Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Louisville coach desperate for motivation
The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville coach John L. Smith is willing to go to extremes to get his team to play with more emotion than it did in a 45-31 loss to TCU last Saturday.
“I was even thinking of bringing in a chicken and biting its head off. I'm not opposed to that,” Smith said Monday at his weekly news conference.
In reality, Smith is worried it might take a lot more than gruesome stunts to motivate these Cardinals (4-3, 2-1 Conference USA). Louisville plays East Carolina (2-4, 2-0) on Saturday.
“Every team has its own personality. Some teams are just a joy,” Smith said. “A couple of years ago, I said, 'I don't know how many games we're going to win, but these guys are fun to be around.' They enjoyed practice and we really enjoyed them.
“This group is a little bit tougher from the standpoint of trying to motivate them, trying to get them to come out and get better every day.”
The Cardinals, preseason favorites to win their third straight conference title, took a major step backward against TCU, just 24 days after their 26-20 win over Florida State.
The Horned Frogs dominated from the opening kickoff, building a 38-6 halftime lead and handing lifeless Louisville its worst home loss since 1999.
Smith and the Cardinals had a humbling team meeting on Sunday.
“There were not a lot of smiles,” Smith said. “We talked about them taking a look at themselves. It boggles my mind that you only get a few snaps in your life. Why you would even waste a snap, let alone a game? Why you wouldn't go to the field and play with abandon and excitement and energy is just beyond me.
“It's like I told them: We have a group of givers, and then, there's a group of takers,” Smith said. “If you're one of the takers, and you're not giving anything, then you've got one or two things you can do: You can either move yourself into the other group, or we're going to eventually get rid of you.
“We hate to have to make those choices, but there's a small group there.”
Smith said he and his staff bear as much responsibility as his players for last weekend's performance.
“We have to do a better job. Apparently, we're not getting through,” Smith said. “When we sat down and talked about it after grading the film, every coach in that room said, 'I did a poor job preparing my guys.' They're searching for answers as well.
“The first thing you want to do is place blame somewhere. The first place you better look is in your own house.”
Smith conceded that he sensed in the spring that this team was going to have a difficult season.
“We struggled all spring, and we have continued to struggle in the fall,” Smith said. “I would've liked to have been in better shape than we are right now, no doubt. Realistically — I don't want to give you a number (of wins) — but I told my wife what that number was when we started that season.
“And I said, 'If you could give me that number at the end of the season, I would take it.' But I can't report that to you right now.”
Problems with an inexperienced and reshuffled offensive line resurfaced against TCU, but Smith was more disappointed with Louisville's defense, which gave up 27 first downs and 250 rushing yards, both season highs.
TCU's 45 points was the most ever scored by a league opponent at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Smith said he won't deviate from his usual practice schedule this week and won't make any wholesale lineup changes for Saturday's game.
He said the only challenge is finding a way to motivate his players.
“I told them yesterday, 'You guys are spoiled rotten, and we spoil you,”' Smith said. “You kick 'em in the tail, but gosh darn, you try to do everything you can for those kids, give them everything you can give them.
“But at some point, you want the most out of them. They are your kids. You still have to show them love. We're never afraid to kick 'em in the tail. But we have to all look in the mirror and kick ourselves in the tail a little bit.”
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Louisville coach desperate for motivation 
