Jim Louk Has Had Perfect Attendance Calling USF Football Games
TAMPA, Fla. – The buildup to USF’s first football game on September 6, 1997, was a time that remains special to Jim Louk. He had been the voice of the university’s athletic scene for 14 years before the Bulls took the field against Kentucky Wesleyan. It truly was a new opportunity, a new chapter in his career. He just did not realize how big of a deal the beginning of that chapter would be.
“That was the first football game I ever called, so I was figuring things out as I went along,” he said. “The thing I remember most was driving to the stadium and people saying that there would be tailgating. I was like, ‘No, there’s not going to be tailgating.’ Sure enough, there were people out there with their tents and their grills and it felt like we had football. That was a pretty cool memory.”
It has been a pretty cool career for Louk, who announced this week that this 2025-26 athletic year will be his 43rd and final one calling USF sporting events. He will not go as heavy on the men’s basketball and baseball schedules, but he will still work some games.
“I will pull back and still do some games,” he said. “Certainly, not all of them. The baseball schedule can get pretty hectic.”
The landmark 1997 game at Tampa Stadium was the first of 341 USF football games that Louk has called. Every single one in the program’s history. That includes broadcasting remotely during travel-restricted 2020 as the pandemic raged. Frankly, he made it work at a time when others did not. Saturday night against visiting FAU will be No. 342.
“There have not been any close calls,” he said of potential hair-on-fire moments that could have surfaced during 29 seasons of travel. “It’s been pretty good. I have been fortunate.”
As for football games he counts as the most memorable, Louk said there are a handful, which, not surprisingly, serve as landmarks on the Bulls’ timeline.
“I think the inaugural game and everything that led up to it for all those years is still the most special,” he said. “The big upsets, obviously, like Notre Dame (2011), Pittsburgh (2001), Florida State (2009) and Miami (2010) were all great games.”
Hopefully, there will be a few more memorable games during his final football season.
READ: Sweet Potato Aside, USF’s Chase Leon Has Assimilated Nicely As A College Punter
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