Win at All Costs?

Charlie Strong is being viewed as the savior of Cardinal football. But are the players he is getting true to his promise of integrity?

Many University of Louisville football fans are becoming quite excited at the new recruits that head coach Charlie Strong is getting to commit to Louisville. His two biggest gets have been two defensive studs Demar Dorsey and Jordan Campbell. These two players are some of the biggest defensive names in college football defense. Demar Dorsey was originally committed to Michigan but was denied admission and Jordan Campbell was a member of the USC Trojans until USC was spanked with severe penalties due to the Reggie Bush scandal. But there is more to Jordan Campbell's story than that.

Demar Dorsey: Dorsey was the 12th ranked prospect in the country but was denied admissions by Michigan. The University will not release exactly why he was denied but one can assume the reasoning. Dorsey was arrested twice as a juvenile for burglary and one of those times he used a deadly weapon. Dorsey admitted his involvement but was not convicted due to the fact that he was a minor and his attorneys made a plea deal that involved community service and "alternative programs", whatever that means. Coach Strong's former team Florida stopped recruiting Dorsey because of his off the field trouble.

Jordan Campbell: Jordan Campbell was envisioned to be the next coming of Troy Polamalu and Rey Maliuga at USC. He is now transferring to the University of Louisville supposedly because of the sanctions handed down to the Trojans by the NCAA. But if you dig a little deeper, Campbell has had some trouble in Southern California. He was arrested in Nantucket, Massachusetts for "breach of the peace" in 2009. I am assuming that means he got drunk and was loud and disorderly. Perhaps a fight was involved, perhaps not. Besides, what the hell was a kid from California doing in MA? Also, Campbell was on the verge of being kicked off the team as recently as April 2010. He missed the early part of USC's spring practice because of missing classes, tutoring sessions and breaking team rules. Coach Lane Kiffin would not specify exactly how Campbell got to the point of almost being kicked off of the team. He was also just suspended again after spring practice due to the same mysterious reasons. There seems to be more reasons for Campbell leaving USC than just sanctions.

These are familiar waters for the Cardinal football program. Willie Williams is the first name that comes to mind. Williams was a huge recruit and landed in Miami until it was revealed that he had been arrested 11 times. The infamous U told him to take a hike. He then transferred to Louisville where he was later dismissed from the team for multiple reasons. Another Louisville football player, Rod Council, was arrested in 2008 for robbing a gas station in North Carolina. He was kicked off the team.

Bobby Petrino won at UofL and even brought an Orange Bowl victory to the school. He was known for getting these types of troubled players to come play for Louisville when other top tier programs would pass on them because of academic reasons or because of criminal records. The Petrino era was known for two things: winning and trouble off the field.

When Kragthorpe came in as coach the players were not getting in as much trouble but he was a loser, plain and simple. Gone were the days of winning bowl games and being ranked in the top 25. He ran a clean program but not a winning program. He was fired after 3 dismal seasons and rightfully so.

Louisville then hired Charlie Strong, a guy seen as someone that would right the sinking ship. He was the defensive coordinator for Urban Myer at Florida and was there when they won 2 national titles. He knows the SEC and is an expert recruiter. There is a difference between coaching at UofL and coaching at Florida: 1). Louisville plays in the Big (L)east not the SEC; 2). Your top recruits are not looking at UofL as a serious contender.

Strong has realized that he has to stoop to the levels that Petrino did in order to get the caliber players that it takes to win consistently. All of Strong's talk of integrity and doing it the right way may have to take a back seat for the first few seasons that it takes to establish the program to it's once brief but illustrious heights.

Cardinal fans find themselves in a similar situation that Kentucky fans were in when Bill G was fired. Many Cardinal faithful proclaimed that UK had sold their souls to the devil when John Calipari was hired. Many fans also said that Kentucky was a program that would "win at all costs" meaning that it didn't matter the integrity of the coach or the players as long as the program was winning.

Now it looks as if those words have come back to bite those Louisville fans that were so quick to criticize Kentucky. Those fans that cried about DeMarcus Cousins being a thug and that John Wall was a menace to society for going into a vacated home and receiving a citation. Those fans that called out Eric Bledsoe for being a hothead and that were the first to cry "I told you so" when there were questions about his eligibility.

So, Louisville fans, is it OK that Charlie Strong is bringing in two guys that have had run-ins on the wrong side of the law, one having had multiple suspensions from his other team, one player being told "no thanks" by two premier football schools due to his off the field behavior? Because if you are OK with this then I no longer want to hear about Calipari doing what it takes to win, not caring about the integrity of the kids he recruits. DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Beldsoe are saints compared to Strong's new players. Neither one of those kids have a blemish on their legal records, juvenile or otherwise.

Let's just call this what it is: As long as the program is winning then words like integrity, clean and fair go right out the window. And that goes for both teams. Win at all costs, baby. Just don't be a hypocrite while doing it.