Which was better Charlie?

[Louisvillian]

In the cold walking off the field at a half full Cardinal Stadium after beating Memphis on Senior Day with a Florida bowl game up next or walking off this cold field in Kansas yesterday where 1200 people watched your last game at Texas?

I will always appreciate what CCS did here at Louisville but I can't help but wonder what was going through his mind at this moment.

I hear the weather in Las Cruces is nice.

 

[Kratz]

I've had a feeling in my gut for about a month now that he winds up at Purdue. Nothing to back it up, just a gut feeling. Best fit available for both sides that I can see.

 

[wilkie01]

The Texas crowd was worst and the Texas fans made it clear that he was not welcome in Texas !

 

[KerryRhodes]

Strong will be allright

 

[nccardfan]

Sure he got paid a lot of money but he was put on a pedestal and thought he was savior king of Texas football only to have the pedestal kicked out from under him. With some coaches it's ego... he could have made a good living at U of L.

 

[ColdCard]

Not everyone wants to be loved by their fans, or have a city to call home until retirement. Not everyone wants a statue in their honor. Some people just aren't cut from that cloth.

 

[glassmanJ]

his buyout is $10.4 million to cover his last two years. i suspect he'll sit a year then take a DC job somewhere again and give up the pressure of being the HC.

 

[Cue Card]

It's being reported on ESPN that he has indeed been fired. Not too surprising if true after losing to a really bad Kansas team.

 

[GoCARDS17x]

I don't wish him any ill will. I don't get what makes fans decide which coach to hate for leaving, and which to like. Petrino, Strong, John L Smith, Schnellenberger, Corso, have all left the school when they could have stayed on and had jobs for life.

 

[RobH96]

I don't wish him any ill will. I don't get what makes fans decide which coach to hate for leaving, and which to like. Petrino, Strong, John L Smith, Schnellenberger, Corso, have all left the school when they could have stayed on and had jobs for life.

Telling the Louisville fanbase to be more like UK's fans is probably a factor. The "I'm not cut like that" speech followed the very next year with leaving out the back door might weigh in as well. I wish him good health, but don't really care past that.

 

[Louisvillian]

I don't wish him any ill will. I don't get what makes fans decide which coach to hate for leaving, and which to like. Petrino, Strong, John L Smith, Schnellenberger, Corso, have all left the school when they could have stayed on and had jobs for life.

Not seeing any hatred for Coach Strong in any of the posts in this thread.

 

[KerryRhodes]

Loved that Strong rescued the program from the kragdud debacle.
Hated that he left and how he left.

I knew with him taking the taking the Texas job, he'd have a 5% of succeeding.
He was their 5th choice ?

I was indifferent on what he did at Texas.
He suffered the same Cardinals coach curse as the others who left.

 

[GoCARDS17x]

Telling the Louisville fanbase to be more like UK's fans is probably a factor. The "I'm not cut like that" speech followed the very next year with leaving out the back door might weigh in as well. I wish him good health, but don't really care past that.

I don't think that's any worse than how other coaches left. John L Smith sabotaged our bowl game, and probably even a chance at a C-USA title beforehand with his job hunting. Then threw in the food chain comment.

Petrino stood up on stage before 2006 with Jurich and a contract extension talking about how this is where he wanted to be. This after meeting secretly with Auburn attempting to backstab his former boss and take his job.

I don't know what he said or did is any worse than those examples. Comparing our fanbase to UK's is a little ridiculous, but if he was talking in context about what their fanbase does at basketball games, he would be right. We're going to have 5,000 of those idiots invade our home arena again this season because fans sell their tickets to those scumbags. He's 100% right about away game support with them in basketball.

Without Strong and Teddy we would be sitting in the AAC right now, so no matter what anyone says about him, I'll always appreciate that.

 

[Kratz]

No ill will towards Charlie at all. He pulled us out of the Kragpuke era and got a sugar bowl win.

While his offense was boring, he got the job done.

I still have an unopened bottle of Charlie Strong Makers Mark that I'd love to be able to have him sign one day. My secret hope is that he gets the Purdue job. They're our first game next year. I'd love to go to the game and get him to sign it (then have the Cards whip his team). LOL

 

[Louisvillian]

John L Smith sabotaged our bowl game, and probably even a chance at a C-USA title beforehand with his job hunting. Then threw in the food chain comment.
.

Totally agree with that.

 

[watchem]

I was at a week long summer football event a few years ago "hosted" by the Texas. Worst "host" for anything, ever, bad attitudes and at that event when questioned about a "hospitality" related issue I quote: "We are Texas, we hear it all the time, we can do what we want, we don't care what anyone else thinks, we are Texas." from a U of Texas employee to the totally shocked "hosted" participants. They can burn the place down and go to 0 wins from my perspective. No offence to the current coaches there as I liked them when they were at UL - and I was only a distant observer at that point.

 

[RobH96]

I don't think that's any worse than how other coaches left. John L Smith sabotaged our bowl game, and probably even a chance at a C-USA title beforehand with his job hunting. Then threw in the food chain comment.

Petrino stood up on stage before 2006 with Jurich and a contract extension talking about how this is where he wanted to be. This after meeting secretly with Auburn attempting to backstab his former boss and take his job.

I don't know what he said or did is any worse than those examples. Comparing our fanbase to UK's is a little ridiculous, but if he was talking in context about what their fanbase does at basketball games, he would be right. We're going to have 5,000 of those idiots invade our home arena again this season because fans sell their tickets to those scumbags. He's 100% right about away game support with them in basketball.

Without Strong and Teddy we would be sitting in the AAC right now, so no matter what anyone says about him, I'll always appreciate that.

I agree with a lot of this, save the UK fan nonsense. Almost posted typed much of the same. I was going to add that a big part of the healing process with each was they admitted they should not have left and JohnL even apologized for the food chain comment. There will certainly be blue in our stadiums, an I don't like that. But I have come to terms with it over time and it does make it a bit more fun when we beat them. Hopefully we can start a "Six in a row" type chant Saturday.

Did JohnL sabotage the bowl game? I thought Michigan State boosters leaked the info to the media.

 

[Mike'sMarbles]

It seems like there's almost always some kind of drama when a coach leaves to take a new job. I try not to judge these guys solely on that situation but on their body of work at Louisville. Strong, Petrino, John L all did a good job so I don't mind how they left. Their winning while here is what's important to me and what I'll remember them by, now whatever awkward way they left.

 

[SoulSr]

It seems like there's almost always some kind of drama when a coach leaves to take a new job. I try not to judge these guys solely on that situation but on their body of work at Louisville. Strong, Petrino, John L all did a good job so I don't mind how they left. Their winning while here is what's important to me and what I'll remember them by, now whatever awkward way they left.

Thanks for posting. My sentiments exactly. They all left to take very good opportunities
in their profession. Unfortunately, they didn't work out.

Go Cards, stump the kitties.

 

[WKCard]

Thanks for posting. My sentiments exactly. They all left to take very good opportunities
in their profession. Unfortunately, they didn't work out.

Go Cards, stump the kitties.

Is that like hip boot the kitties?

 

[Rollem Cards]

Did JohnL sabotage the bowl game? I thought Michigan State boosters leaked the info to the media.

MSU did leak the story because they knew JLS was having second thoughts and was probably going to turn them down.

My disappointment with him was not telling them to F off after they did that. But they did make an offer that SHOULD have set him for life.

 

[ShortCreek]

Don't see Charlie going to Purdue. I look for him to get back to the SEC as a head coach. Even if it means sitting out a year and waiting for the better option, recharging his batteries, etc.

 

[genghis_card]

I don't think that's any worse than how other coaches left. John L Smith sabotaged our bowl game, and probably even a chance at a C-USA title beforehand with his job hunting. Then threw in the food chain comment.

Petrino stood up on stage before 2006 with Jurich and a contract extension talking about how this is where he wanted to be. This after meeting secretly with Auburn attempting to backstab his former boss and take his job.

I don't know what he said or did is any worse than those examples. Comparing our fanbase to UK's is a little ridiculous, but if he was talking in context about what their fanbase does at basketball games, he would be right. We're going to have 5,000 of those idiots invade our home arena again this season because fans sell their tickets to those scumbags. He's 100% right about away game support with them in basketball.

Without Strong and Teddy we would be sitting in the AAC right now, so no matter what anyone says about him, I'll always appreciate that.

Yes, and people were far more pissed at JLS and CBP when they left... for those reasons... than they were at CCS. So that answers your original question.

 

[BringBackRoyal]

The Texas crowd was worst and the Texas fans made it clear that he was not welcome in Texas !

Uninformed nonsense. He was exceedingly well-liked here. Just didn't win.

 

[ShortCreek]

He was doomed from the get go at Texas, just as Wade Houston was at Tennessee. And people think this state is backward!

 

[jmac1029]

Charlie probably doesn't care because now he has plenty of time to spend with his family and count up to 10 million.

 

[BringBackRoyal]

He was doomed from the get go at Texas, just as Wade Houston was at Tennessee. And people think this state is backward!

Not even close.

Charlie faced some uphill battles, partly because Mack left behind more of a mess than many realized. Unfortunately, a number of those uphill battles were of Charlie's own making. His parade of terrible coaching hires and consistent inattention to key details like special teams meant he never gave himself a chance.

Had he hired well, though, things certainly could have worked out very, very well. He recruited lights-out in his first two full recruiting cycles. Texas fans loved everything about him but his results on the field.