The Louisville Cardinals college football team is the pride of the University of Louisville. The Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division member has earned nine conference title wins, including being named co-champs of the ACC in 2016, and has appeared in 22 bowl games, most recently the 2017 TaxSlayer Bowl. The Cardinals' head coach is Scott Satterfield, who is new to the team as of the 2019 season after joining them from Appalachian State. Louisville plays at Cardinal Stadium, a 60,000-seat venue located on the University of Louisville campus that received some major renovations in recent years.

Louisville Cardinals Football History

The University of Louisville fielded a football team for the first time in 1912. The Cardinals were independent until joining the Missouri Valley Conference from 1963 to 1974. Louisville also spent time in the Big East between 2005 and 2012 and, since 2014, has been in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Louisville saw a resurgence in success and popularity after World War II thanks to Frank Camp, who was head coach from 1946 to 1968. Under his watch, the Cardinals earned their first bowl win, in the 1958 Sun Bowl against the Drake Bulldogs. Several of the team's greatest athletes also played during Camp's tenure, including speed-minded offensive catalyst Lenny Lyles and future NFL great Johnny Unitas. From 1951 to 1954, Unitas racked up 3,139 yards and 27 touchdown passes as the Cardinals' quarterback. Decades later, head coach Howard Schnellenberger also steered Louisville to a renaissance between 1985 and 1994, including a victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl.

Louisville has fielded dozens of All-American players and also has a Heisman Trophy winner, as quarterback Lamar Jackson nabbed the coveted honor during the team's successful 2016 season. The Cardinals' major rival is the in-state Kentucky Wildcats. Since 1994, the two teams have met every year, with the winner of the game taking home the Governor's Cup. In years past, Louisville also had fierce rivalries with the Memphis Tigers and the Cincinnati Wildcats. Until 2013, the Cardinals squared off against the latter team in a yearly contest with the victor receiving a trophy known as the Keg of Nails.