Tom Jurich, Louisville Cardinals begin road to reconciliation with new street name

• The unceremonious firing of Tom Jurich in 2017 left behind hurt feelings on both sides
• Jurich was responsible for the biggest growth in Louisville Athletics history, taking a department with a $16.5 million budget to $104.5 million over 20 years.

It’s only fitting that the road to reconciliation for the University of Louisville and former athletics director Tom Jurich goes through Floyd Street.

Mayor Craig Greenberg’s office announced Tuesday that the AD who served from 1997 to 2017 will be honored at U of L on June 28. According to a source with direct knowledge of the plans, that day a portion of Floyd Street will be renamed Tom Jurich Way.

The athletics facilities that line the strip that will now bear his name serve as monuments to how Jurich helped transform Louisville from a nomad department into one worthy of inclusion into gaining a seat at the table of major college athletics.

The honor is long overdue.

And it’s a sign that the healing is finally happening. It’s unlikely that the city would push this through without the university and its leadership being on board.

Jurich was forced out in 2017 in the wake of the FBI sting into college basketball that had U of L assistant coaches in the crosshairs and ultimately led to Rick Pitino’s firing. Jurich was fired with cause, and the letter signed by Greg Postel, U of L’s acting president at the time, accused him of “ineffective management, divisive leadership, unprofessional conduct, and a lack of collegiality.”

It got ugly, only for U of L to backtrack when Jurich and Pitino were vindicated as the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process found no evidence that Pitino failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance. Postel’s letter was rescinded, and Jurich received a settlement of $4.5 million from the university and his separation agreement noted that he resigned rather than was fired.

Jurich did far too much to shape U of L Athletics to let bad feelings from how he was forced out be the lasting memory.

Let’s stop to consider the alternate, if Jurich was never the athletics director and brought the vision and boldness that was epitomized by the banner that once hung on the old silos proclaiming Louisville the “best college town in America.”

The current talk of the ACC being down in basketball wouldn’t be happening because UConn would have gotten in the league instead of U of L and the Huskies’ back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024 would be touted by the conference.

Lamar Jackson would not be the only Heisman Trophy winner from U of L. Former coach Bobby Petrino was one of the few who was committed to letting Jackson play quarterback while most major schools that recruited him wanted to convert him to receiver or defensive back.

Pitino never coaches the Cards and the three Final Fours and national championship seasons never take place. (One could argue with the way things ended, maybe that would have been best for both sides.)

There’s no Charlie Strong winning a Sugar Bowl at the right time to showcase U of L football for ACC eyes. No Arthur Albiero coaching swimming and diving to national prominence. No Jeff Walz elevating women’s basketball onto the national stage. No Dani Busboom Kelly, the last coach hired during Jurich’s tenure, taking volleyball from good to great as new coach Dan Meske is set to take over.

And there’s no Dan McDonnell and the Cardinal Nine representing U of L in the College World Series for the sixth time in program history.

Without Jurich, Louisville Athletics would be a lot like Memphis. And that’s not a knock on the Tigers, because for a long time the two programs were tethered and the cities they represented were like twins.

Now they’re more like distant cousins.

Not all relatives are acknowledged the same, but it’s only right that the patriarch of U of L athletics is considered family again.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.

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