CRAWFORD | Louisville votes to extend AD Josh Heird's contract through 2030 | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The University of Louisville Athletic Association Board on Monday voted to extend the contract of vice president and director of athletics Josh Heird through 2030. That recommendation now goes to the university board of trustees for approval.

"This is a vote of confidence that I want to be able to provide," U of L president Kim Schatzel said after the athletic association vote. "... I am happy to take this to the board. I believe that we have one of the finest athletic directors in the country serving the University of Louisville, and the the building of the team and confidence and performance he has brought to the athletic department are things we want to continue. He's the right person for the role."

U of L's trustee will vote on the contract at a regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday.

Heird, who was hired in December 2021 on an interim basis and was named permanent AD in June of 2022, has presided over some eventful times in U of L sports and has helped build the program's approach to the dramatically changing college sports landscape.

It was Heird, as interim director, who negotiated a graceful exit for men's basketball coach Chris Mack when he decided to step down in the middle of the 2021-22 season.

At the end of that basketball season, he hired former Cardinal Kenny Payne, a coach he would have to fire two seasons later with a record of 9-35. After a process that wound through several other candidates, Heird hired Pat Kelsey of Charleston to replace Payne before this season.

Heird also refused to entertain a contract extension for fourth-year coach Scott Satterfield during the 2022 season, which ended with Satterfield bolting to become coach at the University of Cincinnati.

That move opened the door for Heird to pursue and eventually hire U of L alum Jeff Brohm, who had been coach at Purdue. A year later, he was celebrating Brohm's first-season success, which included the school's first-ever trip to the ACC Championship game.

U of L's department, like most, is grappling with how to deal with the advent of pay-for-play in the wake of the NCAA's settlement in the House class-action case, which will allow schools around the nation the right to devote up to $22 million to pay for their athletes.

Finding revenue for that, determining how the allocations will take place, and executing those plans will forever change the structure of college athletic departments, not to mention their duties.

With attendance losses in men's basketball and the rejuvenation of football ticket sales under Brohm, generating revenue without a conference mega-media rights deal will remain a challenge for Heird and other schools in similar situations.

In the academic year just finished, eight U of L teams earned national rankings, and nine programs reached the NCAA postseason. The football team made its first-ever ACC Championship game appearance, and the all-girl cheerleading squad won its 10th consecutive national title. Academically, 10 programs achieved a perfect 1,000 Academic Progress Rate score, and the department attained a 93% graduation rate.

TIMELINE

Key events in the tenure of Louisville athletics director Josh Heird

Dec. 13, 2021: Heird was appointed interim Athletic Director following Vince Tyra's resignation.

Jan. 27, 2022: Heird negotiates a settlement with then-basketball coach Chris Mack for the coach to be bought out of the remainder of his contract for $14 million in the middle of the season. Mack, who had been suspended by the school at the beginning of the season, said he “wasn't the right person” to connect with the current players. His top assistant, Mike Pegues, was named acting coach. Louisville finished the season 13-19.

March 18, 2022: After a national search for a new men's basketball coach following the departure of Mack, Heird announces the hiring of Kenny Payne, a former Louisville player and assistant coach at the University of Kentucky.

June 3, 2022: Heird is promoted to permanent Athletic Director, receiving a five-year contract through June 2027.

Dec. 5, 2022: When Heird refuses to offer him a contract extension, Scott Satterfield resigns as football coach after four seasons to become head coach at Cincinnati.

Dec. 8, 2022: After several weeks of talks, Heird announces the hiring of Jeff Brohm, a Louisville native and former Cardinals quarterback, as the new head football coach.

Dec. 2, 2023: Less than one year after his hiring, Brohm leads Louisville to its first-ever appearance in the ACC Championship game.

Dec. 23, 2023: With a record of 9-35, including 4-28 in his disastrous first season, Payne is under fire as Lousiville basketball coach. Heird says publicly that he will retain Payne as coach for the remainder of the season, though behind the scenes pressure had ramped up to remove the embattled former player or to force him to make immediate staff changes.

March 13, 2024: Heird fires Payne after two seasons as basketball coach, during which the Cardinals compiled a record of 12-52, and saw attendance at home games plummet.

April 2, 2024: After being spurned by head coach Dusty May, Baylor's Scott Drew and a strange series of events with Indiana State coach Josh Schertz, Heird announces the hiring of Charleston's Pat Kelsey as men's basketball coach.