Louisville Football: Cardinals Fans Deserve Better From Athletic Department

We have learned that the Louisville football team admitted to knowing about the leak of information from Wake Forest’s game-plan.

Every Louisville fan thought that Cards’ participation in any more scandalous allegations of whatever would have been over with by now. Someone watching what the basketball team just went through should have the sense of mind to protect their own program with the utmost attention, but apparently Lonnie Galloway (Louisville Football’s offensive coordinator) didn’t have that in mind.

After denying that they knew anything about Wake Forest’s allegations of the Cardinals somehow obtaining a few plays they have never run, it has now come out that they actually did.

Here is the official statement from Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich from WHAS11.com:

“We have looked further into the matter surrounding the Wake Forest information released on Tuesday.
Our offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway and Tommy Elrod have known each other since 2007. Lonnie received a call from Elrod during the week of the Wake Forest game, and some information was shared with him that week.

Among the communication were a few plays that were sent and then shared with our defensive staff. None of the special plays were run during the course of the game. Our defense regularly prepares for similar formations every week in their normal game plan.

Any other information that may have been discussed was nothing that our staff had not already seen while studying Wake Forest in their preparations for the game and the material was not given any further attention. I’m disappointed that this issue has brought undue attention to our football staff as we prepare for our upcoming bowl game.”

I will go ahead and say it, Louisville fans deserve much better from the Athletic Department at the University of Louisville.

It has been one of the most exciting, yet disappointing years to cheer on the Cards that I can even remember. We have all worked through what happened with the basketball team and now it’s apparent that Lonnie Galloway used some information from Tommy Elrod and shared it with the defensive staff.

Just when we thought all of Louisville’s bad press was over, it’s actually just getting started.

We are the fans that are buying tickets, shirts, and giving away our own hard-earned money so we can cheer on our Cardinals every season.

Yet, we are the ones who suffer when our beloved teams have to miss tournaments, serve possible upcoming suspensions, and face the music from the National media.

Let me be clear, this isn’t on the players, this is on the coaches and leadership.

The football and basketball programs have let their fans down and there isn’t any doubt about it. Whether this situation turns into something bigger or not isn’t the main issue here.

The main issue is that Louisville fans deserve coaches and leadership that are willing to have integrity and accountability for their actions. No, I am not talking about Rick Pitino and no, I am not talking about Bobby Petrino.

Cardinals fans put their neck on the line, wanting to represent the University as well as they can. We just ask that these assistant coaches that keep burning the Cards are willing to do the same from here on out.