A name that's been mentioned for the soon-to-be vacant head football job at Carolina is that of Tulsa head Coach Steve Kragthorpe.
He's in his fourth year at Tulsa and led them to the Conference USA Championship last season. Currently, Tulsa is 6-1, including a lopsided 31-10 win against East Carolina in Greenville.
The 41-year-old Kragthorpe is considered one of the nation's top up-and-coming coaches. ESPN analyst Craig James told the Tulsa World that he believes Kragthorpe is capable of coaching at any major college in the country. He says that Kragthorpe carries himself with an aura of confidence, not cockiness.
James told that paper: "I believe, in my conversations with him, that he's happy at Tulsa and that he's a smart man that will not go hang himself at another school that's perceived to be bigger."
Now, Kragthorpe recently signed a six-year contract that runs through the 2011 football season. He's very well thought of at Tulsa. There's even a booster-driven "Keep Kragthorpe Campaign" that hopes to raise $1.5 million over the next three years for the coach and his assistants.
It appears that nobody associated with Tulsa, including Kragthorpe, is excited about Carolina speculation at this stage of the season.
Kragthorpe told the Tulsa World about the Carolina talk: "That's all conjecture, It comes with the territory. It's just rumors." He added: "I haven't had any contact ( with North Carolina). I haven't talked with them."
Then again, the way that works, he wouldn't talk directly with Carolina anyway. It's like his people would talk to their people. You know how that goes.
Of course, it's early in the process, and there're a lot of names out there, including Tulsa Coach Steve Kragthorpe. The big question that is out there: Is he interested in Carolina, and is Carolina interested in him?
