Louisville WR Caullin Lacy 'Feeling Good' in Spring Ball Following Redshirt Season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Heading into the 2025 season, the Louisville football program isn't short on offensive weapons. The explosive running back duo of Isaac Brown and Duke Watson are coming back for another year, as is physical wide receiver Chris Bell. Returning tight ends Nate Kurisky and Jaleel Skinner have flashed some great things in spring ball.

Even with all those options, one of the Cardinals' top expected weapons for next season is Caullin Lacy. Coming off of a season where he was limited by a broken collarbone suffered on the final day of fall camp, the wide receiver is in a much better spot than he was for pockets of the 2024 season.

"I'm feeling good," he said following a spring practice last week. "I feel like last year just put another mindset into me that set that fire up underneath. I'm ready to go."

The 5-foot-10, 180 slot receiver was forced to miss the first three games of the season, and made his debut against Notre Dame, where he caught five passes for 71 yards. However, it was clear that his collarbone was still nagging him, as he combined for 10 passes for 108 yards in the span - although he did have a kickoff return for a touchdown against Miami.

But after that game against the Canes, Lacy announced that he would be opting out for the remainder of the season so that he could preserve his redshirt and be able to play the 2025 season.

Naturally, it was a decision that drew a fair amount of criticism both among fans and media, alike. While he admits it was a hard decision to make, it was one he doesn't regret making.

"It was very difficult for me to make that decision, with me loving my teammates, Tyler (Shough)," he said. "It was just hard for me to tell the coaches about my decision, and I'm still thinking about that to this day. ... It was a hard decision.

"I just had to make a choice, and I got to live with my choice and my decisions, and just go with the flow."

While many fans speculated that he would simply enter the portal following the end of the season, Lacy later announced that we would remain a Cardinal for his final year in college. Fans even got a sneak peek of what to expect from a healthy Lacy in the Sun Bowl vs. Washington.

While he logged just three catches for 17 yards against the Huskies, one of them went for a nine-yard touchdown where he had to muscle through multiple defenders to get to the end zone. He also logged an eight-yard end around for a score as part of the 35-24 win.

Fast forward the spring ball, and now that he has been in the offense for over a year, Lacy is in a very good spot in terms of his scheme understanding.

"I'm loving the offense," he said. "I've been for a year now, so I'm way more comfortable than I was last year coming in, having to learn another offense in eight months. Now it's been a year, everything just fresh and easy for me. Just come in and just play. I'm very comfortable on the field."

With Lacy in a good spot both in terms of his health and understanding of the offense, there's a very good chance we could see the 2023 version of him, when he was one of the most prolific and explosive wide receivers in all of college football while at South Alabama. That season, he caught 91 passes for 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns, with the receptions mark good for fifth in the FBS and the yardage mark coming in at sixth. He took home First-Team All-Sun Belt honors for his efforts.

It also helps that he will be paired alongside one of the best returning wide receivers in the ACC in Chris Bell. Last season, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound wideout had a career year, catching 43 passes for 737 yards and four touchdowns. With Bell on the boundary and Lacy in the slot, they're one of the top one-two receiver duos in college football.

"You got to guard one of us, you got to guard both of us," he said. "I'm on the inside, him on the outside. I'm a fast, quick guy. He's a fast, big guy. We're just two completely different guys, and you've got to guard both of us each play. You got to put your best guy on one of us."

Of course, it also helps to have another elite quarterback throwing you the ball. So far through spring ball, Lacy has been extremely impressed with Miller Moss, who transferred in from USC.

"I believe in him," Lacy said. "I feel like we could do so something special this year. I fully believe in him, and I feel like we can make some plays this year, and get the team some wins."

Louisville will wrap up spring ball with the annual Spring Game on Friday, Apr. 11. Kickoff from L&N Stadium is set for 7:00 p.m. EST.

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