[citation needed] When the Cardinals did rejoin football they came back into the SIAA which was going through reorganization losing most major state schools and thus became a small college conference.

In baseball, Koster played professionally for 10 years for the Philadelphia Phillies (one season) as well as the minor league teams Louisville Colonels and St. Paul Saints in the American Association.

[8] Following years of instability in the Louisville program after Tom King's departure and three coaches in the span of five seasons, the university hired Lawrence E. Apitz.

[11] When World War 2 caused football to be suspended at the university Apitz was reassigned to the physical education program for the hundreds of Navy cadets on campus.

Camp was collegiate player at Transylvania University in both football and basketball went on to accumulate a 102–35–04 record as a high school coach before he was tabbed for the head job at Louisville.

After two unsuccessful running plays, Unitas dropped back into his own end zone, sidestepped two defenders and threw a pass to Babe Ray, who scored a 92-yard TD.

[14][15] In the next day's Louisville Courier-Journal, expressing a desire to preserve Unitas over the winter for the next season, reporter Jimmy Brown wrote: "If Coach Frank Camp is smart he'll take a certain Cardinal, enclose him in a cellophane bag, and put him right in with the uniforms for safekeeping.

Louisville, though, almost lost Unitas around this time due to administrative cost-cutting which caused 15 players to lose their athletic scholarships, thus emptying out much of the Cardinal roster.

Unitas thought about transferring to Indiana, a program that denied him earlier, but decided to stay at Louisville out of loyalty to Coach Camp for taking a chance on him.

[14] Unitas holds just a few records at Louisville, most of them eclipsed by quarterbacks John Madeya, Ed Rubbert, Browning Nagle, Jeff Brohm, Marty Lowe, Chris Redman, Dave Ragone and Stefan LeFors.

The Central High product was a prize recruit for Louisville not only for his skill on the field but also to help attract other black players to the school.

[17] A four-year starter for the Cardinals, Lyles totaled 2,786 yards on the ground and scored a school-record 42 touchdowns in his storied career, including 18 in 1957 to set a single season record which stood for more than 40 years.

[19] His most memorable highlight was a fumble recovery that led to the tying touchdown in a stunning 13–13 deadlock at heavily favored Miami (FL) in 1950.

On the defensive side of the ball Louisville Legends Frank Minnifield (1979–82), Otis Wilson (1977–79) and Dwayne Woodruff (1976–78) would go on to long NFL careers.

Jacoby was not the only offensive line to see a long NFL career, Bruce Armstrong would go to play 13 season with the New England Patriots and accumulate 6 Pro-Bowls and 2 2nd team selections along the way.

"[citation needed] Prior to accepting the Louisville job, Schnellenberger turned a lowly Miami football program that was nearly dropped from the athletic department into a national champion in five years.

[citation needed] Following the departure of Howard Schnellenberger to Oklahoma, Ron Cooper was hired away from Eastern Michigan, where he had a 9–13 record in two seasons as the head football coach.

After winning the Orange Bowl, and only six months after agreeing to a contract extension, Petrino left after accepting an offer to be the head coach of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, a position he resigned before completing his first season, after 13 games.

[citation needed] Less than 48 hours after Petrino's departure for the Atlanta Falcons, Steve Kragthorpe was hired from Tulsa, where he had gone 29–22 in four seasons as the head football coach.

[28] Much of the fan base and media felt like Kragthorpe underachieved, was not a strong recruiter, and never had control of the program throughout his tenure as head coach.

[31] In January 2014, seven years after leaving for the Atlanta Falcons, Bobby Petrino left Western Kentucky to return to Louisville as head coach after Strong's departure.

[32] In 2015, the team won the Music City Bowl in their second year under Petrino, in part due to the outstanding performance of freshman quarterback Lamar Jackson, who ran for 226 yards and scored four touchdowns.

[33] The next season, Jackson, now the full-time starting quarterback, continued to impress, passing for 30 touchdowns and rushing for 21 more, leading Louisville to a 9–4 record, highlighted by a 63–20 win over then No.

Schnellenberger initially proposed building the on-campus Cardinal Stadium during his tenure at Louisville and is credited with keeping the project alive.

The indoor practice facility features a 120-yard FieldTurf field, a 100-meter four-lane sprint track, pole vault and long jump pits, as well as, batting cages for both baseball and softball.

Fueled by former head coach Scott Satterfield leaving for Cincinnati days before the bowl, Louisville won 24–7 to retain the Keg of Nails.

[75] Now the Cardinal Bird dubbed Louie appears at most Louisville sporting events and along with the spirit squad leads the crowds in cheers.

The group has been featured on ESPN, ABC World News Tonight, Oprah, Sports Illustrated, Extreme Makeover:Home Edition, just to name a few.

The tradition began when the team buses would stop on Denny Crum Overpass on Central Ave and walked through the tunnel towards the stadium.

This statue helps commemorate Unitas' stellar career, as football players give him a rub for good luck before taking the field.