Kragthorpe's Long Awaited Goodbye

I think we can all agree that we had waited for Saturday's events for probably the last two years (some have waited the entire three years), so when the inevitable occured following the season nobody was surprised or really saddened. Then, news came out on Sunday night, that Kragthorpe would be holding a press conference of his own on Monday; immediately I wondered why he would do this? Hearing nothing bad about the man himself in three years, I didn't necessarily expect him to speak poorly on the program or the fans, but after the fan reaction to him over the past three years I didn't think he would want to offer a goodbye.

Mr. Kragthorpe took the high road on Monday, offering up only good things to say about UofL, the fans, the administration, and the players whom he ran out on the field with weekly. Some highlights of the press conference -

• "I don't leave here bitter, I leave here better"
• Krag said he'd been offered 3 different coaching jobs, including an offensive coordinator position for a BCS conference team.
• "I'll always be a resource for them" - referring to how he'll still be there for the players, in any way they need him to be.
• Kragthorpe did mention that his best moments at Louisville were moments that nobody got to see; the practices, one on one relationships with the players, etc.
• A highlight for him was the South Florida victory last year
• Losses to UK will haunt him forever
• "I wish I would have won more games"
• Krag also mentioned that he thought 3 years wasn't enough time for a coach building a program, but that he completely understood.
• Made mention again to the "microwave society" and the fact that fans want to win now, and there is little patience.
• He also mentioned his wife was diagnosed recently with an unspecified illness, our thoughts and prayers are with her and the rest of the Kragthorpe family.
• Family will be moving back to Tulsa on Sunday.

In case you want to watch the full press conference, and I'm sure I missed a few things, check it out here on the Courier-Journal website.

Overall I was pleased to see Kragthorpe take the high road, leaving on a good note, and not taking any shots at the fans, university, or administration. Not that I expected him to do any of those things, but you never know. I still couldn't help but wonder why schedule the press conference, it was pointless and unnecessary. I get it, he wanted to say goodbye and get his side of the story across, but did any of us really care to hear it? I know I didn't, and most of the people I spoke with didn't care to hear his opinions either.

Now a press conference I would've liked to have seen - Krag getting up in front of a group of fans (not media) and fielding questions. This would never happen, but you can't fault a man for having a dream, can you? Anybody close to Krag who would like to help make this happen, contact me immediately.