Are the end of the day yes they are.

 

If that's how you feel then that's cool. Just don't use a criteria on UofL that you wouldn't use on everyone else.

Stepping stone or not, I think Crawford nailed it with his column today:

 

The Jurich Doctrine: spend for the program you want, not the program you have

Louisville is a great job. Not likely a destination job like Bama or OSU that only an NFL job might get you out of, but not a stepping stone either. It's a top 25 job. Some things can't change much more. Not much in state talent. Not a ton of history (that can change but takes time). Very good job though. Better job (easier than UK). UKs advantage is that it is an SEC job, which currently are the most prestigious, but big names haven't gone to UK, Vandy, etc.

Well it's hard to believe you ul fans when you say this because you all said thing about Strong and how he wouldn't leave and you all would be able to match whatever another school offers and so he won't leave but at the end of the day he still did.

 

It is still in deed a stepping stone job. But I will say this it's a stone people are more willing to stand on longer until they have a premiere job they can get. It's still not the end destination job most coaches want. It's a not a job where when people get this job they say ok I am where I need to be and won't ever look elsewhere again. Imo a school is a stepping stone job if someone doesn't see it as their ideal end destination and still would want better. If a toperson football school has an opening a ul Coach would leave just like strong. But as I said UL is at least at a point where only a top football job would get a coach to leave.

 

I would a whole lot rather be a stepping stone then a tombstone and right now UK is the place coaches go when they want their careers to die.

I would a whole lot rather be a stepping stone then a tombstone and right now UK is the place coaches go when they want their careers to die.

 

Some of you act like I am saying that is a bad thing. Shoot I would lover for UKs program to be at the level of ULs and even UC for that matter. I believe being a stepping stone job is not a bad thing for a program. That means coaches would want to go there because they know they can be successful there and that could help them land a top school job. That is why I said it right away that I thought UC messed up hiring Tubberville instead of sticking with the model that worked well for them at getting young up and coming coaches. Yes a coach may eventually leave for a top job, but great things can happen while that Coach is there.

For anybody asking why the extenstion... For reference, Mark Stoops was making more money than Petrino before this raise. Why has he gotten the extensions he has?

 

I would say it is pretty obvious. Stoops walked into a program which was a really crappy team and turned it into a much less crappy program in one year, a team with two wins, to one with five wins and the recruiting that built momentum. So giving an extension at that point seemed obvious to any reasonable person, many people were looking at Stoop with a degree of admiration. The problem is, since the extension, not much continued progress has been made so the extension doesn't look like such a great idea like it used to.

 

This is somewhat similar to naming Joker coach in waiting. Andre Woodson made Joker look like a much better OC than he really was and other schools were looking at him so UKs AD knew it was either coach in waiting or he's gone. Turns out him being gone would have worked out best but it is easy to say that now.

As to whether UofL is a stepping stone program I think is a matter of time. Programs that are not stepping stones, have been at that status for decades. So, basically UofL needs to keep staying the course it is on and if possible have a knock out season in the process. Virginia Tech hit that point when it played for a national title against FSU even though they lost. For UofL it may be to convincingly win the ACC one year. Someone mentioned UGA. They are a pretty good example. While UGA is not at the level of OSU, Bama or ND, they have stood the test of time which UofL very well may do in time.

 

I think another characteristic of a program that is no longer a stepping stone is that they can steal coaches from stepping stone programs. So, is UofL at the point where their next coach will no longer be the coach of a Tulsa (Krag) or the OC of Auburn (Petrino Round 1) and can now steal coaches from say UC (Butch Davis or Brian Kelly), not a great example but you get the point. If they are, they are no longer a stepping stone if the cannot, then they are probably still in that grey area of trying to no longer be but just need to keep going in the same direction with the program for 5/8/10 more years.

Stepping stone or not, I think Crawford nailed it with his column today:

 

The Jurich Doctrine: spend for the program you want, not the program you have

 

He makes some interesting points. One other that should be considered: Perhaps this is a bonus for success plus the fact that the program has largely avoided any black eyes since his return. Of course, we didn't see a lot of Petrino's guys show up on the police reports during his first stint, either, until after he left.

He is one heck of a football coach.

Just hired his son as a qb coach

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