Less than 24 hours after Steve Kragthorpe was fired as Louisville’s head coach, names of potential replacements are beginning to surface.
While former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer‘s name has been bandied about for the job — would it meet his exacting standards, though? — as well as Texas Tech’s Mike Leach, the Louisville Courier-Journal points to two SEC coordinators whose names are “swirling in the air”.
And the two names will give Cardinals fans extra incentive to watch this weekend’s SEC title game.
According to the paper, Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong and Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain are likely to have the attention of athletic director Tom Jurich as he goes about his search.
Needless to say, connections in the recruiting world are of the utmost importance to Jurich. And, while he didn’t mention them by name, he did imply that either one would be a good fit recruiting-wise for the Cardinals.
“I’d like a coach that has connections this way, just because I think it makes it easier on them,” Jurich said. “They’ve got all their contacts — and I think we’ve got a good brand name in this part of this country. I want to make sure we get that back.”
The Courier-Journal also mentions former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville — you can pretty much slap his name into any job that comes open — Houston coach Kevin Sumlin, Central Michigan coach Butch Jones and Buffalo coach Turner Gill as possible candidates for the opening.
[...] being connected to head-coaching openings at, among other places, Colorado, San Jose State and Louisville in the past year and a half, Jim McElwain has officially been given a six-figure thank you for his [...]