Breaking Down Louisville's 2024 Early Signing Period

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Following a great end to their 2024 season, the Louisville football program was able to parlay that momentum out onto the recruiting trail. On Wednesday, the first day of the 2024 Early Signing Period, the Cardinals were able to secure 15 Letters of Intent from their Class of 2025 high school commitments.

Who are the signees?

Offense

*QB Mason Mims (Highlights and Evaluation)
*RB Jamarice Wilder (Highlights and Evaluation)
WR Brock Coffman (Highlights)
WR Kamare Williams (Highlights)
*TE Grant Houser (Highlights and Evaluation)
*OT Gradey Anthony (Highlights and Evaluation)
OT Tyler Folmar (Highlights and Evaluation)

Defense

DL Bailey Abercrombie (Highlights)
*DE Dillon Smith (Highlights and Evaluation)
*DE Eric Hazzard (Highlights and Evaluation)
*EDGE C.J. May (Highlights and Evaluation)
*LB Caleb Matelau (Highlights and Evaluation)
*LB Cameron White (Highlights and Evaluation)
*CB Antonio Harris (Highlights and Evaluation)
*S Micah Rice (Highlights and Evaluation)

*Early Enrollee

What were some of the top storylines?

While the majority of Louisville's high school recruiting efforts came during the summer and into the early goings of the fall, there still was a little bit of drama and fireworks on the first day of the early signing period.

Eric Hazzard turned down a late push from Mississippi State, where he is a legacy prospect. Florida State had also shown a lot of interest in C.J May over the last couple months. Conversely, Louisville themselves flipped Brock Coffman from Ohio and Kamare Williams from Arkansas.

There were a handful of other prospects that Louisville was after as well, but ultimately lost out on. Defensive back O'Lontae Dean picked Iowa, while linebacker Kellen Wiley chose Miami and wide receiver Carl Jenkins Jr. re-committed to UCF. They also tried flipping safety Lo'Kavion Jackson from Mississippi State and wide receiver Naeshaun Montgomery from Florida, but were unsuccessful.

Who is Louisville still targeting?

As a result of yesterday's action on the trail, we've very likely seen the last of Louisville's recruiting efforts in the 2025 high school cycle - but there is still one player to monitor.

Offensive tackle Chastan Brown, who was a big time target over the summer, recently decommitted from UCF after head coach Gus Malzahn left to be the OC at Florida State. The Cardinals immediately re-inserted themselves into the mix, but so has FSU and a few others.

Don't completely rule out Louisville potentially adding more high school talent during the traditional Signing Day in February, but from here, expect them to almost exclusively focus on recruiting the transfer portal to address remaining roster needs for 2025. Especially since we don't yet know who plans on entering the portal after the bowl game.

Who was the best recruit to sign?

Going by the 247Sports Composite, Louisville's two best players in the class - one on each side of the ball - were C.J. May and Mason Mims.

May was the Cardinals' highest-ranked prospect in the class at No. 469, per the Composite, and it's easy to see why. The edge rusher finished his senior season at Highland Home (Ala.) HS with 81 tackles, 16.0 for loss, 6.0 sacks, 24 QB hurries, one interception, three forced fumbles and four blocked punts. He's got a high ceiling and a very clear path to early playing time.

While Mims might not be starting quarterback in 2025, don't count out him potentially being the guys later on down the line. Ranked as the No. 526 prospect in the cycle by the Composite, he's extremely accurate and has above average arm strength. He completed 71.4 percent of his throws for 3,315 yards and 37 touchdowns to just four interceptions during his senior year at Oxford (Ala.) HS.

Where did Louisville excel in the Early Signing Period?

While Brohm has long established himself as an offensive minded coach, Louisville actually did a good job on the other side of the line of scrimmage in the front seven.

Linebackers Caleb Matelau and Cameron White are both very athletic and good against the run, and the latter also is extremely versatile. Edge rusher Eric Hazzard has progressed well over his senior year and is a finalist for Mr. Tennessee Football, while Bailey Abercrombie has good pass rush moves for a defensive tackle.

Considering that they lost a pair of wide receiver commitments earlier in the cycle (LeBron Hill in June and Jordan Allen in November) , Louisville also did a good job of scrambling last minute to make up for it. Kamare Williams has a great set of traits and generated a lot of power conference interest, and Brock Coffman is very shifty and a good short route runner.

What positions do they need to hit next?

Given how Louisville's roster currently shakes out after the first wave of transfer portal defections, there's one very big area that they need to hit moving forward: the secondary.

That's not a knock against Micah Rice and Antonio Harris, as they both are good players. But the only returning regular contributor is safety D'Angelo Hutchinson. Cornerback Tayon Holloway played well, but it's likely he won't be coming back after getting arrested and suspended following the Stanford game.

The other four returning scholarship defensive backs (Jathan Hatch, Daeh McCullough and Rae'mon Mosby and Blake Ruffin) only played a combined six snaps on defense in 2023. While this quartet very well could take collective steps forward, Louisville absolutely needs to bring in at least a couple experienced defensive backs for next season.

(Photo of C.J. May via University of Louisville Athletics)

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