1. Steven Jon Kragthorpe was an American college football head coach.
21 Facts About Steve Kragthorpe
1. 2.
Steve Kragthorpe served as the head coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane from 2003 through 2006 and the Louisville Cardinals from 2007 to 2009.
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Steve Kragthorpe played high school football with ESPN commentator Merril Hoge.
4.
Steve Kragthorpe was recruited by Bill Kelly to play at Eastern New Mexico University, where he played quarterback in 1983 and '84.
5.
Steve Kragthorpe started 11 games as a senior and completed 179-of-344 passes for 1,980 yards and nine TDs.
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Steve Kragthorpe earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1988 from West Texas State and received his MBA in 1989 from Oregon State University.
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Steve Kragthorpe then spent more than a decade as an assistant coach at several colleges.
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Steve Kragthorpe left in 1994 to join Matt Simon's coaching staff at the University of North Texas.
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Steve Kragthorpe served as quarterbacks coach in 1997 before replacing Steve Marshall as offensive coordinator in 1998.
10.
In 2001, Steve Kragthorpe left the collegiate ranks to become quarterback coach under head coach Gregg Williams for the Buffalo Bills.
11.
Steve Kragthorpe coached quarterback Drew Bledsoe during one of Bledsoe's better seasons in the NFL.
12.
In 2003, Steve Kragthorpe took over his first head coaching position, succeeding Keith Burns at the University of Tulsa.
13.
Steve Kragthorpe took over the University of Louisville vacancy on January 9,2007.
14.
Steve Kragthorpe replaced former head coach, and fellow Montanan, Bobby Petrino, who agreed to serve as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
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Steve Kragthorpe's contract was a 1.1 million dollar a year contract for five years.
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In 2007, Steve Kragthorpe carried around a baseball bat in an attempt to motivate his players to become "Better After Today" and placed mousetraps around the locker room in another effort at motivation.
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Steve Kragthorpe opened his second season at Louisville with very low expectations.
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Steve Kragthorpe lost to Syracuse in back to back seasons, giving Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson two of his three Big East wins as a head coach.
19.
Steve Kragthorpe remained as quarterbacks coach through the 2012 season.
20.
Steve Kragthorpe's brother, Kurt, is a sports columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune; their father, Dave Kragthorpe, was a college football coach, most notably at Oregon State.
21.
Steve Kragthorpe died from complications of the disease on August 4,2024, at the age of 59.