Caleb Chandler Becoming a 'Tremendous Leader' for Louisville's Offensive Line
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When Scott Satterfield took over the Louisville football program following Bobby Petrino's firing towards the tail end of the 2018 season, there were a plethora of holes on the Cardinals roster. One of the biggest was on the offensive line, as years of imbalanced recruiting by the previous regime had left the line extraordinarily bare.
Fast forward to 2022, and you can make the case that Louisville has the best offensive line in the ACC. Tackles Trevor Reid and Renato Brown have generated some slight All-ACC buzz over the summer, Adonis Boone has handled the transition from left tackle to right guard extremely well, and Bryan Hudson has a lot of potential as the full-time center. Not to mention the high-upside depth pieces like Michael Gonzalez, Luke Kandra and Austin Collins.
Louisville's offensive line would already be in the top half of the ACC with this group alone. But add in left guard Caleb Chandler to the mix, and that's what gives this line the potential to be one of the best in school history. But not only is he oozing talent and ability, he is embracing a leadership role heading into his final year in college.
"He's been a tremendous leader for us," offensive line coach. "That's one of the things we talked about. Over the offseason, I'd see him in the weight room, and I'd say, 'Hey, you got your picture all over the place, you're out here reading these news clippings. Do we still got that same dog up front that's willing to finish somebody? Do we still got the same guy out there that's willing to drive somebody down the field and finish him, or are you too pretty now?,' and he just puts that smile on his face and he comes out here to work."
Following a bit of a slow start to the 2021 season, Chandler exploded down the stretch to become one of the best linemen in the ACC. He helped Louisville average 209.8 yards on the ground per game, with the overall offense finishing the season averaging 446.2 yards, which was 21st in FBS.
Not only was the Jefferson, Ga. native voted as a First Team All-ACC selection for his efforts, but he was also named as one of the top 101 players from the 2021 season according to Pro Football Focus. According to PFF, he earned pass-blocking and run-blocking grades of 90.0+ from week six onward, becoming the only Power Five guard to do so. He could have easily declared for the NFL and been a high draft pick, but he opted to return for his final year.
All of that success has translated into a boatload of preseason hype. Chandler was named a member of the 2022 preseason All-ACC team, and also has received preseason All-American honors from several publications. But like Cardwell alluded to, Chandler has taken all this preseason recognition in stride, and is only looking to get better.
"I'm looking for nothing but improvement," he said at ACC Media Days last month. "I know as the BOBs (Band of Brothers), the offensive line, we didn't start too hot in the first two to three games of the season, so I feel like it we just start from day one, those numbers can go up. I'm definitely expecting to make them go up."
So far through the first week of preseason fall camp, Chandler has been backing up his vow to improve. Instead of resting of his laurels, he has turned heads in practice, including that of Cardwell's.
"We had a lot of great clips from today's practice that showed me he's hungry for more," Cardwell said. "He's hungry for more, and he ain't scared to get down and dirty. He hears all that stuff, but he's put it all aside. He came back for one reason, and that's to win a championship."
Louisville is set to begin the 2022 season when they travel to upstate New York to face Syracuse on Saturday, Sept. 3.
(Photo of Caleb Chandler: Michael Wade - Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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