Louisville Players Leaning on Each Other During Uncertain Times

With the fate of the 2020 college football season in rapid fluctuation, the players for the Louisville Football program are relying on each other to keep their spirits high.

It's been a roller coaster few days for the University of Louisville football program.

Last week the ACC unveiled the the week-by-week schedule of their updated 2020 football schedule, which gave both the players and coaches a little bit of hope that the upcoming season would in fact be played.

But then that hope was quickly supplanted by real doubt.

Over the weekend, sources told Sports Illustrated that high-level conference meetings were being planned throughout the week across the college football landscape - with the expected resolution of postponing or outright cancelling the 2020 football season.

With the status of the season under so much uncertainly, inside linebacker CJ Avery admits that at times it has been hard to keep it off his mind.

"It's kind of in between, you kind of think about the season," Avery said Tuesday when asked if it was hard to focus during fall camp. "But also ... we gotta work no matter what. Regardless if we play or not, we've gotta be ready. That's how we're approaching the situation."

One way that they have been maintaining their poise, even in the face of a potentially cancelled season, is to rely on one another to press forward.

"It's been kinda crazy for us, but we stay with each other and told each other that we're gonna lean on each other through this time," Avery said. "As a team you know we gotta stick together and keep working."

Avery is also using his status as a leader on the defense to keep people in high spirits. In 2019 the senior from Grenada, Miss. led the team in both solo & assisted tackles (62 & 31 respectively), and also chipped in with 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, six pass break ups, three quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.

"If we walk around, have a smile on our face, have great energy, then the young guys - they'll follow," he said. "That's really what we've been preaching to ourselves and our leadership group. We just make sure we keep the team up. We make sure the energy is right, the vibes are right around the building."

They're not going about it alone though. Athletic Director Vince Tyra joined a team Zoom call on Monday night, and was able to give the players faith that their efforts would not be put to waste.

"We feel good about our chances of the season," Avery said. "From what I got from (the meeting with Tyra) was the ACC - they're standing on what they believe in and what they're gonna do. It's up to them to make that decision."

Louisville will return to the practice fields Wednesday morning at 9:30am for their eighth practice of fall camp. The Cards are set to kickoff the season against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday, Sept. 12 at Cardinal Stadium.

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