Jeff Brohm, Louisville 'Fired Up' to get T.J. Capers on Campus for 2023 Season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Since his arrival this past December, head coach Jeff Brohm and his staff have done a masterful job of roster management for the Louisville football program. They retained many of the highly-rated prospects from the 2023 class following Scott Satterfield's departure, and have added numerous playmakers via the portal.

One more elite playmaker is joining the Cardinals ahead of their upcoming 2023 season.

On Tuesday, Miami (Fla.) Columbus outside linebacker T.J. Capers, who was one of the top prospects in the Class of 2024 and a longtime Louisville commit, announced that he had reclassified to the 2023 cycle and signed with the Cardinals. He officially enrolled that morning, and was on campus later that day.

The staff at Louisville, Brohm included, are ecstatic to not only be able to sign a prospect of his caliber, but get him on campus early.

"We're excited about TJ Capers, and we're fired up to get him here," Brohm said in a press conference Thursday. "I think he can be an outstanding football player for us."

At the time of his commitment, which came on Jan. 7 during the All-American Bowl, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker/edge rusher ranked as high as the No. 5 prospect in the nation according to Rivals. He also surpassed Michael Bush for UofL's highest-rated all-time recruit in the 247Sports Composite. Capers currently ranks as the No. 155 prospect in the 2023 cycle by 247Sports' in-house rankings.

That being said, Brohm did admit that it could a while before Capers becomes a regular fixture of Louisville's defense. Not only does he not have the benefit of going through spring ball with the program and getting a head start, he will heading into fall camp during what would have previously been his senior year in high school. On top of that, Capers is also rehabbing a knee injury that he suffered towards the tail end of his junior year.

"Now, the reality is, he still should be going into senior year of high school. So there is gonna be a learning curve," Brohm said. "He hasn't been here training with us, he just arrived late Tuesday night, early Wednesday morning. It's a lot to learn.

"He had a knee injury at the end of the year that he's still rehabbing. There's a lot of things, so we're not going to have high expectations early on for him. We want to make sure he feels comfortable with what he's doing, he gets healthy. We'll get him on the field when he's ready."

However, Brohm did not rule out completely the possibility that Capers could receive an immediate opportunity to contribute. Given Louisville's relative lack of depth at linebacker following the departure of multiple impact players in this area of the field, plus Brohm's own reputation of getting lots of early reps to young players, it's not inconceivable that Capers could be a regular fixture in their front seven by season's end.

It all comes down to how quickly Capers can get up to speed with his teammates, and how well the rehab for his injury goes.

"(Early playing time)'s not going to happen right away, but at the same time, I'm not going to put anything past someone coming in," Brohm said. "We're going to get him healthy first, and make sure that he feels good when he's on the field. He's able to practice at a high level. We've got to get him up to speed with terminology and educate them on what we're doing here, and that takes time."

"It's gonna be a little more of a process with him. I haven't had this happen before as a coach, so we're gonna be patient, and make sure that we give these guys every opportunity. But at the same time, make sure they're ready when they step on the field."

The Cardinals will kick off their 2023 season against Georgia Tech in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. on Friday, Sept. 1.

(Photo of T.J. Capers via the Savannah Morning News)

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