February | 2018 | The Cardinal's Beak

It was a great evening out at the 2018 Signing Day Party. There was a pretty good crowd of die-hard football fans as Coach Petrino and his Coaching staff introduced and talked about some of the newest Cardinals. I have really enjoyed these events over the years. You get a chance to see the personality of the Coaching staff and get an in-depth look at the new players.

Coach Petrino opened the show talking about his commitment to the University and to the city of Louisville. He emphasized how much that this program means to him. And I think this 2018 Recruiting Class is an example of that. Coach Petrino and his staff logged thousands of hours and thousands of miles to lock down what might be the best recruiting class in program history.

This Louisville Class didn’t get much love in the final team rankings finishing #28 in ESPN, #30 in Rivals, #29 in 247Sports and #29 in Scout. But adding 10 Four Star athletes will not go unnoticed. This class has a lot of versatility and speed. They will be able to move a lot of these guys around to find out how to best utilize their abilities. If you are a wrestling fan then you’ve heard of Suplex City tonight Coach Petrino dubbed this bunch Speed City. There are six guys in this group that run the 100 meters in under 10.8 seconds.

Here’s what ESPN says about this group:

I really like this recruiting class. Two of the most important things in College Football are Size and Speed. This class has both. There is a lot for the Coaching staff to work with here and I can’t wait to see some of how they do that during the Spring Workouts. Congrats to Coach Petrino and his staff for reaping some of the reward for their work. They did real good here…

Here is some Video from the Signing Day Party

-Coach Petrino Intro

-Coach Petrino talks about Hassan Hall, and Yasir Abdullah at Signing Day Party 2018. #SpeedCity

-Coach Kolby Smith talks about Javian Hawkins & Marcus Rikey at 2018 Signing Day Party

-Coach Lorenzo Ward talks Telly Plummer, Trenell Troutman, & Boosie Whitlow at 2018 Signing Day Party

-Coach Klenakis talks about Rodjay Burns at 2018 Signing Day Party

-Coach Summers talks about Adonis Boone & Dejmi Dummervil-Jean at 2018 Signing Day Party

-New DC Brian VanGorder talks Thurman Geathers, & Allen Love at 2018 Signing Day Party

-Coach Nick Petrino talks Jordan Travis & Tyler Harrell at 2018 Signing Day Party

-New Coach Grady Brown talks PJ Mbanasor & Marlon Character Jr. at 2018 Signing Day Party

-Coach Ryan Beard talks Robert Hicks & Quen Head at 2018 Signing Day Party

-Coach Galloway talks Jatavious Harris & Chatarius Atwell Jr at 2018 Signing Day Party

-Coach Brian VanGorder talks Chandler Jones & Jared Goldwire at 2018 Signing Day Party

-Coach L.D. Scott talks Jarrett Jackson & Mike Boykin at 2018 Signing Day Party

From a Touchdown squirrel to the NCAA bubble
It’s crazy how a few weeks can change everything in college sports. Back in early September things couldn’t have felt more promising for Louisville Basketball fans. The way too early NCAA polls were starting to circulate, and the Cardinals were one of the favorites to win an NCAA Title.

The program so hot that Coach Pitino would be the guest picker for the College Gameday event before the Clemson game. That jersey was way too little but hey we didn’t care. Rick was the man and had us sitting pretty again. Not only did he appear to have the current team poised for the success he had some very promising recruits signed. I couldn’t wait for the College Basketball season to begin.

The basketball buzz remained in the air especially after the Football team had just had another loss to Clemson. That was a bummer but it didn’t really faze the fanbase that much. There was a great feeling still in the air. The NCAA decision loomed but we had put all of the Stripper talk behind us. There was a lot of positive momentum back in the program.

I remember the weekend of the Kent State football game. Things were so good on Louisville social media that everyone was talking about a squirrel that had just run the field looking like it had scored a touchdown. Touchdown squirrel was trending in Louisville. That was on September 23rd.

A few days later it started to circulate that the squirrel had probably died from the trauma of his big moment. Then on September 29th just six days after a cute little squirrel had been the talk of the town reports surfaced that the Louisville Basketball program and its Hall of Fame coach had been named in an FBI probe of College Hoops. Only the University of Louisville could go from cute little squirrel to FBI probe in just six days. It was stunning.

Forget a black cat running across your path. If a squirrel crosses your path be ready for the bad luck to follow. Since that damn squirrel, it has been one thing after the next for the athletic program. Pitino fired, Jurich fired Jurich’s son fired, and now the BOT is in shambles.

Things couldn’t have gone any worse for the basketball program. Hype gone, Coaching staff gutted, prize recruits gone, but wait a minute. This team is showing some moxie, we are in 2nd place in the ACC… Could it be? Nope! Has a squirrel run across your path lately? The bottom appears to be dropping out again. NCAA decision could be days away “who knows”, BOT drama at a new level of yuck, and the Basketball program is the newly appointed Bubble Team.

Oh, what did I do as a Louisville Basketball fan to deserve all of this? And now I get to spend the next three weeks in college basketball limbo. Live cut-ins with Joe Lunardi during our games breaking down our bid chances, being team one or two in those blind resume segments and being the butt of whatever clever NIT joke our rivals come up with. Why oh why?

Touchdown Squirrel to the College Basketball Bubble. Things can change quickly in college sports so I’m going to try and stay positive. Who knows… Maybe the basketball gods will finally stop kicking us in the nuts.

Stay away from squirrels.