Kragthorpe Fired at Louisville

Written on 10:39 AM by Admin

Steve Kragthorpe Fired at Louisville

Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe was fired today by Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich, a person with knowledge of Jurich's decision told FanHouse.

Jurich has called a noon press conference to "address the future of the Cardinals' football program."

Kragthorpe was 15-21 in three seasons at Louisville. The Cardinals finished 4-8 (1-6 in the Big East) this season, their second consecutive losing season under Kragthorpe.

Because of Jurich's ties to the Mountain West Conference – he was athletic director at Colorado State before coming to Louisville – possible replacements include TCU's Gary Patterson and Utah's Kyle Whittingham. Other possibilities include Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and Houston's Kevin Sumlin. Past media reports also have mentioned Texas Tech's Mike Leach and former Tampa Bay Bucs coach/current ESPN analyst Jon Gruden as likely candidates.

In January 2007, Kragthorpe replaced Bobby Petrino, but was unable to match the success UL had under Petrino, which included the 2006 Big East and Orange Bowl championship. Kragthorpe's best season at UL was his first in 2007, when the Cardinals went 6-6 but did not receive a bowl bid.

After Saturday's 34-14 loss to Rutgers, Kragthorpe was asked about his future. Kragthorpe, who has two years remaining on his contract that pays about $1.1 million a year, said he expected to return.

"I don't think we're that far away," Kragthorpe said. "It's frustrating for everyone. As frustrated as the fans are, I'm as equally or more frustrated. We're on track. Hopefully I'll get another year.

"I want to be here and be the guy that gets this thing back to where we need to be. I think this thing is close to us winning eight or nine games without a doubt."

Because of the Cardinals' struggles, two of Louisville's final three home games had the smallest crowds in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium history. The Oct. 31 game against Arkansas State drew 21,497, the smallest in the stadium's 11-year history and Saturday's loss to Rutgers drew 23,422, the second-smallest.

Louisville is in the midst of expanding its stadium from 42,000 to 55,000 and it's scheduled to be completed in 2010.

Kragthorpe came to Louisville after three seasons at Tulsa, where he was 29-22 and won the Conference USA title in 2005.

"You're miserable when you don't win games," Kragthorpe said on Monday about his job status. "Ultimately that's how you're judged as a head coach.

"I know how this thing works as a head coach. We haven't won enough football games right now."