Signing Day

[HarveyGlass]

If you want the scoop on recruiting, for free, Jody Demling's C-J blog is awesome. Lots of updates all day.
http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/blog.html

At the moment, the Cards are up to nine signees so far.

[HarveyGlass]

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...68/1002/SPORTS

"When you turn the film on and you watch the film, this class is as good as any class that I have been around, and I have been around a long time." recruiting coordinator Greg Nord said.

No complaints about that.

Ball is one of three U of L signees from Ohio's Division I championship team, joining running back Darius Ashley and defensive end Greg Scruggs.

I like that a whole lot.

"He's(Stoudt) a big, tall pocket passer, and yet you see numerous clips of him making plays on the run," Kragthorpe said. "When you look at a guy that won 13 games against the quality of competition he played in Ohio and literally led his team -- he put them on his back in a couple of situations -- that's what I am looking for in a quarterback."

Looks like the writing's on the wall for Simms. Either get your game on or get going.

Originally Posted by Kragthorpe

"There's the possibility of four-year transfers or guys that have gone to junior colleges and maybe didn't have all of their hours they needed right now, but they could receive those through the course of the spring and summer...There are a lot of avenues that guys might come into our program. By saving a couple of scholarships, it allows us to do that."

Interesting, maybe some Michigan or Cal players?

We also got a reciever with a 4.27 40.

[Empire Lindy]

I read a blurb over on LSR that said Krag also mentioned the possibility of getting BASEBALL PLAYERS. Specifically he talked about possibly holding those scholarships back for a kid who wanted to try minor league ball, didn't cut it, and now wants to go to college to play football.

Personally, I can't wait to have Chris Weinke in the program.

[farmdude]

I heard his interview yesterday. He sounded as if we would signing at least one more and maybe several. All in all I was pretty pleased with the class, considering the year we had. We only had one defection and I bet there is more to that story. If he was truly good enough to be a Card, surely somebody other than Ga Southern would have made him an offer.

The kicker Philpott competed in a contest in Fl recently against 70 other HS kickers and came out with the highest rating. He kicked a 60 yarder in the contest and had good accuracy to the 50, and also puts the ball in the endzone on kickoffs.

I have also heard that Kragthorpe is shying away from Florida. Most of our problem children have been Fl kids. The leftovers that we have been getting were leftovers for a reason and that reason wasn't their lack of ability.

[cardfan]

Other than the JC players, i'm pretty happy with the class.

[HarveyGlass]

Originally Posted by farmdude

He kicked a 60 yarder in the contest and had good accuracy to the 50, and also puts the ball in the endzone on kickoffs.

Wow, that sounds like the stud of the class. lol

[farmdude]

We have a rep for putting kickers in the pros. Petrino got lucky with Carmody, but still didn't have a kickoff man that could put the ball in the endzone. While I am not sold on Kragthorpe, I will give him credit where it's due, and he did a good job getting what might be one the premier kickers in the country.

Was listening to somebody this morning on the electric radio. They were talking about John Cooper and how he reallly wasn't much of a coach. However, he was a great manager and put together one of the strongest coaching staffs in the country.

[AACardFan]

I'm concerned about this class. Louisville signed 22 players, 9 of whom are JUCOs. That leaves us with 13 freshmen-to-be. I believe only about 50% of players ever make it to their senior year, which means Louisville can expect to see about 7 of the 13 hang around for 4 or 5 years. Kragthorpe was already concerned about the roster. Long-term, this doesn't give me a warm-fuzzy.

So let's look at the JUCOs. JUCOs are expected to contribute immediately because they are considered experienced. I don't know about you, but I can't recall one JUCO player who made significant contributions last year. Turenne was the biggest JUCO signee last year (who made it through the entire season) and he seemed just as lost on the field as any freshman.

Now don't get me wrong. I believe we signed some quality players. We just didn't sign very many of them.

The coaching staff has been singing praises about the class they signed, but do you really put a lot of stock in that? Given Coach K is already on the hot seat after his disappointing debut, I can't imagine he would complain about his recruiting class even if he was disappointed in it.

I read in the CJ that UK's class was ranked 11th out of 12 SEC teams. I believe Louisville's class was only rated a notch or two above UK's, which means our recruiting class would also rank in the cellar of the SEC. Now, we don't play in the SEC, we play in the Big East. But again, I'm just not getting that warm and fuzzy feeling.

We all agree it's what you do with the players you have, but didn't we all believe we had players last year who could deliver a run at the NC? We are losing a lot of great senior talent and I have trouble seeing enough players rising to the occasion next year to make a run at a conference championship. Nevertheless, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[AACardFan]

Originally Posted by farmdude

They were talking about John Cooper and how he reallly wasn't much of a coach. However, he was a great manager and put together one of the strongest coaching staffs in the country.

And Cooper was run out of Columbus for losing too many games to Michigan. Where were you going with this post?

[wkuCardinal]

The difference between the JUCO guys we got LATE last year and the JUCO guys we have this year is that all of the JUCO guys we signed are already enrolled on campus. This gives them an extra 6-8 months to be learning the system. This is a huge deal with JUCO guys because JUCO guys are physically talented and capable.. it's the system transition that is the major challenge.

I would put money on Turenne being a MUCH improved football player next year. Louisville will sign a huge freshman H.S. class next year. RIght now we need guys who can help immediately, and you're not going to get that with H.S. freshmen.