L’s (and I cannot emphasize this enough) DOWN
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Last season, Louisville surprised most with its success. In Coach Jeff Brohm’s first year as head coach at his alma mater, Brohm broke quite a few barriers. Underneath his leadership, the Cardinals went 10-4, recording their first ten-win season in a decade. Louisville capped off its run with a debut in the ACC Championship, ultimately falling to the Seminoles 16-6. In the offseason (instead of trying to leave the ACC) Coach Brohm obtained the second-largest transfer portal class in football. As far as recruiting classes go, Louisville’s 2024 class is pretty standard. The 2024 class ranks top 40 nationally and includes the likes of Georgia native and previous Georgia Tech commit, Duke Watson. As a result of last year’s unprecedented success and clever moves inside the transfer portal, Louisville received a respectable preseason ranking of 21.
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Louisville’s top three offensive players in 2023 (Jack Plummer, Jawhar Jordan, and Jamari Thrash) are now lacing it up in the league. Defensively they lost cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr., safety Cam’ron Kelly, linebacker Jaylin Alderman, and defensive tackle Jeff Clark. Despite the absence of some leaders, the Cardinals return several key pieces from last year’s team.
Offensively, running back Chris Bell and wide receiver Maurice Turner are back. Chris Bell was the second-leading receiver last year with 29 catches and 407 yards. Maurice Turner was the Cards third-leading rusher in 2023 with 62 carries for 284 yards. Louisville returns some exceptional defensive players as well including highly decorated defensive end Ashton Gillotte (All-ACC First Team, Second Team All-American, and ACC All-Academic team). Defensive back Quincey Riley was the backbone of Louisville’s secondary in 2023 earning All-ACC Honorable Mention. Riley recorded 45 tackles, two interceptions, and eight pass breakups in 2023, including three solo tackles and a pass breakup against GT. Defensive back Devin Neal also returns. He had 47 solo tackles and four interceptions last year. Finally, team tackle leader (91) linebacker TJ Quinn also is back for his third season.
Defensive coordinators Mark Hagen and Ron English are heavily responsible for the success of last season. While Louisville’s offense finished the season ranked middle of the pack, their defense finished first nationally in Red Zone defense, first in the ACC against the run, and 21st overall.
Coach Brohm looked to the transfer portal to fill any other gaps. First up, Tyler Shough, a grad transfer from Texas Tech who Coach Brohm grabbed early on to fill the gap at QB. Shough spent two seasons at Oregon before transferring to Texas Tech in 2021. In each of his three seasons with the Red Raiders, Shough was seriously injured. In 2023, a leg injury in against West Virginia ended his season. In 2022, a shoulder injury kept him sidelined for six games. In 2021, a broken collar bone limited him to just four starts that season. Despite his limited playing time, Shough was a real difference-maker when he did see the field. He was 8-0 at Texas Tech in games, which he started and finished. In his freshman year at Oregon, Shough backed up Justin Herbert. He earned the starting position in his sophomore year and helped lead the Ducks to a PAC-12 (rip) Championship and a Fiesta Bowl appearance.
Louisville added even more talent to an already stacked receiver room this offseason. Caullin Lacy from South Alabama is primed to greatly contribute to Louisville’s offense this year. Lacy tallied seven touchdowns, 91 receptions, and 1,316 yards last year for the Jaguars. Another notable receiver is Ja’Corey Brooks from Alabama. Brooks spent three seasons at Alabama, the first two were quite impressive, but last year he fell flat, recording only three catches and 30 yards.
Donald Chaney is a running back who will likely impact the Cardinals’ success on the ground. Chaney spent four seasons at Miami, averaging 34.1 rushing yards a game over his career. Last year he recorded a season-high total of 107 rushing yards against the Jackets.
On defense, Louisville didn’t have any massive gaps to fill but managed to grab some good players from the portal. The Cardinals recruited Thor Griffith, a grad transfer from Harvard. Griffith was easily one of the best defensive tackles in the Ivy League last year. Corey Thornton from UCF adds depth to a less-than-stellar secondary. Thornton recorded 139 tackles and four interceptions in his four-year career with the Knights. He also made his collegiate debut at Bobby Dodd in 2020. OLB Myles Jernigan and DE Tramel Logan round out the transfers on defense, adding experience from Cal and USF respectively.
Brohm has recruited a great deal of transfer talent to his team. When asked about his use of the portal at this year’s ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, Brohm said, “We’re not scared to change the roster, improve our football team, whether they’re starters or they provide great competition, they play a role.” The advantage of transfers is gaining talented, often overlooked players, hungry to succeed in a new environment. The disadvantage lies in this group’s ability to gel together. Most of these transfers are older guys who have spent three to five years in their previous program(s). By the time GT sees Louisville, it will be evident as to whether this mish-mash of talent has formed into a team.
Transfers aside, Ashton Gillotte is Louisville’s guy. Gillotte finished eighth nationally with 11 sacks last year. He received a ton of accolades and is on the shortlist to acquire even more this year. Gillotte is a dynamic athlete and with the right players around him, he stands to be a real problem for any opposing offense.
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Louisville’s greatest strength is its defense. In 2023, their rush defense was incredibly successful, but their pass coverage was mediocre at best. In last season’s match-up, Haynes King connected with receivers in the air for three of the five touchdowns Tech scored. Despite that stat, last year’s opener at Mercedes Benz didn’t bode super well for the Jackets. The game started with a pick from King in the first two minutes (boo!). However, the Jackets maintained their composure and ran all over the Cardinals’ defense in the second quarter (yay!). The second half was a bit of a cluster. Tech was outscored 26-6 in the second half and a late fumble turned 74-yard touchdown sealed the win for Louisville (boo!). This year Tech travels to Louisville on September 21st. This match-up is bound to be incredibly scrappy given the power on defense to defend the run game. However, I have seen Georgia Tech’s ability to maneuver through this defense successfully once, and I hope to see it for all four quarters come September.