A day that came sooner than any of us could have imagined.
Louisville has fired vice president and director of athletics Tom Jurich, pending approval from the U of L Board of Trustees at their next meeting.
Jurich met with U of L interim president Greg Postel Wednesday morning and was asked to resign. When he refused, Jurich was told that he was being relieved of his duties.
An official announcement is expected to be made by Postel at 1 p.m.
Jurich took over as Louisville’s athletic director on October 21, 1997. In the two decades that transpired since, Jurich oversaw an unprecedented period of success for U of L athletics, one that included the meteoric rise of the football, baseball and women’s basketball programs, a national championship in men’s basketball, and a move to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
When Louisville was officially announced as the new 15th member of the ACC in July of 2014, conference commissioner John Swofford showered Jurich with the bulk of his praise.
"Louisville's had the foresight and good sense to recognize an outstanding leader and understand what that kind of leadership over an extended period of time can mean, and have kept him there, because Tom's had numerous opportunities to leave," Swofford said. "I think the fact that he has stayed and built something very special has to give him a great deal of satisfaction. Tom won't make it about him, and good ADs don't, but you can't help but understand that much of what has happened at the University of Louisville is due to his vision and his leadership and his energy."
In 2007, Jurich was selected as the Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily Athletic Director of the Year. Jurich also became the award's first two-time finalist in 2013.
I hope I’m wrong, but this feels like a massive misstep. Even if it isn’t, there’s no question that this is an incredibly sad day. Few people in the history of Louisville athletics have done more to shape the program than Tom Jurich, and now he’s gone. That’s going to take a while to process.
