the question has to be asked

[USFGriff]

I think the success of their basketball program also helps their other sports programs, including football.

Try telling that to a Kentucky fan....

[Ricky the Bull]

Like I said, it helps.  It doesn't mean you don't need good coaches.  They also need to be able to recruit from places like Florida well, since they go against the B10 in that area.

[CardHack]

Louisville is an unusual emergence. The program had moderate success in the early 50's to the mid 60's under Frank Camp, but it was playing at a level of competition far beneath the standards of the Big Ten and SEC schools that surrounded Louisville. The City of Louisville has long been noted for fairly outstanding prep football back into the 40's with Parochial high school power Flaget (produced Paul Hornung and Howard Schnellenberger most notably) leading the way. Currently you have four schools that traditionally produce collegiate talent, two parochial and two public--the parochial St. X (Bernard Jackson of UT being the most notable) vs. Trinity (the Brohms most notably) rivalry is one of the most well-attended in the nation, garnering what will be anywhere between 30-40,000 this coming Friday night. The two public schools, Male (producing people like Darrell Griffith in basketball, currently Montrell Jones and Michael Bush in football to UofL and Maurice Green to Ohio State) and Manual (Sherman Lewis of the NFL's Green Bay Packers was a graduate; UK standout Keenan Burton was an alum) have one of the nation's longest standing perennial rivalries stretching well over 120 games.

The point is that until Howard Schnellenberger came to Louisville in 1984 the City of Louisville produced quite a bit of athletic talent, but it was dispersed among the parochial schools to Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, et al. and among the public schools to the various schools throughout the southeast and midwest. Schnellenberger used his litany of contacts throughout Dade/Broward Counties in addition to the contacts from previous coaching regimes at Louisville (including native Floridian Lee Corso in the early 70's) to establish a consistent influx of talent from the Sunshine State. A big part of Schnellenberger's legacy to Louisville was also the vision to begin groundwork for the stadium construction. When Louisville joined CUSA, Schnellenberger left stating that their status in that league would compromise the football program's growth.

A common theme going back 25 years--from Bob Webber, to Howard Schnellenberger, to Ron Cooper, to John L. Smith and finally to Bobby Petrino--has been cultivating relationships in Florida and a network of contacts that brings talent to Louisville to play football. There are actually now a number of former UofL players that coach at the prep level in Florida, and you can imagine the number of players that those former players might scout whether it be their own players or the opposition. Louisville seems under Petrino to really hit the Tallahassee and Jacksonville (where he coached with the Jaguars for three years) areas hardest. Aside from Cooper's mediocre three year stint, Louisville has had quality coaching staffs at the helm for over twenty years.

Where Louisville has emerged recently is that we are in something of a renaissance period with regard to prep football. The state of Kentucky didn't adopt Spring Practice until the mid 90's and that has been further augmented by the advent of 7 on 7 passing camps in May and June that don't conflict with track and field or the beginning of basketball camps and basketball AAU. Statewide the best athletes are playing football now, and it shows in the number of Division I caliber of football players the state is now producing. There have been something like six USA Today All-Americans on the first team in the last few years on offense alone (Shaun Alexander, Tim Couch, Eric Shelton, Michael Bush and most recently Brian Brohm). But rather than stocking Louisville's roster with local talent, the local talent still augments by-and-large the Deep Southern talent from Alabama, Georgia and most notably Florida. Louisville now has tried to establish a presence in NJ/PA to take advantage of the Big East visibility. Louisville now gets the vast majority of their targets in Louisville, but Kentucky's strength outside of Jefferson Co. will always be there. Unfortunately for the UK's of the world it's becoming increasingly difficult for them to get quality talent out of Louisville; essentially the Greater Louisville area accounts for over 35% of the state's population, and I'd venture to say over half of the highest caliber football talent comes from the Greater Louisville area.  UofL has started to keep it home.

[BigShoop]

I think that's a fair question as well.

I'm pretty much tired of the "our program is new so give us pity" excuse. We're in a BCS conference now. Let's stop all that....really.

College football is all about recruiting. Honestly, I think we got behind in our recruiting in the years of Blackwell and Kawika. Almost seems like we sat on our laurels(sp?) for a year or 2....as if to say "see, look. we're new, and we built a good football team."

Now, a couple years later, we're playing catch up. Case in point: the QB position.

[CardHack]

I think that's a fair question as well.

ow, a couple years later, we're playing catch up. Case in point: the QB position.

I think the QB position probably illustrates Louisville's emergence vs. South Florida's perceived stagnation. Louisville had pretty good QB play from the early 80's to the early 90's and elevated it a little progressively. Nobody thought we could replace Chris Redman and then Dave Ragone comes in and sets a new standard with three years as a starter, then Lefors comes along and has an almost perfect passing percentage season last year (only exceeded I believe by Daunte Culpepper). Now they have the most ballyhooed QB recruit they've ever had at Louisville.

I said this last year and I wasn't saying it to mean but making an honest observation...Pat Julmiste's 3-20 performance against Louisville last season is probably the worst college passing performance I ever witnessed in person. He's reputed to have talent, but I'll take simple accuracy and getting you in the right plays over arm strength in college football every time.

[Guest S.  Bien]

how  did louisville get so good so fast while

usf clearly didn't

the killer is that louisville has done it with plenty of florida players over the last 3 years

****, why not wait until AFTER the game to ask that question.  Who knows, it might be UL fans asking how WE GOT SO STRONG SO QUICKLY.

I don't think this game is a push over for UL.

[Markeymark]

The performance at QB has lagged behind the power curve since Marquell Blackwell graduated (along with Rubin, his favorite receiver.) It's true that USF has been searching for an offensive identity ever since, but at the same time we shouldn't overlook how far USF has come in just a few years. Louisville has grown leaps and bounds but at the same time USF hasn't been exactly standing still. We have gone from above-average I-AA to above-average I-A in just a few years. A lot of improvement might not show up in the recent W-L columns but we are due to break out again sometime soon.

[BigEastBeasts]

I think the QB position probably illustrates Louisville's emergence vs. South Florida's perceived stagnation. Louisville had pretty good QB play from the early 80's to the early 90's and elevated it a little progressively. Nobody thought we could replace Chris Redman and then Dave Ragone comes in and sets a new standard with three years as a starter, then Lefors comes along and has an almost perfect passing percentage season last year (only exceeded I believe by Daunte Culpepper). Now they have the most ballyhooed QB recruit they've ever had at Louisville.

Don't forget about Browning Nagle!!!!!

[Mr._2_cents]

To be honest, coach levitt has to recruit hard in states where passing QB's breed. I'm referring to places like cali, washington, mid-west schools and some northern high schools. I hope they find someone like Marquel in there own backyard again, but realistic you have to get alot of young arms in here and let them compete. QB position is key to keep a program alive.

[MikeG]

how  did louisville get so good so fast while

usf clearly didn't

the killer is that louisville has done it with plenty of florida players over the last 3 years

clearly