By Matthew Keck —
The University of Louisville football team is having success on and off the field this year. They are one of six teams who will receive the 2019 American Football Coaches Association academic achievement award Jan. 13, 2020.
Rocco Gasparro, U of L football spokesman, said this is a testament to the players’ commitment to academics. “It shows families of players that we recruit that it’s important that our players do what is right on the field and in the classroom,” he said.
This is the first time the Cardinals have received this honor. Air Force, Alabama, Clemson, Rice and Utah are the other five schools receiving this award.
Gasparro said if the Cardinals football team can maintain focus on academics, they will be repeat winners for this award in the future.
Each school recorded a perfect 1,000 for their-single year Academic Progress Rate (APR) for the 2017-2018 season. This is only the second year the NCAA has used the single-year APR to select a winner.
The APR is used to hold institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric. That metric accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for the academic year.
The APR works as such:
- Each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible.
- The team’s total points are divided by points possible and then multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team’s Academic Progress Rate.
Formerly, the award was based on a formula used by the College Football Association and AFCA from 1981 to 2007. From 2008 until 2017, the AFCA used the NCAA’s graduation success rate to score and select winners for this award.
Duke’s football program has received the most AFCA awards, earning 14 since 1981.
Head coach Scott Satterfield will be presented with the award during the honors luncheon in January 2020.
Graphic by Alexis Simon // The Louisville Cardinal
