'A Lot of Learning' Awaiting Louisville Football in Spring Ball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Preparation for a new era of Louisville football is officially underway.
On Tuesday, the Cardinals held their first practice of spring ball inside L&N Stadium. It's also the first organized practice under head coach Jeff Brohm, who returned to his alma mater this past December following the departure of then-head coach Scott Satterfield.
"It's great to get out and practice, for sure," Brohm said following practice. "I think our guys want to do well. They want to work hard, they want to win. They're putting forth good effort, and that's a positive. That's got to continue to happen."
Related: Notes and Observations from Louisville's First Spring Practice
All across college football, it's customary to spend your early practices in spring ball mainly on scheme installations and things of that nature. Louisville is no exception. However, the Cardinals - like every other program who has undergone a regime change - have a larger learning curve than others.
The schemes on both sides of the line of scrimmage are going to be vastly different. Out with Scott Satterfield's run heavy offense, and in with Brohm's pass-heavy spread offense. Bryan Brown's 3-4 defense followed Satterfield to Cincinnati, while Ron English's 4-2-5 defense followed Brohm to Louisville.
Brohm loves the early effort he has seen from his guys since he took over, but he didn't shy away from saying that his team still has a lot to learn before they are game ready.
"I'm glad we're not playing a game today," he said. "We've got a long ways to go. There's a lot of learning that has to happen, a lot of studying that has to happen by players on their part, and with their coaches by themselves. They gotta invest in getting better, but I do think our guys want to do well. They want to excel. We've got to utilize all 15 practices, and make sure we continue to see improvement every day."
Undergoing a complete and total scheme change is one thing, but Louisville is also welcoming more newcomers than they typically would due to the roster overhaul that normally comes with a coaching transition. As of Mar. 22, the Cardinals are welcoming 15 true freshman and 12 Division I transfers. That number, especially the latter, has potential to grow when the spring transfer portal window open up in early May.
Related: Who's In, Who's Out and Who's Back for Louisville Football in 2023
With how many newcomers Louisville is welcoming, it might be hard for some to gauge what progress during spring ball actually looks like. That being said, Louisville still has talent aplenty despite losing key pieces on both sides of the ball. Guys such as defensive end Ashton Gillotte and running back Jawhar Jordan are back, plus the Cardinals are welcoming the No. 28 high school class according to 247Sports, and the No. 8 transfer portal class according to On3.
"I think you can see the talent level from certain guys right off the bat. You can see what they possibly can do," Brohm said. "We got to continue to build and develop, and make sure that we're finding out who your playmakers are, what they do best, what they excel at, how much they understand, how much they comprehend. You gotta push it as much as you can along the way, because you want to have enough bullets in your holster that you can figure out adjustments to make along the way."
While the players, both returning and new, will have a lot to learn and re-adjust to, so far, they seem to be grasping the new systems.
"Being an older player, it's a lot easier for me to pick up different calls and just adding them to the old calls," defensive tackle Dezmond Tell said. "Having a new scheme, it was kind of easy for me. For the new freshmen coming in, they're just sticking in the playbook, and it really should be easy."
The program is holding 15 total practice sessions, six of which are completely open to the public. It will all culminate with the spring game, which is set to take place on Friday, Apr. 21 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Between now and then, Louisville plans on incorporating as much as they can.
"In football, things happen very fast. There's a lot of moving parts," Brohm said. "If you don't know all the answers to the questions, you're gonna have hard time showcasing your ability. So that takes some time.
"I think they've worked hard but there's gonna be a ways to go. We've got to throw a lot at them, and make them learn as much as possible. Then as we get going into fall camp, we'll realize and figure out what we need to pull back. These are the things they really truly understand, let's concentrate on that, and make slight adjustments along the way."
(Photo of Khalib Johnson via University of Louisville Athletics)
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