LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The scoreboard never sleeps. The ongoing University of Louisville saga remains a tale better told by Machiavelli or Sun Tzu.
I’m a sports writer. I deal in winners and losers.
With Dr. Neeli Bendapudi transitioning from the president of U of L to president of Penn State University and the school accepting Vince Tyra’s resignation Thursday, Louisville has extended its lengthy lease on Planet Dysfunction.
More dirt, back-stabbing and scandal is inevitable. Until it arrives, I’m ready to identify the Winners and Losers in the latest five-course serving of absurdity.
LOSER: University of Louisville
No president. No athletic director. No sense of direction. No sense of unity. No belief this school can do the right thing.
No clue to when the nonsense will end because it’s been going on for more than ... three years (Bobby Petrino $14 million buyout), four years (Brian Bowen recruitment), six years (Katina Powell/Andre McGee scandal), a dozen years (Karen Sypher/Rick Pitino scandal) or longer.
Embarrassing. Dysfunctional. Adrift. Sad.
Those are all words I’ve heard about U of L from U of L grads about their school Thursday. They know their school has become a national punchline and they simply want it to stop.
A string of fans, including some substantial donors, have told me they have stopped attending games. Can't blame them.
WINNER: Bendapudi
Penn State is one of the top public universities in America with an enrollment more than double of Louisville’s. It sits at No. 23 in U.S. News and World Report’s ranking of the top national public universities, 73 spots ahead of Louisville.
She walked into a mess at Brook & Brandeis, and three years later, Bendapudi will walk into a plum academic job.
I know some jilted U of L students, alums and fans will consider her a loser for her keeping her departure top secret while she was tangling with Tyra over the direction of athletics. I get that. But as an ambitious academician, Bendapudi just made a winning move. Yes, she's obviously read Machiavelli and Sun Tzu.
LOSER: Tyra
First, he was out-muscled by Bendapudi. Then, he was out-maneuvered by the outgoing president.
If one of Tyra’s reasons for leaving U of L was friction between him and the president, Tyra resigned without a sliver of knowledge that his adversary was committed to leaving almost as quickly as he left. She kept her circle of confidants tighter than Tyra did and landed a more prestigious job.
Tyra leaves with a questionable legacy. Fans are not sold on his two primary hires: football coach Scott Satterfield and men’s basketball coach Chris Mack.
Before the men’s basketball program could work its way through the NCAA adjudication process that started four years ago, more rules were violated that leave U of L at risk of severe sanctions.
Men’s basketball crowds are down about 25% from the 2019-20 season. In football, the 2021 per game announced average attendance dropped to 43,994, down from 49,913 in 2019 and 54,065 in 2016.
WINNER: Tom Jurich
I could write an entire column about the calls, text messages and emails I have received from Louisville fans who will forever long for Jurich to run the athletic department again.
In fact, two people called Thursday to suggest one of the first things the new administration must do is mend fences with Jurich, who was dismissed in 2017. He has retreated to a quieter life in Florida and Colorado, but sources said Jurich still follows every news alert from the place her turned into an athletic powerhouse over his 20-year run.
NCAA issues? Just win, baby.
LOSER: The Atlantic Coast Conference
There were eye rolls across Tobacco Road when the ACC rescued U of L from conference oblivion in 2014. U of L’s complete profile did not check all the boxes Virginia, Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and others checked as ACC members.
But the Cardinals’ athletic teams were terrific, and the ACC needed a replacement when Maryland bolted for the Big Ten, and Jurich was a skillful negotiator.
The league accepted Louisville. Today, it’s reasonable to wonder if the unrelenting blast of bizarre headlines have given the ACC buyer’s remorse.
WINNER: Mack
Multiple people have said that Bendapudi was irate about the embarrassing fallout from Mack’s dismissal of two assistant coaches last spring, especially the developments that dragged the FBI and NCAA into the situation.
Now, the basketball coach should have a fresh start. He just needs to get to the NCAA Tournament and win a few games.
LOSER: Satterfield
A vocal and persistent group of fans wanted Satterfield out after the Cardinals’ ugly loss to Kentucky last month. It didn’t happen, perhaps because Bendapudi told Tyra that he could not spend the money to make that move.
Bendapudi is gone. Tyra has resigned. Who’s left to look out for Satterfield, who parked himself on the wrong side of Cardinals fans after his heavy flirtation with the South Carolina job a year ago?
Nobody.
Only Satterfield can protect Satterfield now, and to do that ,he’d better win at least eight games next season.
WINNER: The University of Kentucky
The Wildcats have a nine-win football team and a men’s basketball team ranked in the top 10. Over the last 20 years, Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart has developed into one of the most respected and effective athletic directors in America.
Kentucky’s third consecutive football beatdown of the Cardinals ignited the latest surge of turmoil here. And all that SEC Network TV money has pushed Kentucky miles ahead of its ACC rival. Sounds like a nice billboard slogan.
LOSER: University of Louisville fans
Sports is supposed to be an escape, a safe space to retreat and feel good about your favorite team. Take a look around Cardinal Stadium and the KFC Yum! Center. U of L fans have escaped to a different location. And my guess is they don’t feel so hot.
WINNER: The Media
The TV stories, talk show segments and columns simply write themselves. Trust me.
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