Competition, Camaraderie Fueling Louisville's Quarterback Room Ahead of 2024 Season

While the Cardinals have a clear frontrunner for QB1, the competition and camaraderie is elevating the position as a whole during the offseason.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Coming off of a very successful first year under head coach Jeff Brohm, the Louisville football program will be looking to try and replicate said success from the 2023 season, if not more, in 2024. But if the Cardinals are to reach 10 wins or get back to the ACC Championship again, they'll have to do so with a new starting quarterback under center.

With Jack Plummer officially exhausting his eligibility, the Cardinals are handing the keys to the offense over to Tyler Shough, who joined Louisville earlier this offseason after spending the first six years of his collegiate career split between Oregon and Texas Tech.

While Shough comes with a bit of an injury history, he gives Louisville a very high talent upside. In 26 combined career games with the Ducks and Red Raiders, he has completed 63.2 percent of his throws for 4,625 yards and 36 touchdowns to 17 interceptions, along with 714 yards and 10 scores on the ground.

Related: QB Tyler Shough Making a Smooth Transition to Louisville

But while Shough is the heavy favorite to be QB1 when Louisville kicks off their 2024 season against Austin Peay on Aug. 31 at Cardinal Stadium, Brohm recognizes the importance of continuing to develop the entire quarterback room.

"(Shough)'s been a good leader to this point," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "We want to continue to push that position and make sure that Pierce (Clarkson) and Harrison (Bailey) and Brady (Allen) and all the components we have in that position are getting better because at some point you're going to need them all."

Fortunately, Shough also subscribes to this notion. Not only does he believe that the success of the team directly correlates to the success of the quarterback room as a whole, he believes it is equally as important for the position to have a high level of camaraderie as well as competition.

"I think the number one thing in a successful team is the camaraderie, and the gelling of those guys on the team - especially to the quarterback room, because you drive a lot of success," Shough said. "You have the ball in your hand a lot of the time. So whenever the team sees that, we're working hard, we're competing together, we're having a lot of energy. I think everybody else can feed off of that as well, and it's no different here. We all come from different places, different backgrounds, but we all know what we're trying to do, what we're trying to accomplish and we like to have fun."

Through the first week of spring practice, redshirt freshman Pierce Clarkson has been taking the bulk of the reps at the backup quarterback position. The Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco product joined Louisville as a four-star recruit and top-400 prospect in the Class of 2023, but played just one game last season. Taking charge for a drive in Louisville's 56-0 blowout over Murray State, he went 1-2 for seven yards with a three-yard rush against the Racers.

Clarkson admits that his first year at the college was a big transitionary period for him, both on a physical and mental level. But as Louisville kicks off their 2024 spring practice, Clarkson says he feels much more comfortable on both fronts.

"The first year was definitely a learning period and an adjustment, for sure," he said. "There were a lot of changes that I needed to make. Physically, definitely gaining weight and getting my body bigger. Then mentally, it was definitely an adjustment coming to Louisville. I mean, it's a big playbook.

"There was a lot to try to learn all that at first, and then once I first got it down pat, it just felt like everything started running smoothly. Coming into the spring, I feel more comfortable with everything, even in the winter workouts just leading up to spring ball. Everything just felt more comfortable, like it was flowing naturally."

However, don't count out redshirt senior walk-on Harrison Bailey in the battle for the backup quarterback spot, as the former five-star prospect from the Class of 2020 has looked good through the early goings of spring ball. Like Clarkson, his playing experience last season was also limited to a single drive against Murray State, going 3-for-5 for 60 yards and a 34-yard touchdown.

Entering his final season of collegiate eligibility and second season with the Cardinals after transferring in last offseason from UNLV, Bailey says he already has a firm grasp on the offense. He says it will just come down to putting together "meaningful" reps in practice.

"Our conversations (with Jeff Brohm) from after the season, we just talked about little things, like getting my speed up," Bailey said. "He knew that I already knew the offense pretty well, it's just getting those reps and making those reps meaningful, if that makes sense."

Additionally, redshirt sophomore Brady Allen - while his early reps in spring ball have been mainly with with the third- and fourth-team - also serves as a legitimate option for QB2. He is now in his third season in Jeff Brohm's offense after spending his true freshman season at Purdue, and has taken a significant step forward from his showings in fall camp last season.

Allen also saw reps in a drive against Murray State last season, completing one pass for seven yards. If he is to eventually become the backup to Shough in 2024, "mastering the offense" will be a big reason why.

"I think for me, it becomes mastering the offense," he said. "This will be my third year in it now, so I think getting to that point where I'm coming to the line of scrimmage and I know everything that I need to do. Then just keep working on my body, keep trying to gain weight, put myself in the best position possible."

When put all together, you have a quarterback room that epitomizes wanting to compete to be the starter, but also can do so in a non-toxic manner and still be incredibly close-knit in the process.

"Number one: you got to get the right type of guys," offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Brohm. "You got to get guys that just want to be better, that love ball, that want to grind. So, if you get all those guys in the same room together, there's going to be competition, they're all going to want to start. But you want good people that can compete in a healthy way that's going to make each other better."

(Photo of Harrison Bailey: Sam Upshaw Jr. - Courier Journal / USA)

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