UL Scouting Report

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Stubbs will call plays from sideline

Coordinator likes getting them in fast

By Brian Bennett

bbennett@courier-journal.com

The Courier-Journal

Charlie Stubbs likes being close to the action.

That's why the University of Louisville's offensive coordinator/receivers coach has always called plays from the sideline, and he'll continue to do so in his first year with the Cardinals. Quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Jeff Brohm will sit in the booth upstairs to assist Stubbs.

 

"I'm able to get the plays in quickly," Stubbs said. "Our goal is to get (quarterback) Brian Brohm to the line of scrimmage with 16 seconds left on the 25-second play clock. That gives him time to make all his pre-snap reads and to feel comfortable with everything we're doing."

Stubbs said he also likes being on the field during games to stay close to the receivers.

"Those are some wild-horse riders," he said. "They're good guys, but they've got lots of energy. Having a guy like me down there will keep that all organized and going forward."

Heat check

Because of the heat, the Cards went indoors for media-day activities yesterday morning instead of doing interviews on the Papa John's Cardinal Stadium field.

They have been practicing late in the day during the current heat wave, with temperatures in the mid-90s. But head coach Steve Kragthorpe said the conditions won't cause him to change his practice schedule or take the team indoors to the Trager Center.

"It's going to be hot when we play (Murray State) on August 30th," he said. "And it will be 25 degrees hotter on that turf than it is on the practice fields. So we've got to prepare for playing in the heat."

Double take

Things can get a bit confusing sometimes with Willie E. Williams, a senior defensive lineman, and Willie A. Williams, the much-hyped junior linebacker, on the same team.

"It's not that hard -- they call me Big Willie and him Little Willie," said the lineman Williams, who at 305 pounds is some 80 pounds heavier than the linebacker of the same name.

Fans on some Web sites have taken to calling Williams the lineman WWI and Williams the linebacker WWII. The lineman will have just the name "Williams" on his jersey, while the linebacker will have "W. Williams" stitched on his.

"I guess because I got here first," Willie E. Williams said.

Late arrival

Offensive lineman Abdul Kuyateh arrived on campus yesterday after finishing his courses at Reedley (Calif.) Community College. He suited up for last night's practice but was not allowed to wear shoulder pads like his teammates, because of NCAA rules.

Quote of the day

Stubbs and Kragthorpe said they will identify their top playmakers and make sure each one gets the ball a certain number of times. But Kragthorpe knows that could be a problem with all the weapons he has.

"For me to keep every offensive player happy this year, we'll have to snap it 250 times a game," he said. "They're really going to have to change the timing rules in college football if we want that to happen."

Jeff Brohm helps Cards conquer their new world

Jeff Brohm remembers the joy of practicing football at the University of Louisville in August with a coach who thought water breaks were as necessary as fumbles.

"One water break per practice, and it ended five seconds after it started," Brohm said. "Guys would sneak over to this trainer's shed and hope Coach (Howard Schnellenberger) didn't see them."

Double practices? Try three a day -- in late August when the area around the practice field smelled like cattle, horses and other critters invited to the State Fair.

Brohm remembers facing schedules that included Ohio State, Tennessee, Florida State, Texas, Texas A&M and West Virginia and thinking the city would schedule a parade if the Cardinals beat one of those teams per season.

"People got real excited when we went 9-3 (in 1993, Brohm's senior season)," he said.

 

The University of Louisville has officially started work for the 2007 season. There is no reason to sneak away for water. It's always available. Forget three practices a day. The only critters I smelled yesterday were other guys carrying notepads.

And if 9-3 moves the excitement meter this season, it will be moving in the absolute wrong direction.

Rising expectations

"It's a whole different ballgame," said Brohm, 36. "We've won the Big East championship. We won a BCS bowl game. Now we want to take that next step and go after a national title.

"It seems like the expectations get higher every year, but that's what you want."

It's what Brohm wanted. He is one of the few connections from the days when it was safe to roll your eyes at Schnellenberger's promotional bluster about pursuing a national title in Louisville, Kentucky.

Brohm played on the 10-1-1 1990 Fiesta Bowl team as well as the team that finished 9-3 by winning the 1993 Liberty Bowl. He has not forgotten the records from the two seasons that came in between -- 2-9 and 5-6. If the current team, ranked 11th in the first USA Today coaches' poll, loses six games it might return to practicing without water.

"You can't compare the talent we had then to now," Brohm said. "We had great players at a few positions then, but now we have them at almost every position. We're two deep at nearly every spot."

In those days, it's unlikely any Louisville assistant coach would have declined the opportunity to serve as the offensive coordinator at Alabama to remain at Louisville -- even if the school is his alma mater and his brother (Brian) is the starting quarterback and one of America's best players.

New duties, new perch

That's the call Jeff Brohm made. He has added three titles to his job description -- assistant head coach/passing-game coordinator/quarterbacks coach.

He will also be working from a new location. During his four seasons with former U of L coach Bobby Petrino, Brohm roamed the sidelines, suggesting some plays that Petrino called. Occasionally, Jeff might find his brother and strongly encourage him to play better -- as he did (wink) at Rutgers in November.

This season Brohm is moving to the press box.

He will have an overhead view of the field -- as well as the ear of head coach Steve Kragthorpe and offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Charlie Stubbs, the play callers.

Ask Brohm how the Cards' 2007 offense will compare with the remarkable Petrino schemes that ranked in the top 10 in total offense in NCAA Division I-A for four consecutive seasons, and he'll say he is as eager as everybody else to get that answer in the opening game against Kentucky … oops, I mean, Murray State on Aug. 30.

"We've kept some of the old stuff and added some new things," Brohm said. "We might throw the ball a little more. You'll have to come out and see."

Reach Rick Bozich at (502) 582-4650 or rbozich@courier-journal.com. Comment on this column, and read his blog and previous columns, at www.courier-journal.com/bozich.

Only step left is the 'ultimate'

Brohm returned to play in national title game

By Brian Bennett

bbennett@courier-journal.com

The Courier-Journal

Last year at this time, the University of Louisville football team talked about "taking the next step," which then-coach Bobby Petrino defined as advancing to the school's first Bowl Championship Series game.

The Cardinals completed that climb by getting to, and winning, the Orange Bowl. Now, with a new coach and a new outlook, it's time for a new desired destination.

 

At their annual media day yesterday, U of L's players spelled out what the next "next step" should be for the program: landing a spot in the national championship game.

"That's our ultimate goal," said senior quarterback Brian Brohm, who in January turned down NFL riches to stay in school. "I think that's one of the big reasons I came back. We were only three points away last year. You get a little taste of that, and you want to come back and try it again."

Even after they entered the Big East Conference in 2005, the Cards wondered if they could actually blaze a trail toward the national title. Last year showed they could.

They rose to No. 3 in the BCS rankings after beating West Virginia on Nov. 2. A week later they lost 28-25 at Rutgers on a late field goal. Had Louisville managed to hold onto a 25-7 first-half lead, it would have finished unbeaten, with a strong case for a slot in the BCS title game opposite Ohio State.

"People don't consider that we lost one of the premiere running backs in the country and still pulled that off," defensive lineman Adrian Grady said. "If we had (injured) Michael Bush, without a doubt we're there. But knowing that we still got that close helped our confidence going into this year. We know we're good enough to get there, and we know what it takes."

Brohm said he ruefully watched the second-half collapse against Rutgers on tape a few times this offseason before he "finally just threw it away." Falling just short of a potential national title game made the team hungrier in its summer workouts, he said.

The experience also brought some valuable lessons, as the Cards had to learn how to play in the national spotlight with so much on the line. Perhaps they can draw on that this year when late-season games against West Virginia and Rutgers again loom.

"We've been in the big games," Grady said. "There are no excuses now. We just have to keep moving up."

When the team reported to fall camp last week, Grady confidently stated that U of L -- which is No. 11 in the USA Today coaches' preseason poll -- shouldn't lose a game this season. Such predictions were in far shorter supply yesterday, as players spoke mostly about needing to get better each week and more immediate tasks.

Still, first-year coach Steve Kragthorpe didn't exactly deflect the raised expectations.

"I don't think there's any question we want to play in the national championship game this year," Kragthorpe said. "People may say that's a bold statement. Well, if we don't have that type of thought process, we really don't need to be out there practicing right now.

"But in order for that to happen we have to take little steps first. A lot of work has to be done in the meantime."

The new staff has changed the way the team talks about a lot of things.

Last year's Cardinals repeated the motto "Finish" from summer workouts until the end of the Orange Bowl. Kragthorpe hasn't latched on to any themes for the season. About the closest he gets is sometimes carrying around a baseball bat to remind his players of the slogan "B.A.T.: better after today."

That's one way he tries to keep the team focused on day-to-day improvement instead of the big picture.

"If you look too far ahead or too far behind, you'll get hit in the mouth when you turn back around," he said.

Under Petrino, the Cards always strived to have the No. 1 offense in the country. Coaches made sure the players constantly knew where they ranked statistically during the course of the year and challenged them to pick up the pace if they started slipping.

Though players said yesterday they still want to be the nation's most powerful offense, the new coaches don't seem nearly as concerned with piling up pretty stats.

"We don't say anything about that," offensive coordinator/receivers coach Charlie Stubbs said. "We have a different philosophy here, which is to win football games. That's our only goal.

"There might be some games this year where we'll take what the defense gives us. We may rush for well over 300 yards one game and throw for 400 yards in another. We don't really worry about statistics, really."

That echoes the stance the Cards will take for the season as a whole. They know what the next "next step" is, but they'll try not to worry too much about it. Yet.

"We want to get better every game," defensive tackle Earl Heyman said. "And if we do that, we believe the scoreboard and the BCS rankings -- all of that stuff -- will take care of itself."

Brian Bennett can be reached at (502) 582-7177