Long time University of Louisville Sports Information Director Kenny Klein recalls old times and old friends from his 39 year Hall of Fame career.
Since 1983, the Louisville Athletics Department has known many changes, good and bad. One practical mainstay have been the duties of Sports Information Director Kenny Klein. Anyone not living in a cave since then is comfortably familiar with his name. However, Klein is a man who doesn’t seem to embrace the limelight that he has surely earned. He doesn’t have a checkmark on Twitter. He doesn’t go hunting to claim credit for work he’s done. He doesn’t seek the attention at all.
I was granted an interview with Klein amidst his busy schedule to kind of sum up his almost 4-decade career at UofL in a blurred short film known as this article.
Humble beginnings
For Kenny Klein, it all started in college.
“I was pre-med, and quickly got involved doing (sports information) as an undergraduate my freshman year,” he said. ”I ended up switching majors and transferring to Murray State.”
The readiness was all.
“Honestly, I was more of an apprentice than a college student because I was spending every waking moment doing what I’m doing now,” Klein explained.
When he says he’s been doing sports information direction since then, he means it.
“I was fortunate to get a job right out of college at Morehead State as sports information director, and from there to UofL,” Klein said.
But what—or who—was his connection to the Louisville job opening when the time came? This is where the plot thickens.
“Don Russell was at Morehead State, and went to UofL, and when the position came open, he encouraged me to apply,” Klein said.
Louisville fans know Russell as longtime WDRB sports play-by-play announcer when the Cards were shown on local television stations. Yes, THAT Don Russell, just to give the reader a grasp of the timeline. Needless to say, a lot has changed in sports information since those days.
The times they are a-changing
“From a technology standpoint, you can imagine from 1983 to now—I mean, I was working on a manual typewriter when I got into this stuff. There were no cellphones at the time,” Klein said.
All the while, I was conducting this interview on a cell phone. I like to think Kenny was sitting at his desk using a rotary telephone.
Alas, with some of the changes came obstacles along the way. Especially recently. Coaching changes, scandals, infractions, losing seasons, COVID to name a few.
“Any time you have challenges, you deal with whatever those challenges are and try to get them behind you as quickly as possible,” Klein said. ”When we’ve had a stumble, we have fought back and kept the ship moving. We’d love to get it back to where I know all the fans would love it to be.”
Looking back at the years Klein has held the position he has, its kind of crazy how far the program has come since he has been around UofL.
“My job (has been) different every year. Some of the elements remain the same, but its different every year. You get to a point when you want to leave things better than when you arrived. I don’t think there’s any question UofL Athletics is in a better position than it was in 1983,” Klein said.
I pointed out to Kenny that I was born in ’83. Literally my entire life I’ve known Kenny Klein is at Louisville. Its been etched in my brain. I pondered his legacy, and asked him about it in his own words. Well, he wasn’t having any of that hero talk.
“I don’t really think about a legacy. I try to treat people appropriately. I try to put all my effort into my job. I’m about helping people—the fans, the student-athletes—so they can have the best experience. Working with local media, making sure they have what they need to tell those stories,” Klein said.
As a chaptered member of exactly *one* press conference in my reporting/blogging career, I can attest that Kenny was as helpful, hospitable, accommodating, kind, and professional as can be. So, I can attest to that last part 1000%.
The legend of Kenny Klein
I mean, this guy has had to deal with maybe the craziest, most rabid faction of college sports media on the planet, and he’s impressed thousands, meanwhile making zero enemies along the way. His day-to-day responsibilities are off the charts crazy.
“In season, I’d probably get a couple hundred (emails per day),” Klein explained.
All the interactions he’s had over the years, I wondered if any stood out.
“There’s so many, if I started naming names I would leave out way too many people,” Klein said. ”The staff within the whole athletic department are great people. I will tell you two names—my first year, Lancaster Gordon and Charles Jones were the first two seniors on the basketball team when I got here. I really wasn’t more than a couple years older than they were at the time,” Klein said.
Wrap your head around that fact. Klein was stoic throughout the entire chat. And through his entire career. He walks away from UofL with a staggeringly accomplished and storied career under his belt. Both local and national media love and respect him. He is endeared by countless others.
“I have so many great friends over the years,” he said.
Thank you, Kenny. For everything.
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