[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 25, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S3531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO TOM JURICH
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as a University of Louisville sports
fan, Saturday, June 28, 2025, is going to be a memorable day for me. My
friend and Louisville legend Tom Jurich is receiving a long-overdue
honor from the University he helped build into a national sports
powerhouse.
From 1997 to 2017, Tom served as athletic director for UofL, my alma
mater. During those 20 years, I witnessed firsthand his work to build
an athletic department that is one of the best in the country. And on
Saturday, he will make his first visit back to campus for a celebration
on the street lined by sports facilities that he made possible, Floyd
Street.
The University of Louisville, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, and
many of Tom's family and friends will commemorate him by renaming a
portion of Floyd Street as Tom Jurich Way. I wish I could be there in
person to celebrate my friend, but I know that he and his family and
all those that love him will cherish the memories that he helped create
at the University of Louisville.
As Tom told a local Louisville reporter in 2023, ``I just wanted
Louisville to become a destination . . . not a place you passed
through--but one people aimed for.'' Well, Tom got his wish, and now,
that destination takes us to Tom Jurich Way.
Mr. President, the WDRB-TV sports journalist Eric Crawford paid
tribute to Tom Jurich in a recent article. I ask unanimous consent that
the article be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From WDRB-TV (FOX) Louisville, June 24, 2025]
Jurich's First Return to UOFL Since 2017 Will Bring Emotion and a New
Street Name
(By Eric Crawford)
Tom Jurich has made the drive back to Louisville plenty of
times, His children live here. So do his grandchildren. And
his 96-year-old mother still calls it home.
But on Tuesday, winding through the mountains of Eastern
Kentucky--detouring around closed highways and old memories--
Jurich acknowledged that this trip was different.
This time, he's coming back to be honored. A portion of
Floyd Street, the road that runs through the heart of the
University of Louisville's athletic complex, will be renamed
``Tom Jurich Way.''
And Jurich, who spent 20 years transforming Louisville's
athletic department and campus, will set foot on campus for
the first time since the day he was voted out by the
university's board of trustees.
``This will be my first,'' Jurich said. ``So that . . .
that will be emotional.''
Saturday's 10 a.m. public ceremony on campus is happening
because longtime friends and colleagues--particularly John
Ramsey and Kenny Klein--kept the effort alive. And because
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg made it a priority, working
with university officials to see it through.
``I'm so appreciative to everybody,'' Jurich said. ``Craig
did a wonderful job. A lot of people, I know, got involved
and worked hard. It's really special to me, and my family. We
have such great memories of our time in Louisville, all the
friends we made and tremendous people we worked with. And
that's what this is all about.
It's fitting. The stretch of Floyd Street that will bear
his name runs past a procession of facilities Jurich helped
bring to life--a kind of living resume cast in steel and
concrete: Cardinal Park for track and field. The softball
stadium. The natatorium. Field hockey and lacrosse stadiums.
Football practice fields. The indoor practice facility. The
soccer stadium. The basketball practice center. The baseball
stadium across the street.
Jurich had time to think on the drive in. And with his wife
Terrilynn beside him, the road brought back good memories.
``We spent 20 years in Louisville,'' he said. ``It's the
longest we've lived anywhere. We raised our kids there. To
see Mark and Brian, and then the twins, all graduate from
Louisville--and then all four of them got master's degrees--
it worked out great for us. We loved every minute of it.''
What he gave in return reshaped the university.
He remembered the Sugar Bowl--when Louisville, a 13.5-point
underdog, stunned Florida and its fans turned the Superdome
into a sea of red.
``Paul Houlihan, who was the president of the Sugar Bowl,
made his way around to our suite, and he pulled me aside and
said, `Let me just tell you something. Without red, we are
dead.' That meant so much to me.''
He remembered the 2007 Orange Bowl--and the sight of
Muhammad Ali and Arnold Palmer meeting as honorary captains.
When Palmer saw Ali, he glanced over and said, ``This is not
a fair fight,''
There were Final Fours. A Heisman Trophy. Volleyball crowds
that outgrew the new arena almost as soon as it opened. There
was an NCAA championship. And teams--so many of them--that
found a national stage.
One of the most emotional moments I saw from Jurich came
after Jeff Walz and the Louisville women's basketball team
upset Maryland to reach the Final Four. He choked up in a
postgame interview. It meant that much.
``People say, `You did this, you did that,''' Jurich said.
``But it was always `we.' We had incredible coaches,
incredible athletes, a passionate fan base. We did it
together.''
He's proudest, perhaps, of the growth in women's sports. He
added four women's programs and pushed hard for Title IX
compliance--not just to meet legal standards, but, as he
said, ``because it was the right thing to do.''
``I faced a lot of resistance on that because, from a
financial standpoint, there was no `return on investment,'''
Jurich said. ``I told the board at the time, the return will
come 20 years from now, when these fantastic women are
running companies and they're going to be the ones making
decisions on donations. . . . I give Julie Hermann so much
credit. She worked really hard to get all of that going.''
Jurich remains a Louisville sports fan. He watched all of
the volleyball team's NCAA runs. He followed baseball's
College World Series push and still talks to coach Dan
McDonnell regularly.
``What a phenomenal job Pat Kelsey did with basketball. He
has that ready to take off,'' Jurich said. ``And you know
Jeff (Brohm) is always going to have football in a great
place. I think Louisville is in a very good position. I think
the ACC has done wonders for our opportunities for the
future. And obviously, Adidas helped pave the way for a lot
of it financially. Keeping those two together is extremely
important--that gives you a foot up on a lot of schools. But
the key is our fan base. Our support is known all over the
country. It makes this place special.
And on Saturday morning, Jurich will come back and will get
to see some of that fan base for the first time since he
left.
He'll return not as a former AD, but as an honoree of the
city and university. And he'll walk that old street again,
now bearing a meaningful new name.
``I loved every minute of it,'' Jurich said of his time at
Louisville. ``I can't say I was too excited about the way it
ended. But you know, it was a great run. The beauty of the
city of Louisville, the reason any of it happened, is the
people. They put all of our teams on their shoulders. And we
all had a great, great time. That meant the world to me. It
still does.''
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