Louisville football to wear helmet stickers honoring UVA players killed in shooting

Louisville defensive coordinator Bryan Brown and cornerback Anthony Johnson always kept in touch.

Even after Johnson left Louisville and ultimately transferred to Virginia, he would stay in communication with his former coach via a phone call, FaceTime or text. The conversations between the two Monday night and Tuesday morning were of a somber nature and ones Brown opted to keep private after a shooting on the University of Virginia's campus Sunday night left three Cavaliers football players dead and a fourth in surgery.

“I just wanted to check on him and make sure he was OK and send some good words,” Brown said.

What we know:Three University of Virginia football players killed, former player in custody

Brown, who also has a personal relationship with Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott, Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield and Cardinals offensive coordinator Lance Taylor all began their press conferences Tuesday afternoon by expressing their condolences and extending their thoughts and prayers to those affected by the tragedy. Taylor called it a “devastating act of violence.”

“This is a tough time for those guys in their program,” Brown said. “The only thing we can do from here is continue to pray for them and if there's anything else we can do, they'll let us know.”

Louisville will wear helmet stickers honoring Cavaliers wide receivers Lavel Davis and Devin Chandler as well as linebacker D'Sean Perry, who were killed in the shooting, during Saturday’s game against No. 17 NC State, Satterfield announced.

“Heartbreaking is the one word I would say that describes what a tragedy that is,” he said. “That's an extremely difficult situation for everybody to deal with, particularly that campus and really, everywhere. If you're a football player, you saw that. It affects you. I'm sure our kids, when the news came out, affected them in a way. It just puts life into perspective, that life is so much more important than football or anything else that we're doing, especially these young people.”

The incident took place in one of the campus parking garages Sunday night. Reports indicate that a group of students were on a charter bus following a field trip from Washington, D.C., when the shooting occurred.

On Monday morning, Christopher Darnell Jones, Jr., a former football player, was apprehended and charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was already facing disciplinary action from the school for failing to disclose a misdemeanor weapons conviction. A fourth victim, Mike Hollins, was undergoing a second surgery Tuesday morning; Sports Illustrated reported Monday night he was in critical condition.

"Words can't express how I feel because all I can think about is how close and what a relationship we build with our players," Taylor said. "They become family with us. Again, our thoughts and prayers go out to those young men who were involved in the incident, their families, and all those who were affected."

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Virginia football players killed: Louisville to wear helmet stickers