LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Three University of Louisville head coaches with proven, winning track records are being rewarded for their service.

Director of Athletics Josh Heird announced in a news release, the University of Louisville Athletic Association Board of Directors approved contract extensions for men’s tennis coach Rodrigo da Silva, women’s golf coach Whitney Young and women’s soccer coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes.

University of Louisville head women's soccer coach Karen Ferguson Dayes (Louisville Athletics)

Ferguson-Dayes is the longest tenured coach at UofL. She is entering her 25th season with the Cards and is the program’s winningest coach with 206 career victories. Her contract was extended through the 2026 season.

To go along with success on the field, players under Ferguson-Dayes have also excelled in the classroom. The overall team grade point average was 3.74 in the fall and she had eight student-athletes earn record perfect 4.0 GPAs in 2023, the highest team GPA on campus.

Entering his sixth season leading the men’s tennis team, da Silva was given a five-year extension through June 30, 2029. The men’s tennis program has been ranked in the top 25 in last two seasons. Seven of its players were nationally ranked in singles and five in doubles in the top 85 during da Silva’s tenure at UofL.

Last season, doubles pair, Natan Rodrigues and Etienne Donnet reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Men’s tennis Doubles Championship—the furthest UofL has ever gone in a doubles tournament. The duo also finished the year with the best ranking for a tandem in school history at No. 4 in the ITA Rankings.

Louisville Women's Golf NCAA Regionals in 2019 with Delaney Shah and coach Whitney Young (Louisville Athletics/Adam Creech)

Women’s golf coach, Whitney Young, was also given a five-year contract extension running through 2029. She was just named as an inductee into the Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame. Like da Silva, Young is beginning her sixth season with the Cardinals, but she’s been with UofL for seven seasons, having served as an assistant coach for two seasons under coach Courtney Trimble.

Young, a Glasgow, Kentucky native, has taken the program to a pair of NCAA Regional appearances and led a pair of individuals into the NCAA tournament last season. Young’s teams have recorded three tournament wins and five top-three finishes during her time at UofL.