Lightning in a bottle is how former standout quarterback Dave Ragone describes the feeling within the Louisville football program when he arrived on campus in 1998 from Middleburg Heights, Ohio. With John L. Smith as the Cardinals’ new head coach and a brand-new stadium just completed, Ragone was sold on the vision that the coaching staff had for the team and how he would fit into that plan. Even though he had never been to Louisville, Kentucky, it just felt right he said. He found himself surrounded by players and coaches with a chip on their shoulder, eager to find a way to work towards a common goal – turning the program around.

Video: Hall of Fame Spotlight on Dave Ragone
 
Coming off a 1-10 season, the Cardinals emerged under Smith with five straight bowl appearances from 1998-2002.  Ragone, a three-year starter, led Louisville to a pair of Conference USA championships and three bowl appearances, while tying the school record for wins by a starter with 27. He became the first Conference USA player to win three offensive player of the year awards, since joined by a pair of fellow C-USA Hall of Famers in former Memphis running back DeAngelo Williams and former Houston quarterback Case Keenum.
 
Ragone was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year in 2000 after leading the Cardinals to a 9-3 mark and their first conference title since 1972, when he threw for 2,621 yards and 27 touchdowns. The following year, the he enjoyed the best campaign of his career, passing for 3,056 yards and 23 touchdowns. He directed the Cardinals to an 11-2 record that was capped by a 28-10 Liberty Bowl victory over BYU. A Heisman Trophy candidate in 2002, Ragone guided U of L to the GMAC Bowl, while passing for 2,880 yards and 24 touchdowns as a senior. He finished his career as Louisville's second all-time leading passer and his jersey was the 21st to be honored, his legacy part of Louisville’s tradition for producing outstanding quarterbacks. He was also named C-USA Football Player of the Decade (1995-2005).
 
Ragone attributes his success to the coaches he says he was fortunate to be around including his head coach Smith and coordinators Bobby Petrino and Scott Linehan, as well as his teammates who came to Louisville to make an impact, several of whom would go on to play in the NFL. Drafted by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2003 NFL Draft, Ragone played for three NFL teams. He also spent time with NFL Europe, being named the league’s Offensive MVP while leading the league with a 97.5 passer rating in 2005.
 
Looking back at his time in Conference USA, Ragone has an appreciation for the accomplishments of his team. But his memories of Louisville go beyond just football. The university is also where he met his wife, Marju (Sober), who was an accomplished student-athlete as well for the women’s basketball team.
 
“The university is very close to my wife and me for obvious reasons,” said Ragone. “If you would have told me to fast forward some 20 years later that they would have a Heisman trophy winner and two starting quarterbacks in the NFL in 2020 I don’t know if I would have believed it. It’s tremendous to see where the university has gone in terms of the success of the program.”
 
His favorite memories include not only the bowl wins and conference championships that he celebrated with his football teammates on the field, but also at the arena watching his wife play basketball and seeing the success she had.
 
“It came full circle for me, both of us athletes and me being able to enjoy team and individual success but also the success she had. It’s a unique perspective for both of us – you look back now and I think you have a much better appreciation for those championships with your teammates, knocking off a Top 5 team in Florida State at your place and being ranked in the Top 25 and things that I don’t think people thought were possible when we arrived on campus back in 1998.”
 
The game against No. 4 Florida State that Ragone referenced is one of the most memorable in conference history with Louisville upsetting the Seminoles on a rainy Thursday night in 2002 in front of a Cardinal home crowd and a national television audience.
 
Since leaving the playing field, Ragone has taken his career to the sidelines, where he has spent eight years as an assistant coach. He is currently the Chicago Bears' passing game coordinator. Ragone said he didn’t want to have his playing career as abbreviated as it was in the NFL, which ultimately sped up his process of what to do next. He and Marju, both being former athletes, realized what his mindset was when he was done playing and gave it some time.
 
“I knew I wanted to step away from the playing part of football but when I did that, what I realized was I didn’t necessarily miss throwing the touchdown passes or the games played. I missed the strategy, the X and O’s part of it,” described Ragone.
 
He said it just kind of hit him about two years later after his last snap in the NFL, he tried a few things in business and other avenues, but realized that coaching was likely the right path for him to take. With the full support of Marju, he decided to pursue coaching, knowing that it had come out of the necessity to fill a need of what he missed, and that was the ability to be around the X and O’s, and be around the players, but not necessarily put on the pads.
 
Ragone is in his fifth season on the Bears staff and his first as pass game coordinator in 2020 after spending the previous four as quarterbacks coach. He recalls that the Louisville coaches he played under helped shape him into the coach he is today. He and Marju have three children, perhaps a future student-athlete or two in the mix, and recently celebrated their 16^th wedding anniversary. It was a family affair when the league reached out to interview Ragone this summer and his family joined in to let him know he had been selected to the Conference USA Hall of Fame. He is the first student-athlete from Louisville to receive that honor.