ESPN Analysts Praise Louisville's Spring Transfer Portal Recruiting Efforts

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At this point in time, you'd be hard pressed to find a college football program that hasn't been heavily impacted by the transfer portal.

The 15-day spring transfer window closed this past Sunday, and more than 1,000 players across the FBS and FCS levels opted to enter the portal during that time. It's not a matter of if a program will see players depart via the portal, but how many they lose, and how well that program does in terms of replacing the talent that leaves.

In terms of that last point, not many schools had a better 2023 spring transfer portal period than Louisville did. With the talent they were able to bring in via the portal following spring ball, a couple analysts at ESPN believe that the Cardinals did the best job out of any team in college football during the spring at improving their team through the portal.

A quartet of ESPN college football analysts recently broke down the spring transfer portal window. When asked which team improved the most from the spring window, two of them - senior writer Adam Rittenberg and reporter Tom VanHaaren - said that it was Louisville. Analyst Tom Luginbill picked BYU and national recruiting coordinator Craig Haubert picked USC.

"Jeff Brohm could be building a fringe ACC title contender in Year 1 of his much-anticipated homecoming to Louisville," Rittenberg wrote. VanHaaren followed that up with "If we're talking about additions in the spring window, it has to be Louisville. Brohm and his staff were able to add some big pieces in the spring, which could end up molding their roster and speeding up the rebuilding process."

Rittenberg pointed out the impact additions that Louisville made on the defensive side of the ball, such as former North Carolina teammates cornerback Storm Duck and safety Cam'Ron Kelly, as well as former Oregon linebacker Keith Brown. VanHaaren liked what he saw out of the additions the Cardinals made to a position of utmost need in offensive line, specifically highlighting former Purdue offensive tackle Eric Miller and former Houston offensive lineman Lance Robinson.

In fact, Rittenberg also believes that Louisville landed the most impactful transfer this spring. When asked who was the biggest impact transfer this spring, he picked Duck's commitment to the Cardinals. Duck was a Second-Team All-ACC corner in 2022, catching three interceptions and logging nine pass breakups.

"Duck was one of the biggest names in the winter transfer window as he transferred from North Carolina to Penn State," he wrote. He once again entered the portal in the spring and is leaving Penn State for Louisville. ... New coach Jeff Brohm immediately upgraded a secondary that is switching schemes with a new staff. Duck should be a big part of that defense in 2023."

In total, Louisville has landed seven transfer commitments since their spring game on Apr. 21. On top of the five aforementioned players, they also landed former Rutgers offensive tackle Willie Tyler and former Georgia cornerback Marcus Washington Jr. Since the end of their 2022 regular season, the Cardinals have landed 20 players through the portal.

Of course, UofL has seen plenty of transfer portal action in the other direction, too. They have seen seven players transfer following the spring game, and 21 since the end of the regular season. Fortunately, the talent gained seems to far outweigh the talent lost, with Louisville's 2023 transfer portal ranking coming in at No. 5 in FBS football, according to On3. Only USC, Colorado, UCLA and Arkansas rank ahead.

The Cardinals finished their 2022 season with an overall mark of 8-5 (4-4 in ACC), including a 24-7 win in the Fenway Bowl over Cincinnati. They'll kick off their 2023 season against Georgia tech in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. on Friday, Sept. 1.

(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Jeff Faughender - Courier Journal and USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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