Football in Kentucky, by Lee Corso
September 1972
Editor’s Note: In recent years, football has seemed to be gaining popularity in Kentucky. We thought it would be interesting to learn how the state’s football program compared with that of other states. We asked University of Louisville Head Football Coach Lee Corso, a relatively new Kentuckian who has brought national recognition and rating to the team of one of our major universities, for his evaluation. Here is his answer.
In a discussion of football, it is imperative that the reader understand that there are many, many values to be derived from the game. Football, and athletics in general like life, involves tremendous competition. It’s man vs. man. Success vs. failure. Constantly up and down. It’s one of the greatest learning experiences a young man can have.
The young man participating in football learns many lessons about life which can be learned only in a competitive, contact sport like football. These lessons include such things as the importance of personal sacrifice and dedication to a worthwhile cause (victory). Football teaches respect — both mental and physical — for an opponent. Perhaps most important of all, it teaches young men how to live and work together as each one contributes to the efforts of a team composed of men of different creeds, colors, religious backgrounds, nationalities or whatever. This is all in the true American spirit as envisioned by the forefathers of our nation.
Football has also been found to be a deterent to drug abuse, a problem that is now raging in some of our communities. Concerning a recent Court case in Savannah, Georgia, the following statements were made: “In his presentation to the jury, Haupt (Savannah attorney) showed figures where the Savannah school system had spent upwards to $90,000 on an anti-drug program. Armed with facts that no student-athlete was among the 40 per cent which admittedly had used drugs, he was able to convince the jury ‘that athletics can motivate students away from the stuff and do it cheaper.’ Secondly, Savannah schools had been experiencing 15 percent dropouts. Over a five-year period, it was revealed that no student, boy or girl, active in sports was among the number.”
Another value of football is its effect upon the community. A good football team can bring a community together as well as any other community activity. The best example of this that I know is the reaction of the community of Louisville, Kentucky, to the University of Louisville football team. In the last three years, the community has used the football team as a symbol of growth and dedication to being the best. It was that kind of community spirit that helped us do two so-called “impossibles” — fill stands that had never been filled with enthusiastic people and take the championship away from the city of Memphis in 1970 on “Beat Memphis Day” when the University of Louisville won its first football championship in history. Yea, team! Now, the city has started to move toward being the best in other areas as well. This same thing can be done with a rural community, a town, a city, and even the state of Kentucky.
Right now, Kentucky high school football is above average in quality but lacks the quantity of many of our larger states. The fact is that many states have more high school football teams because they have more high schools. Since those other states have more teams, and thus more players, the percentages are in favor of them having a larger number of skilled players. One on one, Kentucky high school football is as good as any anywhere.
Not only that, high school football in Kentucky is about to explode into an excellent program. The reason is this: the new 50,000 seat University of Kentucky stadium and the eventual building of Kentucky to be a dominant force in the Southeastern Conference. That stadium is going to help football all over the state.
It has been proven in athletics that the stadium is first. The players will come to the stadium. The players make a better team that brings in a championship. The championship brings more people into the stadiums to produce more revenue to help get more scholarships and more players. That’s called the athletic circle of success.
On the college level, the University of Kentucky represents, by its name if nothing else, almost the entire state. This makes it the most important school for bringing national recognition to the state. Everything should be done to continue building Kentucky’s football program to be the very best because, you see, our team at the University of Louisville and all the regional universities throughout the state will grow along with it. There is room in Kentucky for a Southeastern Conference championship along with the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley championship teams now being produced in our great state.
Football is on its way in the state of Kentucky. I am proud to be part of trying to help make it the very best within the academic and financial resources available.
