on the same page in just trying to figure out who the next coach will be but that some of them are weighing their options right now. All in all, pretty standard for a coaching change. In fact, as I mentioned on Howie's show on 790 yesterday, the firing of Petrino goes against what one generally expects of a recruiting class when a coach leaves. At least until this point, there has been more decommitments while Petrino's time was ticking down then there were after he was fired.
- I had reached out to Corey Reed as there were rumblings about the possibility of him transferring and he told me that he doesn't plan on going anywhere. He also said "the team is ready to come back next year and prove the world wrong." Reed is redshirting this year and is a wide receiver going forward (he worked some at safety too). I am shocked Reed didn't play this year because he looked like he could really be a factor in limited time during the 2017 season. Chalk this up as another question of what happened with Petrino at the helm.
- I reached out to former Louisville commit and current Kentucky commit Demontae Crumes to see if he would reconsider his commitment if Brohm comes to Louisville but he said that he would not.
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- Louisville had their first practice yesterday in the post-Petrino era and while it was very short, I heard from several people that there was a noticeable difference in the energy level of the team. Another thing I heard mentioned was that there was a "very new feel" to the team. It's hard to say if these things will transfer over to the field on Saturday, but I'd be shocked if there wasn't at least a little boost in the absence of Petrino.
- Pete Nochta & Richard Owens have done an excellent job recruiting for Louisville during/after Stephen Field and Cort Dennison led the Louisville recruiting efforts the past couple years. Since they are both in recruiting roles (although Owens is the fill-in tight ends coach too) it will be interesting to see if Jeff Brohm (or whoever the coach is) decides to retain them on staff. From what I've heard, both Pete and Richard were calling the commitments along with Vince Tyra as a group and talking to them which would at least entertain the possibility of Pete and Richard being retained.
- I reached out to 3-star OT Tanner Bowles to see if he would be reconsider his commitment to Alabama if Brohm ended up at Louisville. In his words, "That would be an awesome move for him but I wouldn't have any intentions in opening recruiting. I am 100% committed."
- I reached out to former Louisville DL commit Kristian Varner and said if Brohm comes to Louisville he would indeed be open to Louisville as a potential destination.
- In talking with Jaden Johnson, he reiterated that he is "100% committed to the program and Vince Tyra is making sure that he gets all of us commits there on campus for next season." He did mention that all commits seem to be on the same page in just trying to figure out who the next coach will be but that some of them are weighing their options right now. All in all, pretty standard for a coaching change. In fact, as I mentioned on Howie's show on 790 yesterday, the firing of Petrino goes against what one generally expects of a recruiting class when a coach leaves. At least until this point, there has been more decommitments while Petrino's time was ticking down then there were after he was fired.
- I had reached out to Corey Reed as there were rumblings about the possibility of him transferring and he told me that he doesn't plan on going anywhere. He also said "the team is ready to come back next year and prove the world wrong." Reed is redshirting this year and is a wide receiver going forward (he worked some at safety too). I am shocked Reed didn't play this year because he looked like he could really be a factor in limited time during the 2017 season. Chalk this up as another question of what happened with Petrino at the helm.
- I reached out to former Louisville commit and current Kentucky commit Demontae Crumes to see if he would reconsider his commitment if Brohm comes to Louisville but he said that he would not.
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