By WILL GRAVES
AP Sports Writer
Charlie Strong isn’t the kind of guy who leaves things to chance.
The coach charged with restoring Louisville to the glory of its not-so distant past is a stickler for details, monitoring everything from the number of available towels in the locker room to where his players park their cars.
Strong’s meticulousness has instilled a renewed sense of discipline at Louisville, keeping the Cardinals on their toes and delighting a fan base turned off by the decidedly more relaxed  and ultimately unsuccessful  approach of former coach Steve Kragthorpe.
Still, after eight months of sweating the small stuff, even Strong isn’t so sure about some of the big stuff, like what kind of team he’s got on his hands heading into Saturday’s Governor’s Cup showdown with Kentucky.
“I just don’t know who we are right now,†Strong said. “We’re searching for an identity.â€Â
A certain air of mystery may not necessarily be a bad thing, particularly for a team coming off its worst season since 1997.
Strong brings in a new coaching staff, one that features Louisville’s fourth offensive and defensive coordinators in as many seasons.
Former UNLV coach Mike Sanford will bring the spread offense he perfected under Urban Meyer at Utah in 2003-04. Former Florida secondary coach Vance Bedford will partner with Strong to help a defense that ranked 91st in the country last year.
It has sent Kentucky coach Joker Phillips to the film vault trying to figure out what to expect in a series the Wildcats have dominated in recent years. Kentucky has won three straight over its archrival, swinging the balance of power in the state firmly back to Lexington.
“We’ve got to be mentally prepared for a lot of different things,†Phillips said. “It’s just been a pretty difficult team to prepare for.â€Â
Well, not entirely.
Phillips has spent enough time watching Strong’s talented defenses at Florida have its way with the Wildcats over the last seven seasons to know what to expect whenever Kentucky has the ball.
“It’s going to be a blitz-o-rama,†Phillips said. “He’ll be blitzing as soon as he comes out of the locker room. It’s just what they do.â€Â
Even if the Cardinals won’t do it with the same kind of athletes Strong had at Florida. That’s the least of his worries at the moment.
He knows his teams lacks depth and size. He can work on that. Right now, he’d like to see some confidence. It’s a rare commodity in a program that has gone 15-21 since winning the Orange Bowl four seasons ago.
“What these players have heard (for years) is ’You’re not very good, you can’t do this, you can’t do that,â€Â’ Strong said. “It’s a confidence thing with them now because we have nothing to show for it.â€Â
5 Responses to Strong: “I don’t know who we are”
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Thanks for a fine piece, Mr. Graves. Also, I have always been impressed with what I’ve read and seen from Charlie Strong. Learning that Coach Strong is Coach Phillips’ friend adds to that respect. If Strong were a head coach somewhere other than at our rival, I’d likely be pulling for him every game — unless our Cats were playing his team, of course.
As it is, though, Coach Strong is only the coach of our rival that competes against us for recruits, besides on the field in games. Strong speaks of concern about his team’s lack of confidence here. From reading in the CJ I’ve seen, instead, a lot of confidence from his players, particularly on offense. Too, part of that is confidence instilled by Coach Strong himself, to his credit. May our Cats be ready to beat a team that thinks it can beat us (regardless of Strong’s words here and regardless of the past three years’ outcomes).
The game could be close in the first half but I expect the depth of UK to win in the end. Looking for a 7 piont or better victory. If Hartline is on it could be a blowout. If he is just managing the game it could be close!
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. GO BLUE AND SPANK THE dirty birds! ! !
Put me in the UKFMLY camp about this game. Vegas says this is a Field Goal game. Sagarin’s preseason ratings says it is closer than that, both giving UK a very slight edge in the end. My analyses give UK an advantage ranging from 2 to 18 points, and as I have posted, I expected the game to end up with about an 11 point UK margin of victory.
As we discussed elsewhere at Vaughts Views in recent days, many UK fans say they expect UK to win by 3 touch downs or more on Saturday. I hope they are right because if they are right it means many good things about and for this UK team.
Coach Strong says he does not know who his team is. Well, I think that is coach speech for I don’t know whether my team is going to respond to the challenges that the coach has laid in front of them regarding this game against UK. I fully expect Strong’s team to respond on Saturday with everything they have to give. That is why a game extended to the last possession will not be a surprise to me any more than a 17 point win. However, if UK is able to go into Papa Johns and control the game to the extent that they leave with a 3 TD or better margin, I will be very impressed with Joker’s first game out of the gate.
Both of these teams have a lot at stake in this opener, and it will be an all out war in my opinion.
Think it will be close, but I think UK will win
Charlie wants an identity for his team… I have one… LITTLE BROTHER!
Let’s turn Pappa’s Pepperoni Bird House into a Cat House on Saturday! GO BIG BLUE!!!
If your heart is not on Planet Blue, your head is in Uranus.