Louisville TE Francis Sherman Enters Transfer Portal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville tight end Francis Sherman has opted to enter his name into the transfer portal, he announced Monday on social media.

"Grateful for the opportunity to call Louisville home for the last 4 years," he said in a post to Twitter. "Thank you to the people and fans of Louisville."

During his three years with the Cardinals, the 6-foot-3, 235-pound tight end served mainly as a reserve blocker in former head coach Scott Satterfield's scheme. He tallied one 13-yard reception in 2022, coming in the 34-33 loss at Boston College on Oct. 1. He played in all 13 games this past season, starting against both Syracuse and Virginia.

His only other receiving production came as a true freshman in 2020, when he caught three receptions for 19 yards and a four-yard touchdown in a 45-21 win over Wake Forest. In 35 career games and two starts, the Bay Village, Ohio native played 390 offensive snaps, with 320 of them coming as a pass or run blocker.

Sherman, along with the rest of the returning tight ends, had been in the process of adapting to the new pass-heavy scheme under new head coach Jeff Brohm. While there had been an adjustment period, tight ends coach Ryan Wallace believed the returners as a whole had been making real strides in spring ball.

"They're doing well. They're coming along," Wallace said. "Obviously, it's gonna be a process with the amount of different routes that we're going to ask them to run, and all that. We're working every day, and those guys have improved. But we got to continue to get better at the position, and that's that's always going to be the case. No matter what the situation is, you've always got to continue to get better and push on. You can't be complacent. Those guys have done a good job putting in extra work, and they're making improvements."

Sherman is the 21st Cardinal to enter the portal following the end of the regular season. Fortunately, Louisville has done a good job at countering their portal losses, landing 20 commitments via the portal up to this point.

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 Francis Sherman: Pat McDonogh / Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

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