Facilities part I: Papa John's Cardinal Stadium

Of course, for Louisville it all started with the opening of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium some 13 years ago (the rendering at left is the stadium after expansion is completed). Many of the advantages offered by Papa John's are by now familiar. All seats in the stadium are chairback. The Brown and Williamson Club provides an upscale flourish unique for a college stadium. The scoreboard, routinely billed as the largest in college football, gets a little bigger each year (and now there's word that we will have two).

Other advantages might not be as obvious to the casual fan. For example, the Cards are beginning their eighth season playing on FieldTurf, an artificial surface that feels like real grass but is safer and faster. According to the article link cited in the introductory post, players and coaches greatly prefer Louisville's surface as compared to other synthetic surfaces or, you know, real grass. Papa John's press facilities also are among the best in the nation, accomodating over 100 in the main seating section and housing 11 working booths and a press lounge area. This has helped facilitate Louisville's rise in terms of national exposure, including several national broadcasts on ESPN.

Of course these past few years have seen expansion efforts underway. As the stadium expansion nears completion, we will enter a new era for Cards football, one which the most optimistic of fans have warmly embraced, but that others (including contributors to this site) have greeted with caution, if not outright skepticism. (To rehash, about 14,000 seats via an expanded upper deck have been added, bringing capacity to over 56,000, including 1,750 higher-priced club seats and 33 suites, as well as a terrace connecting the stadium's east and west sides).

The expansion puts Papa John's firmly among the most impressive home fields in all of college football. Should he stay, it will prove a cornerstone of Charlie Strong's long reign in Louisville. But those seats can't go empty. Regardless of opponent, regardless of record, we've gotta put fans in the stands. I believe we will. But make no mistake Cards fans, the pressure is on for us to step up.

Facilities part II: Schnellenberger Football Complex

Overlooking the practice fields toward the north end of the stadium, the Howard Schnellenberger Football Complex houses the team's coaches, staff, training room, strength and conditioning area and academic services.

Within the complex is U of L's state-of-the-art, 8,500 square foot weight room. According to the PJCS web site, "Cardinal football players train with the best equipment available, including 20,000 pounds of free weights, a full line of Hammer strength equipment, power rack stations, Olympic lifting platforms with Eleiko bumper plates and upper body pressing stations."

Now I didn't understand any of that, but I'm certain Charlie Strong does, and I'm even more certain his view is that having a modern and well-stocked facility is critical to the success of the football program. The PJCS web site says as much:

In the highly competitive world of collegiate football, the off-field
preparation of the student-athlete is one of the most important aspects in
building a successful program on the field. At the University of Louisville,
Cardinal football players are fortunate to train in a state-of-the-art facility
at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Facilities part III: Trager Center

Finally, there is the Trager Center, Louisville's indoor practice facility allowing the Cards to train year round and in bad weather. The magazine article referred to in the below post labels the Trager Center "one of the premier indoor facilities in its class." The 90,068 square foot facility has 85,440 square feet of playing surface with 5,168 square feet of building support, consisting of restroom facilities, offices and a lobby.

Besides allowing year-round practice, facilities such as these are just as important for showcasing to recruits. When it opened in 2005, then coach Bobby Petrino remarked, "From a recruiting standpoint, it's invaluable for any recruit we bring on campus to show recruits the commitment to this program."

******

Undeniably, Louisville's facilities are the crown jewel in Tom Jurich's career-long effort to build the football program into a national competitor. They are among the greatest in the country, providing fans with quite literally the best seats in all of college football, allowing the Cards to train year-round with the latest equipment, and enabling the coaching staff to showcase to recruits the level of commitment provided to their collegiate athletic careers, should they choose to become Cardinals. They're a big reason why John L. laid a foundation for success and Bobby Petrino moved the program to the next level.

Should Charlie Strong choose to coach here for the long-term, Louisville's athletic facilities will strengthen his ability to compete for any and every recruit he desires; and then train said recruit into the type of player needed to win championships. All in the quest to build an elite competitor at Louisville.

The sixth criterion: facilities

Note: This post is the sixth of seven interrelated posts on how Louisville can keep Charlie Strong.

At his first press conference announcing that he had accepted the head coaching job at Louisville, one of the first things Charlie Strong noted about the football program was the superior quality of its football facilities. The importance placed on equipment and infrastructure should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with recruiting in college football, or any other college sport for that matter. Nowadays, showcasing facilities is one of the most critical components of building a successful collegiate athletic program.

On this blog, I've often claimed that Louisville has the best facilities in the country. Having performed a little more research than is usual for my offered opinions, I consider this my attempt to put money where my mouth is, not to mention, of course, highlight another reason why Charlie Strong should spend the rest of his life as a Cardinal.

In reading about our facilities, I unearthed an article by Athletic Facility Design, an independent trade magazine. The article is about Louisville's infrastructure efforts in the last few years and the title says it all: "The Perfect Athletic Campus." The opening line of the story reads:

The University of Louisville is an unusual urban campus with four world-class
athletic facilities — Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Jim Patterson Stadium, the
Trager Center, and the U of L women’s lacrosse field — clustered in its
near-downtown location. Since joining the Big East Conference in 2005, the
university has competed across the board with rivals such as The University of
Notre Dame, Villanova University, Georgtown University, Seton Hall University,
Syracuse University, and USF.

What the quote above makes clear is Tom Jurich's extended commitment not only to football but to all of Louisville's athletic programs. It also rightly points out that facilities no longer refer only to a team's home field venue, practice facility or locker room; they represent an arms race between competitor schools for prized recruits in every sport, a race that Louisville football is intent on winning.

There are, in my opinion, three crown jewel to the football program facility-wise. Posts about each are scheduled for later this morning; they describe the importance of these facilities and will share a few words about how facilities will help us hold onto Charlie Strong.

The three posts are available here: 1. Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, 2. Schnellenberger Football Complex, 3. Trager Center.

insidethevortex.com

Normally I'm not one to provoke blog-animosity. But this one sticks in my craw.

The BIGGEST trial, the BIGGEST news, involving the BIGGEST sports team in our city, and all insidetheville.com can muster is a generic article on the morning football practice? I refuse to pay for information regarding Cardinal athletics in principle, but at the very least, kudos to their rival Rivals site for living in the same dimension as fans and at least commenting on the subject.

Pay-for-sports-info websites are dying the same as newspapers. But the latter is at least dying with dignity, with journalistic integrity.

For an insider-site to charge members for admission and not mention the news that is on the tips of tongues of 99.9% of all Louisville fans, well, that's as crazy for paying for the site to begin with.

Q & A of the Day

Reporter: Do you have any thoughts on what her punishment should be?

Jurich: What's the maximum? I don't know. I wish I was the judge.

(Full disclosure, the above is roughly paraphrased, the CJ hasn't re-posted the full interview yet to transcribe. But Jurich's words were clear)

A sad ending

Not too long ago, Ms. Karen Cunnagin Sypher was found guilty on charges of extortion in a court of law.

By all means she should pay for those crimes. But I feel dismay, and unease, about the sheer jubilation over the conviction being displayed by some Cardinal brethren, many my close friends. I feel empathy towards her. And the instinct to turn people's lives into cartoon characters isn't one I possess.

Hold on a sec, I'm stepping off my high horse...

Sypher's no saint, but she's not the devil, either. She's a broken and confused woman prone to using her sexuality as a means to get what she wants. The armchair-psychologist in me wonders about events in her youth that may explain her behavior in adulthood.

Either way, she's not a violent person, she should be able to pay her debt to society and move on with her life.

But Rick Pitino and Karen Sypher will always be linked, and for much longer than 15 seconds.

Each will pay for his and her indiscretion. Each is paying now, in different ways.

Guilty

Karen Sypher was just found guilty on all six counts in federal court.

Well, glad that's wrapped up, I'm sure we'll hear nothing more of this matter from now on.

Torture

Thought this was pretty good, from CBS Sports:

Some of you may know, U of L football coach Charlie Strong has posted signs that
say "picked last in the Big East," all over the Howard Schnellenberger football
complex. Fewer, perhaps, know that a a video of last year's loss to Kentucky is
playing on a continuous loop in the football training room, to the point where
it has bored itself into the minds of players, not a few of whom would perhaps
sacrifice a body part never to have to see it again.

Using a Kragthorpian-based grading scale, last year's loss to Kentucky wasn't all that bad. But I suspect that with Strong in charge, seeing all those mistackles and penalties from last year, played over and over again, will drive a young man insane. Good.

Full post available here.

The fifth criterion: falling in love with Louisville

Note: this is the fifth of seven interrelated posts on how Louisville can keep Charlie Strong.

The proposition that Louisville's head coach could fall in love with this community is not a hypothetical -- it has been proven correct. This point was implicitly referred to by one of our regulars in the comment section a few weeks back (hope you won't mind Rick) who wrote, "I truly believe [Strong's] intent at this time is to stay and make Louisville a career. That puts us ahead of where we started with a certain UCLA basketball assisstant who came here to groom himself for a return to his alma mater, and wound up staying 30 years and winning two national championships."

Denny Crum came to consider Louisville his adopted home. (It's also worth noting that when Crum arrived at Louisville, the basketball program did not enjoy national attention or prestige, to my knowledge). Another person who comes to mind is John L. Smith. Originally hailing from out west, Smith grew very fond of Louisville, even moving back here after he was fired from Michigan State. John L. made Louisville his home; Denny became an adopted son. Is it so far-fetched to think that the same can happen with Charlie Strong?

Admittedly, the logic offered above is a bit contradictory given John L.'s love for the community certainly didn't prevent him from getting the "L" out of here when a better opportunity came along (and saying something akin to a big "F You" to the fans along the way). But I've lived in a few different places in my life, and the traveling has helped me realize that Louisville does have a uniquely special and welcoming effect on people.

At risk of platitudes or sounding like an infomercial, there's a lot that this city has to offer that others don't. Communities like the Highlands, St. Matthews and Frankfort Avenue are unique and vibrant (of course we already know that Strong has settled in outer suburbia, but you get the picture). As the opening of the new arena will soon attest, downtown revitalization continues to transform the city. Fourth Street Live isn't my type of thing, but it does offer a central entertainment nexus that many other midwestern cities lack. The schools here are good and restaurant offerings are diverse. And hey, this is Derby City: previous reporting has already made clear Strong's personal interest and friendships in the horse industry.

Maybe the most intriguing point that can be made about Louisville, as seen from the vantage point of a college coach: unmistakenly, Louisville is a metropolitan area and hence it offers all the benefits of a city of its size. Yet, in this city (and please don't take out of context), University of Louisville athletics are the star attraction. Without painting Strong as egocentric (most evidence suggests he's not), there's got to be something in knowing that yours and the basketball program are the only shows in town.

By this point, one could be forgiven for thinking I'm being overly sentimental about my hometown. But I do think that location matters; it matters whether a head coach likes his city or town. I'm not saying that Irish pubs and art fairs will single-handedly persuade a major college head coach to resist lucrative offers. But if/when, in the future, Strong faces the choice between Louisville and someplace else, we hope that some of these things will resonate for him and his family. We live in a pretty damn cool city. Be proud of it.

Off the radar

After the Teague announcement, speculation abounded that the Cards would pursue Mount Vernon point Jabarie Hinds full bore. Not gonna happen. He's trimmed his list of college suitors to 7, and Louisville isn't on it.

Cards fans aren't despairing, or not this one anyways, because most indications are that Peyton Siva will be a 4-year player. Finding his supporting cast for his junior and senior campaign is priority uno.

(Hat tip: Zagsblog)

Quote of the Day

"Glad to be at Big East media day. I've never been picked last before so let's get this going."

-Charlie Strong

Also, Coach Strong said today that stud athlete Dominique Brown will be eligible to play this season and will compete for the quarterback spot. Commence tingles.

Addendum to 4th criterion: early years of the Strong era

Earlier today I mentioned the expectations that Strong would encounter at a higher-profile football program, implicity comparing it to the reception received here. This warrants some further comment given the charge that such good feelings will go flying out the window the moment the ball is snapped. A few words on that..

Not that he should be entirely grateful for the ruin and disarray in which Kragthorpe left the program, but in coming here at this exact moment, Strong has entered an ideal environment. The Louisville faithful knows that he understands how to win by virtue of his long stint at Florida. We expect him to produce victories here. Yet most fans also understand how far Kragthorpe brought us down; no one is placing much pressure (or many bets for that matter) on Strong to orchestrate a 360-degree 180 turnaround in a single season.

We do expect to see, from day one, improved on-field synergy, a more dynamic game plan, crisper tackling, fewer flags. I think those will be the criteria by which Cards fans make judgments during the first year.

But as for wins and losses, do what you got to do Charlie and take the time it requires to do it. We know when we see a work in progress (those early Schnellenberger years) as opposed to when we see something that stinks (the Kragthorpe era). We're tougher than we get credit for; you can count on us to stay onboard.

The fourth criterion: hometown hero

Note: This is the fourth of seven interrelated posts on how Louisville can keep Charlie Strong.

Louisville adores Charlie Strong. We love that he's a hell of a recruiter and that he motivates his kids to do better in school and that he's shown how to care passionately about his players without falling prey to the "player's coach" stigma and that he even has higher expectations of us as Cards fans. We admired him from the beginning, when he broke down in tears at his first press conference, describing the journey it took him to get here.

This past winter and spring, we hailed and welcomed his every move; each has struck us as a departure from the past, a forebear of the future, a sign of something positive about to happen. What can we say? Unabashedly, we love the guy. And we believe that this will constitute another reason for Strong to stay and build something special.

Now, some might attribute all this love-dove sentimentality to the fact that expecations and wishful thinking are allowed to run rampant in the preseason, especially when it involves the ushering in of a new regime to help restore a once proud program. So let it be forewarned: yes, Strong has not yet coached the Cards to a single victory.

Even so, I dare say that fans' admiration of Strong is based on something more substantial, something deeper. Kragthorpe was received politely before his first season, but certainly not adored. Petrino was viewed positively his first preseason since he already had served as the offensive coordinator/architect of Louisville's high-flying, Redman-powered offenses, but he was hardly beloved. In contrast... well, read this recent post by Paul Sykes at Card Game. Doesn't it feel like there's something different, something special going on here?

What I mean by all this is, Strong's introduction here has been sufficiently genuine and heartfelt that it seems, at the moment, destined to flourish into a unique relationship between fan base and coach. I can think of two examples, both local, one inconvenient, to help illustrate what I mean: the way that Louisville fans came to adore Denny Crum, and the way that Kentucky fans worshipped Rick Pitino during the '90s.

Should it continue and even strengthen, the bond between Strong and Cards fans could help motivate Strong to turn down those big job offers if/when they come. At the risk of sounding naive, something Mr. Red and I often wonder is why, exactly, so many Big East coaches have charged head-first -- not looking back, never to be deterred -- to that supposed destination "dream job," only to see their career burn out -- or at least hit the proverbial wall -- amidst heightened and unyielding expectations.

(We've seen it happen at "storied programs" like Michigan -- hope your fortunes change soon Rich Rodriguez -- and Notre Dame -- good luck Brian Kelly... to channel my inner Han Solo, you're gonna need it. And there are, of course, those who flirt endlessly until ending up in the pros -- at the end of the day Bobby, after pissing off the entire city of Atlanta and vacating your "dream job" after one year, did you ever shake your head and remark to yourself, "well, that went well, didn't it?").

Wouldn't it be easier AND more rewarding to build up your own program, in a community that adores you, to compete with and eventually dispose of those sacred cows? Coaching at a self-nominated "storied" program, you'll always be calling shots in the shadows and ghosts of gridiron past.

Bring success to a program like Louisville, and you will own this city.