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Football Spring Practice

With all the excitement surrounding the coaching search, I almost forgot spring practice is starting up. Anybody going to the first open practice tomorrow?

I'll definitely be at the one this Saturday. Gonna be nice to see how all our new additions are looking, Shough/Lacy/Brooks/Boone are who I'm most interested to see.

Off Topic-conference tournament memories

We used to host the Metro tourney, a lot. It rotated between us and Memphis I think. But some really good teams and players.

We used to pile up and go and get a cheap hotel room and get cheap first round tickets, usually end zone or up top, but there really wasn't a bad seat in Freedom Hall.


In our early 20's, NOT a lot of money in our pockets

We would watch the game of our next round opponent and flock to the pissed off fans of the team that got beat and hit them up for their tickets for the next round. It always worked.

Lots of times we'd watch the next games with great seats close to the floor and cheer our freakin heads off for the Cards.

To say we had a home court advantage for the conference tourney is a huge understatement


If we had enough money to stay at the Executive we'd always bump into the other teams, coaches, and even referees.

Lots of beers, lots of high fives

Living our best life and we didn't even know it!

Can't wait until we are back

And we WILL BE BACK

GO CARDS FOREVER!

Scott Drew?

I find it promising for Drew being interested in taking the Louisville job, because he hasn't said he's not interested. There's been plenty of time for him and Baylor to nix the idea.

I'm sure Drew is getting the question from the press, even more after losing in the Big 12 tournament. No one seems to have a strong opinion either way. I know he can use Louisville's interest in getting a raise from Baylor, but I would think it would have happened by now.

I think if reports are true UofL would make him the 2nd or 3rd highest paid coach is the reason he's not signed an extention with Baylor. I do believe any acceptance to become Louisville's coach won't be announced until after Baylor is eliminated from the big dance.

So Cards fans who want Drew should pull against him in the tournament. A long run like a final 4 may change things.

Louisville vs. Virginia Tech

Cards have opened as 6pt underdogs to the Hokies. The Hokies are dreadful on the road with a 1-9 record including a 84-71 loss at Syracuse on 2/27 but are coming off a home win over Wake Forest 87-76. They beat the Cards 75-68 way back on 12/3. The only thing this game and the last game will determine is how deep in last place the Cards will finish in the ACC. Right now the Cards are projected to play Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament.Based on Virginia Tech's road woes it's possible the Cards get a win in this game. +6 looks enticing after the Cards covered the spread against Syracuse plus with back to back home games the Cards should be well rested. Tipoff Tuesday 7:00 on ESPN U.

ULAA Buyout Math...

A question was posed to me recently about the buyouts U of L has paid since 2017. I’d done the analysis in the aftermath of the regime takeover to properly account for the net cost to athletic department finances. That comment makes more sense when I describe the process.

As everyone knows, buyouts are often not lump sum payouts esp. when a contract specifies how it’s paid. And when they involved a replacement hire, the U of L buyouts were typically accompanied by a savings component: the hire of a replacement at a lower salary. I’ll first list the buyouts, salaries where applicable, and the relevant time frames…

Athletic Director

Jurich (salary $2.76 million) replaced by Tyra ($0.85 million) and paid a buyout of $7.17 million spanning the years 2018 through 2026.


Football Coaches

Petrino ($3.98 million) replaced by Satterfield ($3.25 million) and paid a buyout of $14.48 million over the years 2019 through 2021.
Petrino’s assistants paid a combined $4.01 million in buyouts spanning 2019 through 2021.


Basketball Coaches

Pitino ($5.50 million) replaced by Padgett ($0.80 million) for 2018, no buyout.
Padgett ($0.80 million) replaced by Mack ($4.00 million) from 2018.
U of L paid Xavier $4.00 million to buy out Mack in 2018.


Stadium Naming Rights

Schnatter was paid $9.50 million as a buyout over the years 2020 through 2024.
L&N Credit Union pays ULAA $2.00 million annually as the new sponsor starting in 2023.


It’s believed that Schnatter’s buyout was delayed from the original schedule of 2020-2024. There’s also no allowance for the Pitino assistant coaches’ buyouts.

The net payment of buyouts compared to salary savings that resulted was the true cost to ULAA to buy out coaches and the various contracts. Buyouts involved an initial expense that was gradually recouped as lower salaries were paid to the replacement employees.

Even though the gross amount of buyouts, by my calculation, exceeded $35 million, the maximum net cost U of L had ever amassed was slightly under $15 million (in 2022) because of the salary savings and the fact that buyouts were usually paid over time. The following table and graph illustrate this point. By the end of 2025, ULAA’s net position will be restored to zero or where it should have been had the original buyouts and employee turnover never occurred.

Cumul-Buyouts-Salary-Redns.jpg
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