LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The loudest cheer of the first half at L&N Stadium during Friday night's football game against Clemson didn’t come during a play. It came during a timeout.
That’s when former Louisville athletics director Tom Jurich, alongside his wife Terrilynn, was welcomed back to midfield — his first public appearance at a U of L sporting event in Louisville since his 2017 departure from the university.
The moment didn’t need much narration. Fans roared even before the short tribute video ended. Jurich was visibly emotional as he looked out at the crowd.
Tom Jurich, with his wife Terrilynn, waves to the crowd after being honored during a timeout of a football game against Clemson in L&N Stadium.
In June, the university honored Jurich by renaming a stretch of Floyd Street as “Tom Jurich Way.” Friday night was something different — a live ovation from the community he helped build.
Over two decades as AD, Jurich transformed U of L athletics: engineering the school’s move to the Big East and then the ACC, hiring Hall of Fame-level coaches like Rick Pitino, Jeff Walz, Dan McDonnell and Arthur Albiero, and building top-tier facilities that not elevated nearly every sport, but changed campus life at what was an urban commuter campus when he arrived. Louisville teams won national titles or reached national prominence in men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, swimming, soccer, and more during his tenure.
Jurich called the moment “incredibly meaningful.”
"So appreciative of everyone here,” Jurich said. “And of these fans. They were so good to us for so many years, and we worked every day to make them proud. This is a special place, I’ve always believed that, and it always will be. We’re so grateful to have had so many great times here, raised our family here and made so many wonderful friends.”
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