CRAWFORD | Inside Pat Kelsey's electric first day as Louisville basketball coach

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The whirlwind had ended. The charter flight. The tour of the offices, complete with the name "Coach Pat Kelsey" already stenciled on the glass door. The meeting with players (more on that in a bit). The athletic board approval (unanimous).

On Thursday, Pat Kelsey accepted the University of Louisville basketball coaching job and injected a probably-not-legal dose of adrenaline into the hearts of Cardinal fans who weren't fully prepared for the jolt.

He had kissed babies, met Dani Busboom Kelly, Jeff Walz and Jeff Brohm, talked with Paul Rogers and Susan Sweeney Crum. He had met more boosters and staffers at a reception in Denny Crum Hall. After all of that, there was a minute to breathe, and to go get dinner.

Late Thursday night, I asked Louisville athletics director Josh Heird for his most memorable moment of the day. He said it came when he watched Kelsey's reaction as they arrived at Volare Italian Restaurant for dinner.

As Kelsey walked in, people saw him and the dining room erupted in applause. Then a cheer went up. "C-A-R-D-S, Cards!" Heird didn't plan it. And he couldn't have planned it better if he had.

If Kelsey wondered how his words went over on Thursday, he knew it in that moment. And that was the moment on Heird's mind at the end of a long day and an even longer search.

"Just the sheer amazement, joy, excitement from Pat when he saw the reactions from people who saw him tonight," Heird said. "It's just awesome to have that excitement around the program again."

Kelsey won the fans on Thursday. He ended the night with a Twitter Space (what world are we even in?) with a couple thousand Louisville fans. How did I miss that? Oh, yeah, I was writing this column.

I asked for reviews of his day on social media. I got them.

"I was in awe," Christopher Bishop said. "He came out swinging and never stopped. He owned everything. ... His energy draws you to him. You believe him when he talks about culture. We had no idea what we were missing until Pat Kelsey took the mic today."

Kelsey said a few things that were new on Thursday but a great many things he's been saying for years, wherever he's been. Other things, you'll hear from other coaches pretty regularly, packaged one way or another. But Kelsey believes what he says, and some of the things he said were like rain hitting the desert floor.

Asked how quickly fans could expect him to win, he squared up and said, "If you don't plan on winning, don't put your shoes on," he said. "I'm just being honest. That's how I'm wired. It may not be the right thing to say at a press conference, and you're trying to build this thing, and they won 12 games over the last two years — I don't know how to play any other way."

Coach, just stop. You had them at "shoes."

"Had me ready to run a marathon," Jake McFelea said.

Susan Jamison said, "I canceled our season tickets last year. I just renewed them today."

She wasn't the only one. Rick Wilson said, "I had four lower bowl tix I was considering giving up. No way now. All in with Coach."

Whether current players will be all in remains to be seen. I remember the tales of Rick Pitino's first meeting with his players before going out to make his acceptance speech in what seems now like another time. He introduced himself to every player as he walked into the room, then when they were all gathered, he again said, "I'm Rick Pitino, but I don't know who any of you are because not one of you bothered to introduce yourself to me."

Eyes got wide. And for 20 minutes, they got peak Pitino. There was little they could do but get ready. There was no transfer portal.

That's not the landcape, or locker room, that Kelsey stepped into. All but three Louisville players are in the transfer portal. Two current players (Skyy Clark and Tre White) were not in the team meeting Thursday.

I wasn't in the meeting. Those close to people who were say that the Kelsey the players got was amped up several notches from the crowd out in the practice gym who heard his speech. There were some "lift your head and look me in the eye" moments. He told them the most important thing in the history of the program is the next thing.

Suffice it to say, at Louisville, excited is the new cool. Energized is the default state. Eager is the cruising attitude. It's not politically correct to criticize anymore. Like so many things, Kelsey uses a phrase from his mentor, Skip Prosser. He calls it, "aggressive counseling."

I don't imagine that was part of what went on Thursday. But the players got a dose of who Kelsey is, and what he expects. We'll see if there are any survivors.

I just know that among the fanbase, even those who aren't necessarily converted are hoping for the best – and that's a start.

One fan replied to me, "I'm excited about the man. I'm still reserved about the coach, of course. Win the portal. Win the games. Earn our respect."

That's the job. It started Thursday. And by most accounts, that start was good.

"I don't think I've been this excited about Louisville basketball since 2013," Liz Crowe said. "The vibe is 100% different from anything we've had before and I cannot wait to see how it plays out."

We've gone, Mark Frazier said, "From Eeyore to Tigger."

Now we'll see if, under Kelsey, Louisville basketball will bounce back.

Related Stories:

• BOZICH | Kelsey takes dynamic first step toward uniting Louisville basketball
• Pat Kelsey shows passion, energy accepting the 'ultimate job' to lead Louisville's basketball program
• Pat Kelsey arrives in Louisville ready to take up the challenge of leading Cardinals basketball
• CRAWFORD | 4 things you should know about Pat Kelsey, Louisville's new coach

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