Louisville establishing recruiting footprint in Bi-City

The last football fans in the state of Georgia heard from current Louisville coach Bobby Petrino was a four-sentence letter telling the Atlanta Falcons he had resigned for the greener pastures of Fayettville, Arkansas.

That was in Dec. 2007 after compiling a 3-10 record in the first of a five-year contract with the Falcons. Four years, four months and one motorcycle crash later, Petrino was out of a job at Arkansas and left with road-rash — and the proverbial egg — on his face. Since then, he spent a year at Western Kentucky in 2013 before signing a seven-year contract to return to the program he coached from 2003-2006.

Current Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s exit from the University of Georgia wasn’t quite as dramatic, but fans around the area were nonetheless left with a similarly sour taste in their mouths.

And yet, on Wednesday’s national signing day, those two will ink a pair of major defensive recruits from the Bi-City when Carver defensive back Khane Pass and Smiths Station linebacker Amonte Caban put pen to paper. They already snagged the player ESPN.com named the No. 7 impact freshman for 2015, former Central athlete Traveon Samuel, who signed in November. Carver’s Mekhi Brown has flirted with the idea of flipping his commitment to the Cardinals from Alabama, and Carver junior quarterback Jawon Pass, Khane’s brother, has Louisville listed among his top five.

Louisville’s current class features three others from Alabama and three from Georgia.

It’s easy to see why Louisville would be attracted to the players from the area. Both states have a reputation for putting out strong athletes, and the success of southern college programs over the past decade and a half illustrates that point.

Khane Pass smiled as he described the allure of the area’s players.

“They say down-south boys can go get it,” he said. “So, yeah, they like it down here.”

Former Hardaway player Marcus Smith did plenty to increase the confidence in the area during his three years with the Cardinals, too. He notched 24 career sacks, including 14.5 in 2013. He was a first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles after his junior season.

The bigger question is how those coaches made Louisville a player in the competitive recruiting territory of SEC powers like Alabama, Auburn and Georgia.

To a man, each of the Bi-City’s signees said it was, in fact, the coaching. Caban tossed around words like “humble” to describe the situation with the Cardinals.

“How humble they are and what their plan is for the future,” he said when asked why he chose them. “They’ve got great coaches. I connected with everybody there.”

And, as to past negative reputations?

“I just look at what he’s got going on now,” Caban said. “I don’t care what anybody else thinks because half of them out there don’t know what they’re talking bout. They only know what they hear. If you aren’t in the locker room or in the weight room, then you can’t really talk. I’m behind those guys 110 percent.”

Khane Pass gave a similar description. He said the coaches were making the transition comfortable. Even though he knows the coach-player relationship will be different once he joins the program, for now he said Petrino is a laid back guy who makes him feel like he has a home.

“I love Coach Petrino,” he said. “He’s a laid back guy right now. I know that’ll change when I get up there, but right now he just makes me feel comfortable.”

On the field, there’s plenty of reason for those two, as well as the other recruits, to be excited. Louisville ranked first in total defense in 2013 and sixth in 2014, its first season under Grantham. On the other side of the ball, Petrino has long been known for producing potent offenses, and players like Samuel and Jawon Pass would likely be showcased.

Off the field, Petrino has done well to convince parents of the importance placed on academics and graduation.

“They sold me on how they’re going to treat my son and how they’re going to look out for him and make sure he gets what he needs,” said Barbara Caban, Amonte’s mother. “I was really impressed by that. They’re really big on education and graduating with a degree. Football is big, but they want him to get that degree.”

The numbers support that assessment. Louisville finished with an academic progress rate of 947 the year before Petrino was hired, sixth in the nation, and will likely exceed the 935 threshold to earn the coach a $500,000 bonus for the 2013-14 academic year.

Despite the perception change, the coaches haven’t been without controversy. On Monday, less than 48 hours before signing day, coaches pulled a scholarship offer from South Carolina’s Mr. Football, running back Matt Colburn, who committed to the Cardinals last June. Dutch Fork High coaches have barred Louisville from the campus for the time being.

The situation doesn’t faze Caban.

“I just like the program,” he said. “A championship is everybody’s plan, but for their first year in the ACC last year, they did well. From here on out, they’re just going to get better. I believe in that system. Everybody needs to believe in their system.”

And, as for the future, the current crop of players believes they have a foundation set that could keep Louisville prominent in the area for years to come.

Both Khane Pass and Caban said they planned to continue to recruit their teammates, including Jawon Pass, who is currently one of the highest rated at his position for the Class of 2016.

“I just tell them let’s continue to play together,” Pass said of his recruiting pitch. “We’re teammates, I’d love to get everybody up there. I know we could do great things.”

“I believe this year was a big year,” Caban said. “Recruits now will probably look up there more in the future. Who knows, we’ll have to see.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2015 at 7:16 PM with the headline "Louisville establishing recruiting footprint in Bi-City."