Louisville's First-Year Head Coach Makes a Strong First Impression

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Less than 24 hours after Florida's SEC championship game loss to Alabama in December, UF defensive coordinator Charlie Strong opened the front door to his Gainesville, Fla., home and welcomed two guests inside.

Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich and his son, Mark, associate director for development at UL, shook hands with Strong, walked in and were introduced to Strong's family.

Tom Jurich immediately cut to the chase.

"Let's figure out how we're going to fix this thing," Jurich said. "You're my coach at Louisville. Now let's do the interview."

Strong and his family erupted in tears of joy.

The tears washed away years of disappointment, hurt and frustration.

Like the disappointment of interviewing for past head coaching jobs at the University of California, East Carolina, Kansas, Minnesota and Vanderbilt only to hear, "Sorry Charlie, we decided to go in another direction." Or the anger of knowing he was interviewed only because the school was required to bring in an African-American candidate. Or the frustration knowing he never really had a chance because he was a black man married to a white woman and the search committees and university presidents, who hire the coaches, privately frown on that combination. Or the embarrassment of learning from a friend that Minnesota had already decided to hire Tim Brewster -- while Strong was still en route to interview with Minnesota officials.

All those memories engulfed him like a tsunami. The only thing 50-year-old Charlie Strong could do was cry.

"No doubt, it was a special moment," Strong told FanHouse. "You sit there and he (Jurich) walks in and says, 'You're my guy.' There was no hidden agenda. He was straightforward."

After 27 years as an assistant, including nine seasons as defensive coordinator at Florida (2005-09) and South Carolina (1999-02), Strong finally got his chance.

And, oh, the ironies of all ironies: This time Strong got the job before he interviewed.

"I told him it's your job, now let's have the interview," Jurich said. "I didn't need to interview him. I had already talked to a thousand people about him -- seriously, a thousand. I knew everything about him I needed to know.

"I knew he had come off a stressful night (in the SEC title loss). I told him, 'I want to see you in your environment with your family. I don't want any dog and pony show. I don't want any manuals or books. It's a Sunday afternoon, I want to sit down with you and your family and be comfortable.' I didn't want him to put up a front."

Putting up a front is not something one has to worry about when dealing with Strong. He is genuine and brutally honest -- almost to a fault -- as Cardinal fans learned in May during his appearance at the Cardinal Caravan, a booster function.

"When the game starts, I know the fans like to party -- which is great -- but when the game starts, (the team) would love for the fans to be in their seats," Strong told the crowd. "But in order for them to be in their seats, (I told the team) we have to put a good product on the field and we make have to make sure we give them something to be proud about.

"What I'd like to see happen is when you walk into the stadium, you can feel the intensity ... you know we're going to put a product on the field and we're going to play our balls off."

"Playing our balls off" might not have the same ring as "Win one for the Gipper," but Strong has had quite an impact in Louisville.

Two weeks ago at UL's football kickoff luncheon, a record crowd of 1,420 jammed inside a ballroom at the downtown Marriott. The school has already sold more than 40,000 season tickets, a record number despite last year's 4-8 record, for the newly expanded Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

"People in Louisville are more excited this year than coming off the Orange Bowl four years ago," Mark Jurich said. "People are juiced up all around the city."

No one more so than Strong now that he's finally got his first head coaching job. Mark Jurich said Strong has spoken to "every group you can imagine" throughout the area.

Also on at least three occasions this summer, Strong drove to a different destination in the city to interact with fans. One time, he stopped by a Kroger supermarket, another time a park: just Strong, a Sharpie and a hundred or so UL posters. Strong showed up unannounced and stayed until all the posters -- and fans -- were gone.

Strong, a three-time finalist for the Frank Broyles award given to the nation's top assistant coach, realizes the challenge ahead. The Cardinals have lost 16 of their past 21 Big East games, including a 2-12 record the past two seasons.

"More than anything with this group is just trying to find that identity," Strong said. "Who are we? When you walk in a room, you have to have a presence about you. I came from a program (at Florida) where you were expected to win and go compete for a national championship. That was expected of you.

"Some of these guys are here because they were here four years ago when this program goes and wins the Orange Bowl and then you take a drop fast. It happened so fast. It's more of a confidence issue with these guys."

The Cardinals, who return 15 starters, have experienced some excruciating losses, including losing 10 games the past three years by single digits.

"When you come from a losing program, they don't believe they can win," Strong said. "In order for that to change, you have to win some games. When you win, they believe in everything you're teaching them. So I can tell them, 'I told you this was going to happen. We did it like that guys, you can see the change coming.'

"What's going to happen, you're going to get some adversity and something bad is going to happen. Then they're thinking, 'OK, here we go, the same thing from last year.' You've got to teach them to fight that. It's a mental issue. It's a physical issue. We have to learn to fight through those things."

One such example is the lack of respect for the Cardinals' program. After the Big East's media poll was released earlier this month, Strong immediately had UL's weight room decorated with about a dozen signs that read: "Louisville picked to finish last in the Big East."

"I've been picked first a lot, but never been picked last," Strong said. "You can take that and use it for your team: 'this is what they think of you guys.' People can say and think whatever they want in the beginning. But the great thing about football is you have a chance to go prove who you are. They can pick us wherever they want. At the end of the day, we'll make that decision who we really are."

On Saturday afternoon, a sold-out Papa John's Cardinal Stadium crowd of more than 55,000 will be a witness to history. For the first time, a college football game in the state of Kentucky will feature two African-American head coaches -- Strong and Kentucky's Joker Phillips.

Strong and Phillips are close friends and worked together as assistants at South Carolina. Both realize the significance of the game.

"Society is so color conscious, so a lot is going to be made about it," Strong said. "Because you have two African-American coaches in the state of Kentucky, we expect a lot will be said about it. There's not much else you can say. It is a big deal."

Since that emotional celebration in December, Jurich said Strong has already exceeded his expectations.

"First of all, the way he's been brought up -- his great work ethic and he's a very good people person," Jurich said. "I think he has an incredible passion for football and he's extremely genuine. That's what we need. He's also a great recruiter.

"He's already exceeded all my expectations. I'm not putting a time line (on turning the program around), but I think it will happen quickly. You look at everything he and his staff are doing from A to Z and just the passion they have. That's impressive.

"I don't know what that translates to in wins and losses this year, but I know one thing: we're on the right path."

For Strong it's been a long and winding path filled with disappointment and frustration. That is, until he found an athletic director with the backbone willing to take a Strong chance.

Brett McMurphy is a national college football writer for FanHouse. Contact him at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com or please follow on Twitter @BrettmcmurphY