That South Florida loss made me feel for Louisville, but not enough to seriously cheer for them in their game against Rutgers. They won, but I was indifferent towards their victory. I had already heard rumbles of “Kragthorpe out,” and my vindictive, slightly evil self thought that’s what he deserves for running out on Tulsa.

But Steve Kragthorpe did two things that shocked me and proved my incredible idiocy. He showed guts by staying, instead of running to the inviting SMU. Then he fired/resigned his offensive and defensive coordinator.

I was stunned by Kragthorpe’s show of commitment to the Cardinals by staying and by actively taking steps to improve the team for next year. It was like scales dropping from my eyes.

I went back and read the articles about Louisville’s program, and when looked at in an unbiased manner, it looks like Steve Kragthorpe is trying to clean up Louisville. The dismissals and suspensions, the firings, the staying put at Louisville; Kragthorpe wants to run the program his way, and unfortunately that took a year of upheaval to start.

I admire that amount of guts. Kragthorpe has persevered through pundits heckling him, fans wanting his departure, and me silently putting the jinx on his season.

Next season is going to be interesting, with Brian Brohm leaving, new coordinators and a lot to prove to the Louisville fans. But by tossing the bad apples in the players and the coaching staff, I think that Kragthorpe has established that he won’t put up with crap. I sincerely hope that he is able to do a bang-up job at Louisville with his team the way he wants it.

I know I’ll be rooting for Louisville (in addition to Tulsa) next year. Even more than that, I’ll be rooting for Steve Kragthorpe. He’s earned it from me, bit by bit in this crazy season.