InsideLouisville, where we introduce you to the people, places and things that make up Kentucky's largest city.

This week, meet Louisville Kings head coach Chris Redmond.

Now, if you're from around here, you may remember Chris Redmond from his days as an all state quarterback playing at Louisville Male High School.

Or maybe you remember him from his record breaking collegiate career at the University of Louisville, where he is the school's all time leader in passing yards to this day.

Or perhaps you remember him best from his nine seasons playing in the NFL, including a Super Bowl win with the Baltimore Ravens.

[MUSIC] Well, today, Chris Redmond is back home in Louisville and now with a new title of coach.

Late last year, the United Football League announced its expansion, which includes its first team in Louisville, and they named Chris Redmond as head coach.

The Louisville Kings are the only professional football team in Louisville and all of Kentucky, kicking off their first season here later this month, where they'll play at Lynn Stadium, home of LOU City and Racing Louisville soccer teams.

And the fans are ready to welcome Louisville's new professional football team.

>> Life is about opportunities, you know, and what you do with it.

And so you're going to have a platform right here in your your home state and what you do with it, it's up to you.

And so, and I think we got the right guys to do some great things.

And you know, this is going to help off the field as much as on the field.

You know we want them to to go to represent this city and this state.

And the the utmost respect.

And I think there I think we got the right guys to do that.

Obviously I love throwing the ball.

And that's that's something that I, you know, was just just did from high school all the way through the NFL.

But your players dictate what you do.

I would be a, I wouldn't be doing my coaching job if, if we're going to go out there and practice and see what we do best and we got a quarterback that a couple quarterbacks that can really run the ball too, and people around here like running quarterbacks.

I know that for a fact.

And so so I'm excited for for these people to see what we do good.

And so we're going to find that out in practice.

So we we think we know what we got, but we really don't know until you get out and practice.

And so once we get down to Dallas and roll that ball out, we're going to figure out where we are and then we'll go from there.

Watching guys like Benny Snell come out and play and and Willie Tyler you know these guys are good, good human beings that that represent this city and stuff.

And I want to get more.

I want to keep keep adding more guys to the team as much as we can.

And some guys were signing other contracts and so it didn't work out.

But at the end of the day, we want to be good.

We want to be competitive, not just putting people on there.

These are all guys that can compete at this level and bring a championship home to to Louisville.

So at the end of the day, we want to be very competitive.

And I think that's what people really want to see is the competitive team that goes out there and and does everything the right way.

>> Someone said, you know, we could win by the Greensburg, Thomas and.

>> Kentucky is they care about their sports.

Now, you know what I'm saying?

So for us to be able to, you know, bring the professional team here, it's all come together.

I think this will this will.

I feel like the fans will shock themselves on like how, how well we do and you know, how we come together and how we perform.

So electric electric.

I feel like that's a, a good two, two sides that can come together and make and make a strong, strong impact.

So I'm excited for that and I'm ready to hit the ground rolling.

>> It's exciting because it's new to Louisville and I think everybody likes football.

And to be able to see something like this be formed in Louisville is really cool.

I heard that they're going to be playing at the stadium, so I was like, this is gonna be awesome.

It's exciting because we need more, and I feel like this is already a little big city, so it just helps us expand more.

So this is great.

I think their logo, their colors, everything is really cool.

So I'm excited to see what comes about.

>> We were really big fans of Benny Snow when we were younger, so we made this in 2019 and we wanted him to be our Valentine.

And he was going to the combine and we were just really excited for him.

>> You know, we've always wanted something like, you know, I'm a huge football fan and now that we have this game, it's because someone can get behind and support my favorite sport.

So I'm so excited.

Thank you.

And some of our favorite players and coach dressing play the football here.

[MUSIC] So.

Now you got everybody.

It was a great player so I.

[MUSIC] Always looking out for the boys.

You know the guys are playing really well for us here.

We want to see them continue to do well.

So really excited to have them back on the field.

We had a couple of fan groups on like social media, Facebook and that and they're a lot of excitement about it.

So I'm really hopeful that we're going to somehow to sell out and just a really supportive therapies.

[MUSIC] Yeah.

So I think it's going to be wild.

You know, we have always been kind of a.

[MUSIC] College space Mike.

But I just think it's awesome.

[MUSIC] I feel like the support of the house is something big and stuff to, but we'll see how we did.

I hope everything comes down.

I really liked the Snap.

>> Just being being a part of the first team.

You know, we got big plans.

Hopefully bring back a championship to Louisville.

So I think it'll be really exciting this first year to just get things rolling and, you know, make the city happy.

But personally, I think it's going to be sold out.

I don't know how many seats Lynn Family Stadium has, but I expect everybody to show up and show out just how they do for the Louisville games.

We combining the Kentucky playmakers and Louisville playmakers with some other great playmakers, and we're just going to make the city proud.

And you know, hopefully see y'all every game.

Pack the stadium.

>> Dawkins come on win.

Yeah.

>> All right.

>> Well everybody's excited about a professional football coming to Louisville with the Louisville Kings.

And head coach Chris Redman is here to tell us all about it.

And what a great story you have also of becoming head coach here for this professional football team and your long history in Louisville.

So I want to talk all about it.

But first, how are you feeling going into this home opener?

Right.

>> Well, thanks for having me on.

And we're feeling really good.

We're so excited.

We put an incredible coaching staff together, had an awesome draft, got some really, really talented players and excited for these guys to be around Louisville more and see what kind of special home this was for me and, and the atmosphere that we're going to bring to these games.

So really excited times for, for all of us.

>> And you've got a couple Kentucky U.S.

players.

>> Yes.

Benny Snell we got we got Willie Tyler the third from Louisville.

And so so we're really excited to to have these guys that are from around here and people can see some familiar faces.

And so that was important to me and I know it is for the community.

So we're, we're just really excited to.

And, but we have a lot of other great players.

And, you know, we didn't want to just have local guys.

We wanted to have people that are the best talent.

These guys are coming on and off of like practice squads in the NFL and played a lot of time in the NFL and are kind of back and forth.

So this is an opportunity for them to showcase themselves, to get them back into the NFL.

And that's, that's kind of what we want.

We want these guys to to play at the highest level.

And you'll see this this kind of this caliber football is a very high level and really excited for for the people of Louisville to, to see these guys play.

>> Yeah.

Talk a little bit about what you want the fan experience to be like here.

Also playing at Lynn Family Stadium.

What's it going to be like there?

>> Well, what an incredible venue.

You know, Lynn Family Stadium downtown.

And you know it's just I don't know if you've been there or not, but like you're so close to the action and like, and there's probably gonna be some words that you never from the football field that that's going to be out there, but it's going to be really cool.

The actions right there.

And, but I think it's going to be an incredible family experience for, for, for people to come out even before the game, after the game, it's going to be a lot of, you know, not thunder over Louisville, but I hope really close to Thunder over Louisville type of experience.

And we want to have some music and some entertainment halftime shows and tailgating before.

So all that kind of stuff to me makes it, like you said, an experience.

And that's what we want to have is for families to come out and enjoy the day.

We got a home opener that's going to be incredibly exciting.

And then we got a Thursday night game before the derby.

That's going to be really exciting.

So those are some of the games that we're really looking forward to and and excited for people to show up.

>> Okay, so let's, let's go back to the beginning here and everybody from around here probably remembers you from male high school, University of Louisville.

Yeah.

And okay, so let's talk about playing at mail.

And for your dad.

>> I did.

>> As coach.

When did you first discover a love for football?

>> Well, I grew up on the football field.

So my dad, he coached over 40 years.

So I grew up on the sidelines.

You know, the ball boy or water boy, whatever we had to do.

And and I would always play my own football games in the end zone like those kids do.

And so I kind of grew up around coaching.

I grew up around guys in that locker room.

And so for me, that's kind of home.

And so, so it was a really easy transition.

And I coached a little bit in high school when, you know, when I retired from football.

But, but growing up, I was always watching my, my dad and the way he handled players.

And I put him, you know, at a motivational skills with him and Ray Lewis, their two incredible motivators that I was fortunate enough to be around.

And that's something that, you know, I'm going to have to do it my own way.

I'm not going to be just like my dad, but I saw the way, the right way and the wrong way to, to do, to do coaching.

And my dad was a very, very good coach.

And so I was really excited and lucky to, to have him to show me some of the ways to, to motivate these guys and just to be yourself, you know, and, and so that's what I'm excited about is and lucky enough to have that experience from, from my dad coaching, we won a state championship my, my junior year, which is his first one.

So it was an amazing experience.

And to be able to continue on that, that coaching experience has been has been really lucky and very blessed.

>> Did you think then that you maybe a coach one day, was that a goal for you?

>> I don't know if it was a goal.

I, like I said, I wanted to to be around sports and I got a, I wanted to be a sports administration degree and at the University of Louisville.

So I didn't know exactly if it was coaching or around football.

But I guess coaching kind of comes naturally natural for me.

And I love being around the kids and, and these guys that are now the grown men, but they're very, you know, hungry to play.

And I love that enthusiasm.

And, you know, the, it's just hard to replace when you're running out of that tunnel to go to a normal job.

You know, I was very fortunate enough to play football until I was 35 years old.

So I played a long time.

And it's kind of hard to follow that experience in that excitement every day is when, you know, you get a chance to to represent a city.

You know, I was fortunate enough to be in Baltimore and Atlanta, which is a great cities and, you know, and running out of that tunnel was, was something very special to me.

And so now I get to do that again here in my hometown and just so excited for that.

>> Yeah.

Nothing like being home.

Absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

So let's, let's talk about your career at University of Louisville.

Yeah.

Where you still hold all the all time passing record.

Yeah.

What what kind of things did you learn from your career that you're passing along to the players that you're coaching now?

>> Yeah, I guess not many people know.

When I played at Louisville every year I had a different coordinator.

So I had like, I played for so many different coaches and I only had one year.

Everybody thought I played for Bobby Petrino, but I only had him for one year, and we were the top offense that year in the country.

And then my senior year, we were the top offense as well with Scott Linehan.

So I had a lot of different types of coachings, I guess, coaching styles that I learned from.

And you know, we, we had a really, really good, good offense.

And it was, it was fun to, you know, I was very fortunate enough to have great players like Ivan Green and Lavelle Boyd and Arnold Jackson.

Some of the guys that, that, that I got a chance to play with in, in, in college.

And, and so that was a lot of fun to do it with some guys from Louisville from here.

And we got to be pretty, pretty exciting to watch.

So, but it was, it was something different every year.

So I had to learn kind of new terminology and everything else.

So it was a lot of work too.

You know, when you're changing offensive coordinators, you know, the terminology change and some of the subtleties of coaching changes and stuff.

So but that was good for me, I think in the long run, because you know, when you get to the NFL, you kind of have to bounce around.

And so I was already used to that like able to adapt and change and, and so, and that probably helps me in the coaching career too, because, you know, more terminology, you know, a lot, a lot of different things how people coach.

And so, and turnover is, is a big part of coaching as well.

So you have to kind of be ready for that.

So all those things I think added up to help me right now where I'm at.

>> Yeah.

And then your career in the NFL.

Yeah.

What what sort of things did you learn from that that you're in posing on the these players right now?

>> Yeah.

Being a part of a Super Bowl team.

My rookie year was special.

And you know I remember you know what it took to to go.

First of all it's a long season.

And you know it takes a lot of commitment and preparation.

And you know all the things that you think it takes.

That's what it takes.

It's it's a lot.

It's a lot of hard work doesn't just happen, you know, and so to be a part of it and a lot of times too, it kind of comes down to the fundamentals of, you know, tackling, catching and, you know, taking care of your responsibilities, taking care of your body.

All these things I think are going to help me with this team.

And you know, that those experience, that experience, I have a lot of guys on my coaching staff that that were with me in that Super Bowl run too.

So really excited to have them a part of the team and wanted to see Louisville.

But two, I know I've kind of bled and sweat with these guys, and so I trust them.

I know they're going to be there and they're gonna be great coaches.

>> Like you mentioned, your career is taking you all over the country.

Did you ever did you ever think you would end up back home or what?

Was that always a plan or did you even think about it?

>> I didn't really think about it too much, but if there was ever anything to be created, whether it's an NFL team or a professional team like this, I want to be a part of it, you know, because I want I have such a love.

And I think if that's if anything can remember me for anything, it's like such a love for this city and how much I appreciate it.

When I was playing them, supporting me.

And even now, you know, everybody's, you know, they're they're coming out to support me.

And I really appreciate that.

And, and, but we want to make sure we don't take that for granted and put a really good product.

And I'm working extra hard to, to make this team successful.

And, and I'm real excited about what we're going to put on the field.

>> So we talked about your, your dad, but going back to family.

Yeah, your son Brett is a cancer survivor.

Yes.

And this story is just incredible.

Also played football and has now gone on to college.

And first of all he's doing well.

>> He's doing great.

Yeah.

He's you're like you said a a cancer survivor.

And you know, our his junior year, you know we're getting ready for playoff game.

And it's a big game.

And and he's kind of complaining about his back for the last few weeks.

And we're running these 150 yard sprints.

And he's you know has to take a knee after every sprint.

I'm like, you know, you don't know if it's like football injury or if it's like, you know, so of course, luckily I had an incredible neighbor that was a gastroenterologist, Doctor Jahn, and he said, hey, go get it.

Just go get it checked out or whatever.

And so we did.

And that's when we found out he had a football sized tumor in his stomach.

And we were on the operating table the next day.

And then you had to have a plan.

And so like, I think football really helped him get through that process because you go through tough times, you know you have to go through a lot of hardship to to make it to the season.

And and we got through it.

You know, he had six surgeries and four rounds of chemotherapy that we lost, you know, a ton of weight and everything.

But he, he beat it.

And we were through that.

And like, to me, you know, I had a, I had a platform, I told people I had a platform in NFL and he has a platform now as a cancer survivor.

And it's the same platform however you want to use it.

And he's using it well.

And now he's an incredible ambassador for the V Foundation.

We've already raised a lot of money for cancer patients in hospitals, and he's buying video games and giving them to him.

And we had such a successful Christmas Eve this past Christmas Eve.

And he to me, him seeing that it's more important now to help others look at his story because it's such a positive story that he actually survived cancer, came back.

We ended up winning a state championship, working on a children's book.

Now, like there's a lot of things that that that's great that can come out of a horrible situation.

So for me, that makes me really proud that he can go to a kid that's laying in the hospital and say, you know what you're going to be, you're going to be okay.

And you're there's something great is going to happen because of this.

And that's just, it's, it's a mindset.

And I think he's figuring that out.

>> It's an incredible story.

And his foundation now, like Britt Britt, which I love.

Yes.

And you talked a little bit about how football kind of helped him and his perseverance that he already had, but I imagine those skills helped you as a dad going through that situation.

>> Oh, yeah.

No, that's the you know, you go through something like that.

You know, obviously everybody says that, man, I would much rather it happen to me than your, your, you know, child.

And so you know, that that definitely makes, makes puts things in perspective like, yeah, it's, you know, it's fun to compete.

It's fun to make money.

It's all, there's great things, but, but Health and like your family, that's, that's what you realize how important life is and how short life is and how things can be taken from you in a heartbeat.

So don't take anything for granted.

And so I, you know, I think my son's learned that and I've learned that too in this, in this situation.

But you know, now we have a great opportunity here to, to, to do some positive things and just really proud that that his foundation is doing so well.

And it's we've already done twice as much as we've done last year.

So we're just wanting to grow it and, and really see where it goes.

But yeah, the Gritt Like Britt Foundation you can look it up.

>> Wow, that's it's an incredible, incredible story.

So what do you hope people experience with this new I mean, this is the first professional football team we've had in many, many years here in Louisville.

What what do you want people to take away or remember about it?

>> Well, it's going to be a lot of guys that work really hard to put a good product.

And these guys, you know, they're doing it for a living.

So it's not like they were just playing for fun or it's a pick up game.

It's going to be on national TV.

We're on Fox, ABC and ESPN.

So we're going to we're going to really put a good product.

And I think people are going to realize we have an incredible quarterback, multiple really good quarterbacks.

And so I'm really excited about these guys showcasing their skills.

And you know, I think people are going to realize, wow, this these guys one they're fast.

We have three guys that are all running four threes on a team that the speed of the game is.

And you're going to be so close to those to the game that I think you're going to kind of feel it.

You know you're going to.

>> Yeah it's a different experience.

>> It is a different experience when you when you're there.

And so that's, that's where I think the player's going to like it because it's just so intimate, you know, and I think it's going to be an incredible environment.

And so I want it to be the hardest and the toughest place to play in the UFL.

And I think it will be.

>> In a broader sense.

What do you think this does for the city of Louisville and elevating it to a national spotlight?

>> Well, we don't we don't know what we're auditioning for.

Who knows down the road, if we come out and support this, which I know they will.

And, you know, we've seen like the basketball tournament and all these different things that that's happened around Louisville, how Louisville really engages in that and takes pride in that.

So I'm excited for for us to showcase our city and show the support that that they're going to bring.

And I think that might open up doors down the road that we don't really even know.

Like it could be some, some monumental things that are coming to, to Louisville down the road.

So, and, but this is, this is very, very big.

This is going to last a long time.

Mike properly has done an incredible job of, of really putting a great brand together.

And we got incredible other investors like the Rock, you know, and so like the entertainment value and what they want to do, this is going to be around for a long time.

So I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised on how big, you know, an event this is going to be for, for our city.

>> Yeah, there's been a lot of talk, as you know, for many years about if Louisville can support a professional sports team of any kind.

What do you do you think this one is different?

>> I think it is.

I think I think people are going to really get behind it.

And, you know, the the experience of tailgating, I think that's a big deal.

You know, like the Louisville games or Kentucky games, people, they want to come out.

They want to enjoy, you know, getting around people.

The binding of of before game after game.

I want to have people come on the field, take pictures with the players and have a really good experience with with their family and really enjoy just the environment of, of what the stadium brings and just the atmosphere.

We want to have country music singers, we want to have all kinds of entertainment at our games.

And so when they, when they leave, they're like, man, I'm going to come back to this.

This is a this is an event.

>> Yeah.

And not just for Louisville, for the state of Kentucky.

It's the only professional football team in the state.

Yes.

And so how are you all hoping to attract fans from other places to come here?

>> Well, we're located really centrally, you know, to some, you know, obviously in Indianapolis and Cincinnati and Nashville.

And so we're in a good spot.

So all these people, if they want to come in the spring, you know, there's a lot of people that love football and and they're going to be able to afford it too.

It's not it's not like, you know, some of these professional sporting events now are like, it's going to be really expensive.

And this is a very affordable, great experience that you can have in a great city.

And then afterwards, you're right there in the middle of Nulu and C downtown.

You know, like I think it's going to be really be uplifting for our city.

And, you know, the mayor and everybody is really behind this.

So I'm, I'm just really excited that we'll see where this grows to.

And I think it's going to be bigger and bigger.

And who knows, the stadium might have to get a little bit bigger because we are selling tickets like crazy.

Just excited for this football team to really come together and, and get a chance to, to represent the city that I love and hope everybody shows up and, and, and be really loud, especially on third down.

>> I love it.

All right.

>> The Louisville Kings home opener is coming up Friday, March 27th at Lynn Family Stadium.

You can watch and share this episode online at KET dot Johnny Nash InsideLouisville.

And don't forget to follow us on Doubt.

When you follow us on Instagram, you can find us at KET n LOU.

Thanks for spending a little time getting to know Louisville.

I hope we'll see you here next time.

Until then, make it a great week.