Legendary former University of Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich was honored Saturday for his more than 20 years of service to the Cardinals. A segment of Floyd Street inside the campus was officially named “The Jurich Way” and was dedicated with his presence.
During the ceremony, Jurich gave an emotionally charged acceptance speech. The honoree remembered numerous people who, in one way or another, had a hand in both his arrival in Louisville and his tenure there for two decades.
Coach Pitino Is a Pat Kelsey Fan, Tom Jurich Says
The basketball program took center stage in his remarks, as Jurich wanted to highlight the extraordinary work being done by current head coach Pat Kelsey. The veteran athletic administrator did so by using an anecdote involving another Louisville and NCAA legend, Rick Pitino.
Jurich recounted being with Pitino during his most recent triumph, the 2025 Big East Championship. During those days, Jurich had the opportunity to hear Pitino’s opinion of Kelsey.
According to Jurich, they weren’t alone. Along with him and Pitino, the sports information director for Louisville Athletics, Kenny Klein, and South Carolina football head coach Shane Beamer, who was learning from the legendary basketball coach, were also present.
This didn’t stop Pitino from heaping praise on Kelsey, according to Jurich:
“Coach [Pitino] says after practice on Friday: ‘What do you want to do?’ I said ‘I want to go have a beer.’ What else you going to do? And so the I said ‘I want to go to a one of them dive bars in the neighborhood, just one of those neighborhood bars that you see on TV. Of course, he knew where to go.
“So, we went…coach Kelsey, let me tell you something: 20 minutes Rick Pitino talked about you, and the job you’re doing here, and how proud he was of you. Proud of you.
“You all know I’m biased, I’m very biased to Coach Pitino, I love him to death, but he said this guy is the ‘real deal.’”
It’s no surprise that Pitino closely follows the development of basketball at the University of Louisville, considering he coached the team from 2001 to 2017, one of the Cardinals’ most successful periods. Under Pitino, Louisville won an NCAA Tournament (2013) and reached the Final Four three times.
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Tom Jurich played college football for Northern Arizona and New Orleans from 1974 to 1978. He began working in college athletic administration in 1988 at Northern Arizona. In 1994, he moved to Colorado State University, from where he went to Louisville in 1997.
