At the initial meeting between University of Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich and new football coach Charlie Strong, they reached a quick agreement on coaching philosophy.
Jurich didn't want Strong to let his defensive expertise idle. Strong, who spent 11 years as defensive coordinator at South Carolina and Florida, didn't plan on letting it happen.
So instead of giving a yet-to-be-hired defensive coordinator full autonomy, Strong will take control.
“The one thing I said, and we both agreed on Sunday, is, ‘You're going to coach the defense,'”
Jurich said. “… He said, ‘No doubt about it; I'm a football coach.'”
The Cardinals' defense made incremental improvements over the past two seasons, going from allowing 31.4 points per game in 2007 to 26.2 this past season. Two years ago the Cards allowed 416.5 yards per game; this year they allowed 371.1.
Strong guided a Florida unit that ranked in the top 10 in the FBS in total defense three of the past four years. He probably will use a 4-3 alignment at UofL, as he did with the Gators. He said he wants to build an “aggressive, attacking defense.”
Sometimes the aggressive part comes from Strong himself. Asked to compare his style of coaching to the calm and cerebral approach of friend and former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, Strong said he gets a little more excited.
“I jump around a lot,”
he said. “You just have to know when those situations come about. I can be laid back, but I understand when it's time to get fiery, it's time to get fiery.”
Early in his career he spent a combined three seasons as wide receivers coach at Southern Illinois and Mississippi. You'd think from his time with Steve Spurrier at Florida in the early 1990s and observing Urban Meyer's spread offense, he might lean toward a pass-happy attack.
Quite the opposite. Strong believes in a solid ground game.
“I want to make sure we put a product on the field that's exciting and aggressive,”
he said. “… People talk about the spread, but you've got to be able to run the football also. You just can't go out there and spread it around without running.”
Especially not in the Big East Conference, where road games in October and November could involve weather not conducive to passing.
UofL rushed for just 125.2 yards per game this year, its lowest average since 2002 (106.7). Revamping the running game will depend on staying healthy, as the top three rushers — Victor Anderson, Darius Ashley and Bilal Powell — all missed games because of injuries.
Strong said running the ball is crucial not just for balance but to set a tone and give the team an identity.
“What running the ball allows you to do is to be an aggressive team and be a physical team,”
he said. “That's what we want to do. We want to be physical on offense, and we want to be physical on defense.”
