UofL Football Coaches Come and Go but Goals, Trajectory Subsist

LOUISVILLE, KY – While University of Louisville fans await a decision as to who will lead Cardinal Football into the ACC in 2014, the familiarity of the process is not lost on the fanbase.  Only days have passed since Charlie Strong left for the apparent greener pastures of Texas, but in this 24/7 news cycle it seems like weeks or months.

The numerous reports swirling around the sports world regarding who will be Louisville’s next head coach has left many feeling different sentiments toward the program, its trajectory and the ever-present unknown of the future in the ACC.  Who are we?  Where can we go from here?

In relatively short order, Belknap’s football program has arguably elevated itself into top tier status and is situated firmly among those programs who command attention and notoriety.  Under the ingenious vision of AD Tom Jurich, fans have seen stadium and facility expansions and upgrades which are seemingly necessary to compete in the upper echelon of collegiate football.  Along with these updates, fans have seen ticket sales rise, not to mention the accumulation of games in the win column.  But what does this mean in the long run?

The pressing question many of the Cardinal faithful are pondering reads something like, “What have we become?”  There are no rose-colored glasses or visions of unicorns and lollipops in the River City.  However, real aspirations have developed from the events of the past decades.  Schnellenberger’s famous insistence that a national title game is in sight feels more real with each passing season.  Hell, there are many programs out there (ahem…one particular team about an hour away) who have no aspirations of ever making it to the big time.  We should feel so lucky to have goals.

However, if you polled most fans, my gut tells me that most of us do not feel like it is just around the corner.  Days when a committed coach leaves for a different program, albeit a bigger program on numerous levels, tend to cause reflection about what is really going on.  Success can be a hindrance, but it can also serve as an avenue to open up new opportunities.

On the one hand, a big-time football powerhouse like the University of Texas has deemed the successes of Louisville under Charlie Strong to be worthy of a poaching effort.  That’s nice, right?  On the other hand, schools like the University of Cincinnati which have seen good coaches come and go have not really been able to break into the cream of the crop despite their success.  Those schools appear to be simply stepping stone jobs with no real way to imagine a great coach staying for the long haul.

I think we can all agree that Cincy is no UofL – our trajectory, among other things, is vastly different from theirs.  For this reason alone, I am optimistic that our image as a national player will not be diminished by the subtraction and addition of a head coach.

Even if a national title game is not immediately around the corner, the University of Louisville is definitely [finally] on the right path.  Our facilities, new conference affiliation and momentum will carry us into tomorrow.  We fans all want that elusive title, but what makes us different is that we are also content on waiting for it to arrive.  The destination is only a result of the journey, right?  This journey has been extremely fun and rewarding, no matter what happens with the new hire.

Choosing Charlie Strong’s successor is an important decision and one that will give a glimpse of what the future will hold.  However, just like with the Steve Kragthorpe hire and his subsequent performance, bumps in the road can and do happen.

Through it all, however, the trajectory has remained the same.  The commitment of school officials and overall momentum over the years have continued to build and have morphed into the current state of Cardinal Football.  No matter who the next hire is, my hopes for that big day when we hail as champions will not falter.

And we wait…patiently.  Because, you know, patience is a virtue.