Louisville Cardinals football coach Charlie Strong isn't paying much attention to an NFL panel’s suggestion that he’d make a good candidate for a professional football coaching job.ESPN reports that an NFL advisory board formed to identify potential minority coaches is pushing Strong and Stanford’s David Shaw.“I’ve never, ever thought about the NFL," Strong said, speaking to reporters on Monday."It’s just that I’ve always been around the college game and I’ve always been around watching young people grow and develop. And taking them and recruiting them and, just, yeah, each and every year they mature and they grow up. That’s all I’ve ever been around.”Strong says he was unaware of the report until a member of his staff informed him.Last season, Strong rebuffed interest from the University of Tennessee to fill its coaching vacancy.He says he’s focused on the Cardinals next game Saturday on the road against South Florida.The Cardinals suffered an upset defeat Friday night to Central Florida, spoiling what many analysts predicted could be an undefeated season. Louisville dropped to No. 18—from No. 6—in the latest Associated Press poll.Strong says the Cardinals’ poor defense was a large factor in the 38-35 defeat.“We still have five games to play," he said. "That’s why I tell them all the time, ‘It’s so important that you go game by game and it’s so important that you worry about the task at hand, and don’t worry about what everyone else says, guys.’ You have to focus on who you’re playing.”The Cardinals play at South Florida on Saturday.
