Now that it's all over....

I have held my tongue all season regarding the trials and tribulations of the University of Louisville football team. Now that the campaign has come to its inglorious end, however, I no longer feel the need to remain silent.

Here, then, are a few observations:

• Hunter Cantwell is not who we thought he was. The guy has a National Football League body, with the NFL arm to match, but his other quarterbacking skills appear somewhat short of that level. He has not shown an adequate ability to read defenses, he tends to radar-lock on his primary receiver, and on short balls past the line of scrimmage he has the touch of a blacksmith. Truthfully, he was a lot better QB when he was the second-stringer and had Harry Douglas, Mario Urrutia and Gary Barnidge to throw to.
• The best addition between the 2007 and '08 seasons was defensive coordinator Ron English. Coach English put the teeth back into a defensive unit that barely could stop a rumor until late in '07. Until injuries and lack of support from the offense and special teams took their toll, the Cards' defense was among the nation's best. With many of the key players back next season, U of L should still do a creditable job of stopping opponents.
• Firing Steve Kragthorpe is absolutely not the answer. If U of L athletic director Tom Jurich accedes to the wishes of the noisiest part of the fan base and shows Kragthorpe the door, he loses all credibility as a boss the next coach can trust. Cardinal fans became spoiled after John L. Smith and Bobby Petrino guided U of L to nine consecutive bowl appearances, and the howling for Kragthorpe's head began even before his career-opening loss at Kentucky. It is not responsible to fire a coach after only two years unless he (or she) gets the school in hot water with the NCAA. Kragthorpe is cleaning up a mess not of his making, and he deserves at least one more year to start righting the ship. Of course, beating UK next year would be a good first step.
• Award-winning kicker Art Carmody's graduation left a bigger hole than anyone could have imagined before the season. From '04 through '07, crossing the opponent's 35-yard line meant a virtually automatic three points, provided the offense didn't get a stupid penalty or cough up the ball. This year, no reliable kicker emerged; consequently, the offense was forced into going for a disproportionate number of fourth-down pickups, far too many of which failed.
• Depth is a major issue. Kragthorpe needs more bodies, and recruiting junior-college players is not the long-term solution. U of L must re-establish the Florida pipeline it once had, as well as signing more of the best in-state prospects. Though it may be tempting to plug every hole possible with a juco signee, the downside risk is too great. You need a core of veterans to keep a program steady, and the best way to do that is with high-school signees who work their way up through the ranks.
• Louisville fans need to quickly develop some perspective. U of L is not Notre Dame, Michigan or Alabama; the Cards do not have enough of a history of gridiron success for their fans to expect a major bowl game every season. (Of late, even those three powerhouses have fallen on hard times, so why should the Cards be immune?) Though ticket buyers expect value for their money, it is delusional to expect U of L to run roughshod over the Big East year after year.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm extremely disappointed by this season, especially the way it ended. I don't believe, however, that it's time to jump into full-blown panic mode. What's called for, instead, is that no-longer-in-vogue virtue -- patience.