Ever since I got into the journalism dodge almost 50 years ago, I’ve tried to judge coaches by more than their won-lost records. I’ve tried to applaud coaches who play by the rules and deplore those who don’t. I’ve always believed what I learned from coaches such as S.T. Roach, C.M. Newton, and Bob Knight – that winning isn’t significant unless it’s done the right way.

So although I have serious doubts about Steve Kragthorpe’s ability to prepare and motivate a football team, I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. I’m thinking he walked into a situation at the University of Louisville that looked shiny on the outside but was rotten to the core on the inside.

I don’t have any hard evidence because nobody in the local media has seriously delved into it what happened behind the scenes during the departed Bobby Petrino’s regime. At the end of last season, Kragthorpe spoke cryptically about the problems he inherited, but didn’t elaborate.

At the beginning of this season, some comments by Athletics Director Tom Jurich were even more tantalizing. He defended Kragthorpe by pointing to unspecified problems in Petrino’s program and said, “That’s on me.”

Before Petrino’s team du jour – that would be Arkansas – visited Lexington last month to play UK, Petrino fired back, saying that he left the U of L program in good shape without any major problems internally or otherwise.

Maybe he’s telling the truth. With Petrino, you never know. But given his history of back-stabbing and double-talking, I’m thinking his comments are a bunch of woo-pig-sooey. I’m thinking he lied to Jurich about the kind of players he was recruiting and what he was letting them get away with behind the scenes.

Understand, I’m not alleging that U of L violated NCAA rules under Petrino. I’m also not trying to detract in any way from the 12-1 team that won the Orange Bowl or any of Petrino’s other teams. I’m certain the vast majority of the players were good citizens who went to class and sacrificed for their teammates.

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What I am saying, however, is that Petrino quite possibly violated the trust that Jurich placed in him. For every Brian Brohm, there was a bad apple or two. You know, the kind of players who could help win games, but who also contributed little or nothing to the team’s character.

Jurich treats his coaches as adults. He tells them what he expects and then lets them run their own show. He is trusting, almost to a fault. Even after Petrino embarrassed him by flirting with the Auburn job, Jurich still gave him the benefit of the doubt because he was winning games unlike any coach in U of L history.

When he left to take the Atlanta Falcons job, Petrino didn’t leave the cupboard bare, athletically speaking. But was it possible he left the program morally bankrupt? Is that why Jurich felt so strongly about hiring Kragthorpe, an honest guy who believes in rules compliance, academic integrity, and good citizenship?

If the program’s infrastructure was shaky, then it takes time to fix it up. Players who have gotten accustomed to behaving in a certain manner are apt to rebel when required to change their ways or adapt to new standards.

I believe that’s why the Cards have underachieved under Kragthorpe. Last season’s talent was better than 6-6 and this season’s is better than 5-4 heading into Friday night’s home game against Cincinnati. But I choose to believe that’s mainly because Kragthorpe inherited a far tougher remodeling job than either he or Jurich anticipated.

One of the things that supposedly separate college athletics from pro sports is the way coaches are judged. In the pros, it’s perfectly fair to judge coaches and managers strictly on Ws and Ls. If they don’t produce, they’re gone. Simple as that. But in the college, it’s supposed to be different. Along with their records, coaches deserve to be evaluated as teachers and molders of character.

It’s not that way anymore, of course, and we all know it. College football ceased to be an amateur sport the first time a coach made more money than the university president. Or the first time a booster paid a player for a good game.

Nevertheless, none of us are willing to admit that we want our university to become a football or basketball factory. We like to cling to the belief – at least some of us still do – that universities exist mainly to educate young people, not to sponsor athletics teams. We at least like to pretend that our football and basketball heroes are really serious about getting their degrees and becoming productive members of society.

So U of L fans must decide what kind of a football program they want. What should the priorities be? In an ideal world, the Cards would win 10 or 11 every season while recruiting only poster boys for good character. But the real world is different. Almost every coach takes chances on “problem” recruits and makes compromises for the sake of winning. The successful ones are those who make the fewest mistakes in judgment.

One of my all-time favorite coaches was Jerry Claiborne. During his career at Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Kentucky, he consistently produced competitive teams without compromising his high ideals. At UK, he went to only two bowls in nine seasons. But he graduated his players at a consistently high rate and his program was a model of compliance.

I thought Bill Curry would be the perfect replacement for Claiborne, but I was wrong. His principles and integrity were of the highest, but he lacked a fundamental philosophy to which he could recruit. He changed co-ordinators like he changed sweatsuits. But Rich Brooks is a different story. He has a philosophy. He is like Claiborne in every respect except he wins a little more.

So I choose to believe that Kragthorpe belongs to the Claiborne-Brooks school. I believe he will eventually build a solid program that’s annually competitive for the Big East championship. But I also believe that he won’t take many “problem” recruits simply for the sake of winning.

If that means the Cards never again will win the Orange Bowl, so be it. But that’s just my opinion and I’m sure I’m in the minority. The fans who pay all that money for tickets don’t care about how many players a coach puts on the all-academic team. They want wins and they want them now and they don’t really care much about what it takes to get them, so long as nobody gets caught doing anything wrong.

Kragthorpe can help his cause by getting his players to eliminate some of the silly and careless mistakes that give the impression they’re not well-coached. He can help his cause by proving that he knows how to maintain momentum once he gets it on his side. Mainly, he can help his cause by going out and find some more Brian Brohms and Michael Bushes.
I’m in favor of giving him more time. I’m also in favor of somebody trying to get to the bottom of what really happened at U of L under Bobby Petrino.