Hunter Cantwell never expected to get this far.
As a walk-on quarterback at Louisville four years ago, Cantwell was an afterthought in a recruiting class that included hometown hero Brian Brohm. During that torturous first training camp, Cantwell's goals were modest: make the team, walk into Cardinal Stadium wearing a uniform, maybe see enough game action to earn a letter. "Just to dress, just to be on the sidelines wasn't something that was supposed to happen for me,"
he said. "Just to be part of this team is a blessing."
In his wildest dreams, the lanky kid from western Kentucky never expected this: being the leader of a team looking for redemption after a season gone wrong at 6-6.
Yet here Cantwell is, four years after those wide-eyed first practices, three years after he proved he could play at this level, nearly two years after he started his last game, finally in the spotlight.
OFFENSE
About a decade ago, when a 6-6 record from the previous season led to staff shakeups, Steve Kragthorpe was brought in as part of the solution. He hopes he has the answers this time, too. In 1997, his first year as wide receivers coach at Texas A&M, the Aggies made it to the Big 12 Conference title game and played in the Cotton Bowl.
Now as the U of L head coach, Kragthorpe is a long way from College Station, but a .500 season rings universal in college football. At the end of last season he set out to change the culture of his program. That included revamping his coaching staff. Jeff Brohm replaced Charlie Stubbs, who had been Kragthorpe's offensive coordinator for five years, including four at Tulsa.
Kragthorpe put his disciplinary stamp on the team by dismissing George Stripling and JaJuan Spillman and, most recently, suspending redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Simms for four games.
Most of Kragthorpe's changes were more subtle. He wanted to make sure the team carried out activities collectively and not individually. "From a running standpoint, we didn't do that by group; we did it as a team,"
he said. "We're going to have to build a great football team. The way you do that is spend time with each other."
The only way to shut up critics, though, is to win. That means Cantwell must live up to the potential he showed as a backup.
Who will be his targets? Scott Long is out with a broken bone in his left foot, and Trent Guy only recently returned to practice after suffering a gunshot wound July 5. That leaves Chris Vaughn, who had two catches last year, as the top receiver returning.
DEFENSE
The defense is working on limiting the big plays that plagued it a year ago. The Cards allowed 416.5 yards and 31.4 points per game.
Kragthorpe's new assistants include defensive line coach Ken Delgado, linebackers coach Bill Miller and cornerbacks coach Eric Lewis. Mark Nelson, who coached the line last season, is the only defensive coach still around, and he now coaches special teams.
Kragthorpe brought in Ron English, who spent the past six seasons at Michigan, to take over as defensive coordinator. English was the Wolverines' coordinator in 2006 and '07, when they ranked 10th and 24th nationally in total defense.
The Cards have experience on the defensive line and in the secondary, but no linebacker has started a game for them. A few junior-college transfers, including Antwon Canady and John Dempsey, have been plugged into the position.
The Cards vow to be more physical as a defensive unit. They're using the memories of last season's failures as motivation.
"Everybody was looking at that last year like we were a joke and a team to be laughed at,"
sophomore linebacker Brandon Heath said. "But this year we have a new coach and a new mentality on defense, so we're going to see Aug. 31 (the opener against UK) how it does."
