Louisville head coach Charlie Strong has taken pride in the past in not having an agent.
And he apparently wants to make sure his players don’t have one while they’re under his control, either.
According to Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated, Strong sent a letter to agents threatening to eliminate their access to his players in the future if they didn’t listen.
“I will cut [the agents] off if they continue to contact them,” Strong said. “At the end of season, I will make sure you have no chance to represent our players. Not that I’m being arrogant, but I want to put a statement out there: You continue to mess with our players, this is what we’re going to do.”
He is also instructing his players to report any contact to him or his director of football operations.
It’s good to know he’s teaching his players how to make good decisions on their own.
“I don’t want any contact until the end of the season,” Strong said. “We’re just trying to do it right. I don’t want [players] to feel like I’m keeping them from talking to an agent. But I don’t know why now, there’s nothing an agent can do for them now.”
Strong’s chest-puffing is well-intentioned, and timely, as he has a good roster headlined by quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
But it’s ultimately meaningless.
The agents who are willing to circumvent the rules as they pertain to recruiting college players aren’t going to stop based on threats from a coach.
And while Strong can’t be naive enough to believe he can stop the tide of runners and associates from getting to his players, he’s apparently confident enough to think he can bully the agent community, which is too often used as an easy mark for a college system that’s no more virtuous.
