LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The media did not remove Chris Mack as the University of Louisville men's basketball coach. Neither did the players.
Louisville fans did the heavy lifting.
Every time you walked into the KFC Yum! Center and saw thousands of empty seats, U of L fans delivered another powerful vote of no confidence about the direction of the program. Enough votes were cast that the U of L administration and Mack recognized change was necessary.
Crowd-watching will be essential for Louisville football, too.
In 2021, Louisville football attendance slipped nearly 12% from 2019, the last pre-COVID season. The Cards announced an average attendance of 43,966 last season. Reasonable people believe that perhaps half of the facility's 65,000 seats were full for several games.
The jarring sight of Kentucky fans out-numbering Louisville fans for the fourth quarter of the Wildcats' season-ending 52-21 victory on Floyd Street was especially unsettling.
But Louisville fans are a resilient group. I salute them. Success in football is significant to Cards' fans.
They have watched the program grind its way from the pre-Howard Schnellenberger days in a tired minor league baseball stadium to victories in the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls. Cards fans know that in these times of conference realignment, football matters more than it ever has.
The Cardinal Stadium crowd the last time Louisville faced EKU, in Scott Satterfield's first win as Louisville coach.
Louisville Athletic Director Josh Heird believes that fans will return to their fervent ways of supporting the program. He said U of L has added 2,000 new season ticket buyers over last season.
I sense there is more buzz about U of L football than many expected after back-to-back losing seasons. My view is that improved recruiting results by Scott Satterfield and his staff explain that. Heird agreed.
"I hear (the buzz)," Heird said. "I think it's just been incremental change. I don't think there's been any earth-shattering adjustments here.
"I think it's Scott evaluating his program and saying, 'Hey, what do we need to change? What do we need to tweak?'
"I think he's got an excellent staff around him. If you look at some of the additions and changes that he's made in the weight room with Ben Sowders, then you look at (offensive coordinator) Lance Taylor and (co-defensive coordinator) Wesley McGriff ... you go right on down that list, and it's created momentum.
"Now, we have to win football games. But it's really nice to have positive momentum on your side. And I'm optimistic. I really am.
"I just think that there's a lot of good things going on down there in the Schnellenberger Complex. Hopefully, that translates into wins come September and October."
Starting Sept. 16 when Florida State visits for the Cards' home opener. Satterfield's team will play twice on the road before the Cards get their opportunity to make a favorable first impression at home.
They open at a Syracuse program Louisville has beaten three consecutive times as well as seven of the last eight meetings. The Orange are the odds-on pick to finish last in the Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division.
Then comes a trip to Central Florida in Orlando. With 18 starters returning from a 9-4 team, the Knights are picked to finish third in the American Athletic Conference by the Athlon and Lindy's preseason yearbooks.
The Cards should be at least 1-1 when they get their shot to create a new vibe at Cardinal Stadium. A 2-0 start would be a surprise. An 0-2 start would be ... well, you know what it would be.
Remember, last season's average attendance was the lowest since Steve Kragthorpe's final team attracted 32,450 a game in 2009. It was king-sized drop from the 54,065 per game that watched Lamar Jackson win the Heisman Trophy in 2016.
The Cards need to play well — and they need to have fans get in and out of the stadium smoothly. They need concession stands to deliver, they need the restrooms to sparkle and they need the $5 million investment in the Wi-Fi system to excel.
"I can promise — you ask anybody on our staff — we've been focused on it probably since May," Heird said. "I've made it very clear that we just can't make mistakes.
"We have six opportunities (for home football games) to show that we've listened to our fans and we've got to get it right.
"If we don't get it right, I'll be the first one to say that we messed up. And I can promise you that I'm not going to be very happy about it.
"It's all of those things combined. When our fans come and drive down Floyd Street, they (need) to have a good experience. That's what we're trying to achieve."
The fans will vote on the direction of the program. They always do.
Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
