Louisville Cardinals: Year of the Cardinal 2.0 closer than you think

It’s a bit away but not as far as you have in mind. The dark cloud is lifting, the culture is shifting, and the Louisville Cardinals are laying groundwork for another college sports takeover.

2013 was unbelievable. “The Year of the Cardinal”, they called it. It was a year that belonged to Louisville and Louisville Cardinals fans from start to finish, literally.

On the second day of the year, Louisville won the Allstate Sugar Bowl. A few months later both the men’s and women’s basketball teams reached the NCAA championship game, with the men’s team prevailing. In the summer, the baseball team made a deep run into the College World Series in Omaha. In late November Louisville accepted an invitation to the ACC. To cap things off, the football team finished a 12-1 season with a Russell Athletic Bowl victory on December 28th.

It was a great time to be a Louisville Cardinals fan. But the good times wouldn’t last for long. Stripper parties, missing the postseason, and pay-for-play scandals, and ultimately losing the beloved 2013 National Championship were right around the corner. Suddenly being a Cards fan was cruel and unusual punishment.

Many of us assumed the worst after the FBI came knocking and the university was forced to clean house. There was a dark cloud over the Louisville basketball program. Almost every expert thought U of L wouldn’t salvage a talented recruiting class over the next few years. But here we are just over a year into Coach Chris Mack‘s tenure, and the top-tier recruits are rolling in. Cloud? What cloud?

Team 105 exceeded expectations in Mack’s first campaign, going 20-14 including a much-obliged at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The fuse had been lit.

Mack’s inaugural group of newcomers, “The Super 6”, is touted as a top ten recruiting class according to Rivals.com. No question Team 106 could do great things, but judging from the level of interest in the recruiting landscape, Team 107 and beyond could be legendary.

Louisville football is coming off of one of the worst seasons it has ever had. It was a paper-bag-over-the-head kind of season, and Coach Bobby Petrino knew it. The Cards’ defense gave up an average of 44 ppg., and over 57 in their final seven games. Sheesh.

Newly appointed Athletic Director Vince Tyra had no choice but to give Petrino the ziggy. Quite honestly, we were breathing easy at that point. We just knew we’d get Jeff Brohm. It was a done deal. Well…..we know how that turned out. In strolls Scott Satterfield.

The culture of Louisville football took a blow last season, but Satterfield has assembled one of the nation’s best staff since he took the reigns. He even convinced the prodigal son, Cort Dennison, to return to The Ville. This project is a little more delicate. Unbeknownst to the outside world, this squad has plenty of leftover talent and untapped potential but it’s going to take some patience, love, and elbow grease. But don’t fret. Satterfield is a proven winner, and with the ties to the south and the elite recruiting tools at his disposal, the Cards will be back sooner than we all might think.

He has made Louisville football accessible to local recruits and coaches again with his open door policy. His staff has a family-oriented, community kind of feel to it. After spending last season with the notion of divide permeating the locker room, the brand we will come to love is based on playing as a unit. In Dennison’s words: “The sacrifice thing is a WE thing.”

Meanwhile, the efforts of blue blood programs in college baseball and women’s basketball couldn’t lure Dan McDonnell or Jeff Walz away.

Coach Walz is really beginning to build something special here, spurning Tennessee to continue his upward trajectory here. He’s recruiting at a very high level and the caliber of professional players he cranks out is jaw-dropping. He just added another solid recruiting class as well. He could end up being one of Louisville’s most successful basketball coach, men’s and women’s. While the Cards have faltered in the Elite 8 and Final 4 over recent years, there is no reason to believe that time is the only variable standing in the way of a women’s National Championship.

Coach McDonnell is approaching Hall of Fame status. Before he took the wheel, Louisville had made only one postseason appearance. Since then the Cards have only missed one. Do the math. He is currently at the helm of a team with one of the nation’s best records (35-9).

If there are two coaches that are due for the big one, it’s McDonnell and Walz. We can see the writing on the wall. How many more Final Fours or title appearances will Walz have? How many more trips to Omaha can McDonnell guide us to? I’ll take the over.

The sleeping giant is sitting up out of bed. He lets out a big yawn. He extends his wingspan for a stretch. He’s wiping the crust from his eyelids.

Another “Year of the Cardinal” could be well within reach, and if the stars align the way they should, the next decade could be “The Roaring 20’s” for the Louisville Cardinals.