By Charlie Leffler
In an elevator in Memphis, prior to the Conference USA media football kickoff, four mechanics for Case IH were catching a lift to their room. The men had come from around the country for a technical school, but their talk was not about tractors or loading equipment. Seeing the C-USA banner, the men had one question that they needed answered. “Is Dave Ragone here?” A surprising inquiry considering six years ago Louisville football and the player were virtually unknown.
Six years ago, Dave Ragone had yet to start at quarterback for St. Ignatius High School in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. He had yet to feel what it was like to lead his team onto the field or to victory. Yet, Ragone had demonstrated a trait that is extremely rare in athletes today: patience. From the start, Ragone lived under the motto of: ‘My day will come.’ Over the last six years, Ragone has grown as a person both physically and mentally but his attitude has not changed.
Until his senior year at St. Ignatius, Ragone was the no-name who sat behind the starting quarterback knowing his day would come. Then again in college he faced a similar situation being the unknown who waited behind star QB Chris Redman for his day in the spotlight. Now, after leading the Cardinals for two years, it is truly Dave Ragone’s day.
Six years after leading his high school team for the very first time, everyone in college football knows the name Dave Ragone. His stats as a leader are simply amazing. In Ragone’s only year as a starter in high school he led the Wildcats to an 11-2 record losing in the state semi-final to eventual USA Today national champion Canton McKinley. At Louisville, his first year as a starter he led the Cardinals to their first conference championship in 28-years. As a junior, he repeated the feat, directing U of L as C-USA’s first ever back to back champions, a Liberty Bowl win and a national ranking. This year, the sky’s the limit for Ragone.
While Ragone’s rise to fame may have caught some by surprise, Louisville head coach John L. Smith never had a doubt in his star player’s ability or where he would end up. “We thought that was going to be the case to be honest with you,” said Smith. “Telling him, ‘this is what’s going to happen. You’re going to come in and you’re going to redshirt. Then you’re going to back up Chris Redman. Then you’re going to start for three (years). And that’s exactly what has happened. We have always thought that he was going to be the guy. Always going to be talented enough to get that done and he’s not proven us wrong.”
Ragone credits much of his growth to having not been the guy in the spotlight from the start. The time as a backup taught Dave much more than patterns and plays. “I learned so much from (Chris) Redman on how to deal with everything,” said Ragone. “You have to mature real quick as far as being in the public eye a little more. You’ve got to understand that there’s things you can or cannot do that normal kids get by with, kids that don’t play football and aren’t in the public eye.”
Ragone is now spoken of among the top quarterbacks in the country. He has been mentioned as a preseason candidate for awards such as the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm, Walter Camp, Maxwell Trophy and Davey O’Brien Award. A campaign that includes his own website has also been launched for the pinnacle of college football; The Heisman. While recognition from all of the awards would be pleasing, Dave has only one train of thought. He just wants to play football. “The expectations of others has never really meant that much,” said Ragone. “I’m a firm believer that you have to set your own goals and you can’t let other people dictate what you want. I’m at a point in my career where the newspaper clippings are nice and what everybody says is nice but when it comes down to it the defense doesn’t care.”
“I don’t think it’s personal numbers thing with Dave,” Smith indicated Ragone’s mindset. “He understands, and I really believe he believes his legacy is, how many wins can I leave this university with. Not, how many yards I can throw for. Not, what my percentage is. But, when I walk out the door can I leave here with three championships and so many wins.”
Smith believes that Ragone’s greatest quality is his ability to view the world without letting things go to his head. “They’re talking Heisman,” said Smith. “That’s great. I love the Heisman talk, we all love the Heisman talk, but in reality it’s not going to happen.” After having been through Redman’s preseason campaign for the trophy, Smith understands that a school such as Louisville has little chance of being recognized by the national award. Ragone was at U of L during Tim Couch’s unsuccessful Heisman campaign at in-state rival Kentucky and played backup during Redman’s equally unsuccessful campaign at Louisville. So, the Cardinal quarterback knows how difficult it would be to win the award while playing at a non-BCS school. “He (Ragone) understands that,” said Smith. “He understands that if we can get invited to the dinner that that’s a major deal. So, I don’t think he has false of over-inflated expectations and he doesn’t have the over-inflated ego that allows him to get out of control.”
“Maybe 20-years from now I’ll look at it and say, ‘hey, that’s pretty cool’, but right now that was never a goal of mine,” said Ragone. “That’s a personal goal that to be honest it can’t be reached without the other guys on your team. I’d be proud to be a recipient of something like that but it’s not anything I’m looking forward to.”
Such an attitude is what has made Ragone into one of the top offensive threats in the nation. He has known all along that his success is solely reliant upon how the rest of his team plays and he would be unable to do anything alone. “He understands and he makes the claim that he’s about wins, not about individual awards,” said Smith. “He shares his individual attention with his teammates, which is key.”
Following last year’s success, Ragone admits that he seriously considered leaving college to play in the NFL. In the end, his decision came down to being able to look at himself, a phone call and the motto he has lived by: patience.
Two years earlier, when rumors had Smith receiving an offer to coach at Arizona State, Ragone went to the coach’s office to talk to him. Dave told his coach that Louisville was the best place for him to be. When rumors of Ragone’s departure reached Smith he returned the favor helping Ragone to look at his situation from a different perspective.
“Physically, I didn’t doubt myself,” said Ragone, “but mentally I wasn’t sure if I was ready to go to a team and start a brand new life all over again in a brand new city. When it came down to it, I weighed my options and I thought this was best option for me.”
Now, with so much recognition, Dave would appear to be a man under a microscope but when people mention pressure the quarterback responds in typical Ragone fashion. “I don’t believe in pressure,” he shrugs off the thought. “Pressure to me is like when you’re 40-years old and you have two kids and don’t have a job and you have to feed your kids. Playing football’s not pressure. I’ve said that my whole life. It’s fun. But once I start making it a job in college it’s not going to be fun. I go out there and I play because I love football. I don’t play because I worry about what other people are going to say about me. That’s playing for the wrong reasons.”
Now, six years after making his first start as a quarterback, Ragone can look on magazine covers and see his picture. He can turn on ESPN and see his footage. He can read an major article about himself in Sports Illustrated. He can even pick up a football card and see his face along side Flordia’s Rex Grossman, Miami’s Ken Dorsey and Texas’ Chris Simms. “It’s cool to be noticed,” said Ragone, “but I just throw the football. I’m not solving world peace or world problems or anything like that.”
While modesty may stand at the forefront, Ragone cannot deny one thing. In six years, he has gone from unknown to The One.
