Dr. Lori Gonzalez Opening Statement

“He is not our new Athletic Director because our candidate pool was not strong. Josh is our new director because he represents who we are today and who we aspire to be. He has a vision of the limitlessness of Louisville athletics. He has built relationships with student athletes, coaches, staff, donors, alumni, and fans. He has demonstrated time and time again that not only is he ready to lead our university program, but he is ready to elevate it. He was a three-sport college student athlete who initially pursued a career in public service before turning his focus to college athletics. Recognizing the impact that sport had on him as a young man, he began his athletics administration career right here in Louisville, working on national and conference championship events, rising to oversee capital projects, including the Jim Patterson Baseball Stadium expansion, the Ulmer Softball Stadium expansion, the building of the Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Soccer Stadium, and the Thornton's Athletic Center of Excellence, among many notable projects.

His journey took him to Villanova University where he ultimately served as the Chief Athletics Operating Officer and was part of an NCAA National Men's Basketball championship. He returned to Louisville in 2019 and was involved in all aspects of our athletic department as the Athletic Director Deputy Director. If you speak with those who know Josh, both within and outside the university, you are going to hear some common words: integrity, work ethic, compassion, caring, responsibility, and family. So let me pause for just a moment to introduce Josh's family. His wife Abbey and his children Hadley and Gus. When you talk to former and current colleagues about Josh, you are also going to hear he is a star. I am absolutely confident that we have hired a world class athletic director who will serve our university with distinction. It is my distinct honor to introduce the new University of Louisville Director of Athletics Josh Heird.”

Josh Heird Opening Statement

“I am going to stare at these pages and not look up because if I do, I have a sneaking suspicion I am going to get a little emotional. Let me just start with some thank you’s. Dr. Lori Gonzalez, thank you so much. Thank you for conducting a full comprehensive national search. The University of Louisville, their fans, and especially our student athletes deserve nothing less. Thank you for having the confidence that I was the right choice at the right time to lead this athletic department.

My wife, Abbey, these last six months you have spent working a full-time job and taking care of Hadley and Gus. I know that I have been working a lot of hours, but you have been working more. I knew that one was going to be tough; these get a little bit easier.

Members of the President's Cabinet, our senior staff, and our entire athletic team, you have been true allies. On good days you have been there to celebrate and on tougher days you have been there with kind words.

Our coaches, this one is a little bit tough as well. Thank you for believing in me. I am not standing up here without your belief that I am the right person for this job. For our student athletes. They motivate us every day. We can never lose sight of the simple fact that the decisions we make affect the lives of other people's children. They are why we are in this business. Some of my favorite texts over these past 24 hours have been former and current student athletes and even parents of student athletes. Each of you have helped make this place what it is and why it is great. The University of Louisville is great. We are one of the premier athletic departments in the country and a member of the premier conference in the country. If all of us on this campus, in this community, and around the country understand this, this department will achieve even greater heights.

I want to make sure everyone understands that when Card Nation is united no one can offer what we can offer and when that happens, we will recruit the very best students and athletes in the country to this city and campus.

Most importantly, we will provide our student athletes with the very best resources. We will surround them with great people and this will allow them to achieve their dreams. To take a quote from Kenny Payne, “I want dream chasers.” We have to have fans, staff and coaches who are all dream chasers. If we wake up every day and remind ourselves that we are great, we will create a culture of excellence. That is my promise to everyone affiliated with this University, we will create a culture of excellence. When I say a culture of excellence, what does that mean? It means we are going to be committed to something bigger than this department. We are going to impact this campus and this community. We will be engaged and visible across this campus and across the city. We are going to hold ourselves accountable. We will hold ourselves to the highest standards and we will not compromise those standards. We will always act with the highest levels of integrity. We will be transparent with everything we do and once again at the forefront of every decision we make will be our student athletes. I am a believer that individual experiences when combined create culture. Thus is my responsibility to set the standard. I give each of you my word that I am committed to setting that standard. As it relates to individual experiences, I have been fortunate to be around and work with some of the very best leaders in this industry, which has shaped my view and my idea of excellence.

With that I thought I would spend a few brief moments sharing who and how those leaders have impacted my life. I have to start with my dad. My dad was a longtime administrator on the academic side of campus. My first glimpse into college athletics was when my dad served as the faculty athletic representative at Colorado State University. This gave me the opportunity to attend games, practices, and travel with teams. He was a huge believer of giving people an opportunity, so I can promise you that we will provide opportunities for our staff and students to grow and achieve their goals.

Tom Jurich, he gave me a chance. He provided me with an opportunity to go back to school, get my MBA here at Louisville and allowed me to work here for 10 years. He taught me the status quo was never okay. He helped me understand the importance of creating and setting a vision that allows people associated with your program to dream big and shoot for the stars. We will dream big and we will never be okay with the status quo.”

Mark Jackson, the current AD of Villanova, was probably the most influential person along my journey of wanting to become an AD. He was invested in what was best for his staff, each and every one of them. He cared about people. He led with compassion, and he was a collaborative leader. He was unwavering in the simple task of doing the right thing, even when that meant making a hard decision.

My favorite story about Mark and for people to understand how he set the tone with me was when I was running in Cherokee Park, and I got a phone call from him. I had interviewed and gone through the process, and he said ‘Hey, I want to offer you this job.’ I accepted and he was happy. I was happy. He just stopped on a dime and he said, ‘I want to make sure one thing is very clear.’ He said, ‘If you're mean to anybody on my staff, I'll fire you.’ And that resonated with me. It was such a simple statement, but he meant it. We will be nice to people. We will treat everyone with respect. We can disagree. We can be frustrated, but we will always foster a culture of respect.

I could talk for the next 45 minutes about what I learned from Jay Wright. Everything matters. You'll hear me say that a lot. He refused to compromise with anything around his program. He set a standard and he expected anyone around his program to uphold that standard. He taught me everyone needs help, and it's okay to ask for help. As Jay told me when Mark got to Villanova, he could focus on coaching as opposed to doing everything else. Raising money, communicating with donors, navigating conference realignment, thus the two national titles and three Final Fours since Mark was named the AD of Villanova. We will not compromise; we will put a plan together to provide coaches and student athletes with what they need to be successful, and we will ask for help. We will be collaborative with campus and the Louisville community to provide the best resources possible for our students, coaches, and teams.

Like Mark, Vince Tyra made me realize that it's okay to be compassionate. He made me realize that most problems are solved by applying empathy to the situation. One of my favorite quotes from Vince was “Be fearless to make the right decision.” We will create an environment and culture where people will always make the right decision. Lastly, my wife and kids, they've taught me patience and compassion and they've taught me that sometimes it's best to just keep my mouth shut. Most importantly, they've taught me that no matter what gets thrown my way professionally, life is going to be okay I want everyone involved with this program to understand this is one of the best jobs in college athletics. To say I'm honored and humbled to be up here would be an understatement. I say this because of the strength and foundation of this university, this department, this community and this brand, the Louisville Cardinals. There are countless people who helped establish this foundation and if we're going to build on that strong foundation and create the best athletic department in the country, it's going to take everyone who has ever cared about this place being on board and supporting us, fans, donors, former players, former coaches, and former administrators. Each of you is always welcome here. Don't ever forget how much you care about this place and know that when you're involved, we get that much stronger. We get stronger because of the passion you bring to this institution. We need all of you, we need this campus, this city, and this state behind us. When that happens, we get incrementally better at it in everything we do, which means we start winning national championships. This department with all its storied history has a total of three team titles in one sport. I understand how hard it is to win, but I want more. I want volleyball, women's basketball, baseball, swimming and diving, field hockey, soccer, golfs, tennis’, lacrosse, rowing, track and field and football. I want us winning national championships. As I said, this is the best job in the country. I will be forever grateful to represent and lead this world class institution and program. I will do everything I can to ensure all the dream chasers committed to the University of Louisville have the resources needed to achieve their dreams.”

Josh Heird Questions

There was a letter yesterday from some prominent boosters, will you get them back in the fold or are they still in the fold?

“We are going to try and I don't think they're out of the fold. And look, they showed the passion they have for the for this university and for somebody that that led this program for 20 years. That is a heck of a lot better situation to be in, rather than going into a place that doesn't have that same passion. We're going to do everything we can to make sure everybody in this city, anybody associated with this brand, with this university, feels good about what we're doing on this campus. I think if we can show that that everybody will be on board.”

What are some of your challenges ahead right away, including but not limited to the NCAA and NIL?

“It's just college athletics and it's evolving. We have got to be prepared for everything on the NCAA front. Obviously, we're doing everything we can to put that behind us. I feel like we have a really good team internally and externally and so focused on getting that behind us sooner than later and creating some clarity around that program. But we are moving forward. We are going to be prepared whether it is NIL or are the changing landscape in college football or college athletics as a whole, I can promise you that we'll be prepared. We will have a plan. We will be able to put ourselves and the University of Louisville in a really strong position no matter what happens.” happens.

I am sure you were confident in your ability to do this job, but how much did hiring a basketball coach at Louisville help you navigate that interim process and make you feel like a like the full-time athletic director?

“I think the biggest thing it did was it made me realize that I was given the opportunity to make the decision -- to make the big decision. It was a process. When you think about all the ADs around the country, there's a lot of them that actually never get to go through that process of hiring a high profile coach. To be able to do that, it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. I do think it prepared me for this role and got me better at some things. Absolutely.”

When you started there were questions about the basketball coach. You had an interim president, which still have, but there wasn't a lot of stability. How much is today a step toward some stability in the program? Do you hope?

“I hope it's a big step. I hope that I am going to be here for a long time. That is my goal. I can promise you that I will never have another job as long as people want me to be the athletic director here. This job is a dream come true. When I think about 2007, when I started here as a grad assistant, Amy (Calabrese) and I and our little closet of an office and to be up here today, I can't put it into words what it means to stand up here and be the athletic director for the University of Louisville. Like I said, as long as people want me here, I'm going to be right here. We love this city. We love this university. We are excited to be here for a long time.”

When you first came here with the closet of an office, do you remember the few things you actually worked on?

“I was in the ticket office and did whatever they told me to. That's been my mantra throughout my career: it's just do whatever anybody tells you and try to do more. That's not going to change. I'm going to listen to people and listen to people who are in and around this university. We're going to make really good decisions and try to do more than people expect of us.”

How do you unify a fractured fan base?

“I think we keep doing what we've done over the last six months. I don't know if I'd call this fan base fractured -- look at everybody in this room. When you look at where we are right now, I think this fan base is unified. I think they want what's best for this university and we're just going to keep making the right decisions. When that happens, people, if they are apprehensive, they realize things are going really well. I want to be part of that and that is what we're going to do.”

Josh, you were able to identify some challenges when you first took on this job. I mean, what do you feel like is your immediate challenge now?

“Right now we have a lot of --I don't want to call them smaller projects, I don't know if I'd call it $5 million Wi-Fi install a small project -- but we have some operational projects. We want to roll out a fundraising campaign dealing with academics here mid-summer to really try to incrementally lift those dollars that we put towards, whether it's summer school or the degree completion program. Fan engagement, fan experience, that is always going to be at the top of my mind. I know this is vague and broad, but it is making sure that our coaches and our student athletes have the resources they need to be successful. You know, we I don't want any of our coaches to feel like ‘Hey, if only I had this.’ I want our coaches to feel like I had everything that I need and I was able to compete at the highest, highest level. I think if we do that, we have coaches, and I mean a large number of them are in this room. They are some of the best in the country and if we give them the resources, they're going to win, they're going to win national championships.”

Think back about your career and the way things have fallen for you, can you put that into words?

“I think I would just say fortunate. When you think about the fact that I’m serving as an athletic director today and I’ve been lucky and fortunate enough to work at two institutions to get that done, I don’t think that happens very often in this industry. So, I would just say that I’m really fortunate, I’m blessed – and I do get a little emotional thinking about it – there were a lot of people who helped me get here. A lot of people who helped me get here. Thinking back on it, it’s really neat to think about all the people who say ‘hey, I care about Josh, I care about Josh and his family enough to try to help him out and as I think about that, it means the world to me.”

What’s your financial situation?

“Last week we presented our budget to the board and it’s the largest budget we’ve ever had. I think that’s really good news. We’ve got to deal with some debt, and we’re committed to doing that. And that does not mean that we’re going to stop creating and finding projects to build and make sure that we have the resources for our student-athletes to be successful. I think we have a plan in place to do that and that’s what we are going to do.”

You went to some pains to thank Tom Jurich, have you had much communication with him privately during this period and if there is a priority of trying to heal whatever breach there is between him and the university?

“No, Tom and I have had very little interaction, really since I went to Villanova. Obviously, we had a lot of interactions for 10 years while I was here the first time, but very little interaction since I went to Villanova. We’ve just gone our separate ways, obviously he’s been doing his thing, I’ve been doing mine. I would tell you that it’s import for anybody – former coach, former administrator, former players – it’s important for them to be involved with this program. And when you think about everything that was accomplished under his leadership, absolutely I would hope that he feels that he has the opportunity to come back at some point.

How much in your career have you been directly connected with fundraising and how important will that be in your job now?

“It’s the lifeblood of college athletics, it’s really, really important. I didn’t do a ton of it while I was here at Louisville, but one of the main reasons I went to Villanova was they were just beginning the process of fundraising 75 million dollars to renovate their basketball arena and that happened in less than a year. And I was involved in a lot of those conversations, obviously I wasn’t the A.D. so I wasn’t having those big conversations, but as far as anybody that gave to that project, I know them, I had those conversations and obviously that’s happening here now. Vince hired me to serve in an internal role so that he could be more external. Once again, when you are at that level, you know, and are having conversations with most donors and fans and that’s just magnified in these last six months. We’re going to continue to get out there. We’re going to meet with anybody and everybody. As I’ve said, the one thing I can do with fans and donors is give them my most valuable asset, which is time. And I will meet with anybody, anywhere. I will talk on the phone anytime, anywhere, shoot text messages – that’s what I tell Michael (Dudas) on our fundraising team – wherever you need me, I’m going to be there and that’s not going to change.”

Moving forward, how do you restructure – how do you replace yourself as you restructure your department?

“We’ve started looking at that… that was one of the things that I didn’t want to put the cart before the horse as far as serving in the interim role, because I didn’t want to upset the apple cart there. We’ve had discussions internally with the senior team as far as what does it look like, how do we shift things around and so we’ll sort that out here in the next couple of weeks. I don’t have anything definite right now.”

What has the past six months looked like in terms of balancing your ideas with what you’ve felt comfortable with as an interim athletic director?

“It’s been very little that I haven’t felt like I can implement. Lori (Gonzalez) from day one said ‘hey, you’ve been given the authority to act as you are not an interim.’ So that’s what we did – obviously I think that’s shown. But when we start moving organizational structures around, I want to make sure I didn’t put myself out of a job if I didn’t get this one… I say that jokingly. It was like, ‘we’ll get there when we need to if I get the opportunity to be in this role.’ That was really it. Outside of that, you can ask anybody on our staff, it was full steam ahead. We didn’t take a day off. We’re not taking today off. When we get done here, we’re going to go support and celebrate the baseball team and make sure they have everything they need to win this regional.”

This is a big weekend for baseball. Can you talk about having postseason baseball back here?

“It’s fun. It’s fun – that’s the best word to describe it. Dan (McDonnell) and I were texting this morning. I was actually disappointed that this news broke the way that it did, because the original plan – and as you know, we tend to have to pivot from the original plan – was to make this announcement early next week for the sole reason that we didn’t want to distract and take away from the baseball program. Because that’s really what this weekend is about. When you think about everything that Dan has accomplished – I think this is the ninth regional that we’ve hosted – there’s not a lot of programs that get to have postseason baseball, there are 16 right now. It’s just so much fun. I think we are sold out for the 2 p.m. game from a chairback standpoint. It doesn’t mean you can’t go. It just means you can’t sit in a seat. General admission, berm, you can come and join us. Half price drinks – that includes beer – starting at 1 p.m. and so I encourage everybody to get out there and support this program, support Dan and the guys this weekend and hopefully over the next couple of weeks as well.”

Dr. Lori Gonzalez Questions

Can you clarify whether signing an NDA was a condition in the hiring process?

“When we set out to do the search, we had two things that we wanted everyone to do. We wanted everyone that was involved from the advisory committee, me, and any of the candidates to sign an NDA. We also needed an updated resume from those who were interested in the job. We did the NDA because when a person is a sitting AD applies for a job, if that person’s name is out and he or she doesn’t get the job, it may shake the faith in that person at their home institution. I wanted to make sure anyone that expressed an interest in the University of Louisville would be protected. Those two documents were a gateway of being considered for this job.”

Did Tom Jurich refuse to sign an NDA?

“When I said that I signed an NDA to keep confidentiality, that means that I am not going to talk about any potential candidates. I will say that everyone that provided their resume and signed an NDA were considered.”

How much did the basketball hire of Kenny Payne impact the way you looked at the job Josh Heird did as the interim Athletic Director?

“I would say it was a positive impact. Josh won this position, he had stiff competition, including sitting ADs that had winning teams but when we looked at the skillset that he brings and the first word that I use to describe Josh is integrity. He has a belief in student-athletes and he wants to support his coaches. His successes were measured just like successes of other ADs and bringing Kenny on was notable.”

When you started this process, what did you think the candidate pool was going to be like and was it that or was it even more experienced, more at ease and were there even more interest than you thought?

“When we started, I think we talked about four concerns. Those were an interim president, an interim AD that had expressed interest in the job, three things, and then the NCAA because it wasn’t done, so we weren’t sure what the interest was. I was surprised by the quality and the caliber of people that we got and the number, so it was a pleasant surprise. When you interview these candidates, they talked about just what Josh said, working at the University of Louisville is a dream job and candidates were so excited about the possibility of coming here.”

As Tim mentioned earlier, yesterday a group of boosters released the letter expressing their disappointment. What was your reaction to that and do you plan to meet with any of them to address any of their concerns?

“Well, I have not thought about meeting with them. I read the letter. I tell you one thing that happens when you are sitting even temporarily in the presidency, a lot of people want to give you their opinions. They are passionate about the university, so I read those. We had 14 listening tours for people and thanks to the committee that did that and then we had 600 comments come through the portal, so I take that into account. I think some of the questions that have been asked about how we are going bring to get a fractured fan base together. Cardinal fans are loyal to the bird, so that is how we are going to do it. We are going to have winning teams. We are going to put the student athletes first and people are going to want to come and see that. I had not planned to meet with them, but if they want to meet with me then I am happy to do so. I am always happy to talk about the University of Louisville and all the great things that we are doing.”