Louisville's Linebacker Room Making Steady Improvements in Fall Camp

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Last season, the linebacking corps was arguably the most dominant unit on the field for the Louisville football program at any given time. The trio of Yasir Abdullah, Monty Montgomery and MoMo Sanogo combined for 222 tackles, 35 tackles for loss and 20 sacks, helping the Cardinals finish the 2022 season as the FBS leader in sacks per game, while also coming in at seventh in tackles for loss per game.

For this upcoming season, the linebacker spot is going to be wildly different. Not only will the position be utilized in a much different under the new 4-2-5 scheme that is being co-operated by Ron English and Mark Hagen, but Louisville lost most of the production from the position. Abdullah is now in the NFL, Sanogo graduated and Montgomery - as well as projected starters Dorian Jones and K.J. Cloyd - hit the transfer portal.

As a result, Louisville does not have a ton of returning experience here. The Cardinals' five returning linebackers combined for just 65 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and three pass breakups. Heading into the upcoming 2023 season, many are perceiving the linebacker position - especially inside linebacker - to be a massive weak spot on the Cardinals' defense.

However, the position might not be in complete dire straits like one would think. While depth is a bit of a concern, the linebacking corps has made steady improvements over the first week of fall camp.

"I think we're continuing to improve," linebackers coach Mark Ivey said. "We we definitely made strides throughout the spring. You're learning a new defense and, it's a different group of guys. There's been some transition and changes with the guys, so what you got to do is just keep training, and keep learning, and keep working with the guys that are here.

"I think right now, they are doing well. Are we anywhere near where we need to be? No, we've still got quite a ways to go. But things are looking better and better every single day."

While Louisville undoubtedly lost a lot of big names at linebacker, the current crop of 'backers for the Cardinals haven't been too shabby through the first week of fall camp. A large part of this is because their level of confidence within the new scheme has been growing with each passing day since it was first installed back in the spring. For a position where their main role is reading and reacting to what the defensive line does, having the confidence and lack of hesitation to make a play is a crucial component.

"You see them having a little bit more confidence on a day to day basis," Ivey said. "I think, especially at that position, with as much as you got to do on the back end and be able to help in the passing game, when that thing hits, you got to go strike. Your mentality is constantly being contradicted, and you got to be able to figure it out very quick. So, playing with confidence and not being scared to make a mistake is huge. I think that, right now, we're getting better at that every day."

This confidence has been on full display during the first week of fall camp. In fact, one of Louisville's top performers during the preseason has been T.J. Quinn, who will likely be one half of the starting inside linebacker duo. He has made numerous plays across each of the first four days of camp, both around the line of scrimmage and dropping back in pass coverage. Already one of the more physical and athletic players on the defense, this mainly comes from an increase in confidence over the course of the offseason.

"He's one of, if not our biggest, linebacker," Ivey said. "He shows speed, burst, and acceleration. So if you got size, and you got speed and burst, and he's definitely a smart young man, then all you got to do is be confident in what you're doing. That comes through knowing what you're doing, having it memorized, staying locked in, and then you can play fast ... His confidence is the one thing that he has improved vastly one."

The other half of the projected starting inside linebacker duo, Oregon transfer Keith Brown, has also looked good over the first week of fall camp, especially this past Friday and Saturday. But what has really impressed Ivey has been Brown's leadership despite being a newcomer, and how everyone else at the position has fed off of him. The first time the two met, Brown took numerous notes on his iPad. That is something he continues to do, and the other linebackers have adopted his attentive tendencies.

"Keith is really good. He's a really smart guy, and has done a good job with that. The other guys are feeding off of that, because I think they were also doing a good job with that as well. That makes it really nice that. when you got guys that are not just gonna say, 'Hey, I'm talented. I don't need all this.' Instead it's, 'I'm talented, but I definitely need all this because everybody I'm going against is just as talented.' He's a smart young man that loves the game."

Other guys at the inside linebacker spot, such as Jackson Hamilton, Jaylin Alderman and true freshman Stanquan Clark, have all continued to make progress as well. Over at the STAR position, which is a linebacker/safety hybrid, Benjamin Perry, Gilbert Frierson and Antonio Watts are building on great springs to have hot starts to camp.

With still two weeks left in fall camp, Ivey believes his guys are only just starting to scratch the surface of what they can do.

"I believe that the guys are starting to gel and starting do some good things, and we'll continue to get better as we go," he. said.

(Photo of T.J. Quinn via University of Louisville Athletics)

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