and distance from home. In the summer of 1995, Redman signed a letter of intent to play college football at Louisville, his original choice, under new head coach Ron Cooper. College career Redman completed his college career as the NCAA Division I-A career leader in passing completions (1,031) and attempts (1,679). His 12,541 career passing yards ranked third behind Brigham Young's Ty Detmer (15,031 yards) and Louisiana Tech's Tim Rattay (12,746). Redman threw 84 touchdown passes and 51 interceptions and still holds virtually every single game, single season and career passing record at the University of Louisville. Redman played in 10 games as a redshirt freshman in 1996, starting the final five, and earned Conference USA all-freshman honors after he threw for more than 1,700 yards. In his first legitimate college action, coming off the bench to replace injured starter Jason Payne, Redman amassed 325 yards and three touchdowns in Louisville's come-from-behind win at Michigan State. As a sophomore in 1997, Redman started all 11 games and shattered single-season school passing marks in attempts (445), completions (261), yards (3,079) and total offense (2,958). Louisville struggled to a 1–10 record and head coach Ron Cooper was fired. In 1998, under the guidance of new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino and new head coach John L. Smith, Redman started 10 of 11 regular-season games as a junior and established Conference USA and Louisville season records for attempts (473), completions (309), yards (4,042) and touchdowns (29) despite missing a game because of a knee injury. His 404.2 yards-per-game average was the fifth highest in I-A history. On November 14, 1998, Redman torched East Carolina by completing 44 of 56 passes (with six touchdown passes) for 592 yards—the 10th-best single-game yardage total of all time. The Cardinals had a huge turnaround from the season before, going 7-4 in the regular season and participating in a bowl game for the first time since 1993. As a senior in 1999, Redman started every game and completed 317 of 489 passes for 3,647 yards with 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He became the first quarterback in Division I-A history to complete more than 1,000 passes in a career, and he matched the I-A record for most seasons (three) with at least 3,000 passing yards. Redman received the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (named for the former University of Louisville and Baltimore Colts star), which is presented each year