Louisville's Offensive Line Adjusting to New Scheme, New Coach and New Roles

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Preparation for a new era of Louisville football is currently underway. Earlier this month, the Cardinals kicked off their first spring practice under new head coach Jeff Brohm, and as of this writing have conducted five of their 15 practices scheduled for spring ball.

As you can imagine with a new coaching staff roaming the sidelines for Louisville, there has been a plethora of change across the board. With that, one position group that will look very different in 2023 is the offensive line.

For starters, the guys up front will have to get used to a completely different style of offense under Brohm. Former head coach Scott Satterfield's offense was one of the more run-heavy systems in the Power Five, and now the offensive line is going to have to get used to an offense that routinely has some of the most passing snaps in college football.

"From a schematic standpoint, it's a little different than what they've done before," offensive line coach Richard Owens said. "We got a little bit everything you know, so it's there's a learning curve from techniques and just understanding defensive structures. It's a little bit of a curveball. We got to continue to develop, and learn, and increase our football intelligence, and keep moving forward."

Owens is one of nine new position assistants on Louisville's staff, but having a fresh position coach is something that the offensive line is used to at this point. That's because offensive line coach has been a revolving door for the Cardinals, as they've now gone four straight years with different coaches manning the position.

Fortunately, Owens has drawn nothing but positive reviews from the players under his tutelage so far through the offseason.

"He's been an amazing mentor," offensive tackle Renato Brown said. "He's a good father figure to come in. He's been helping me get in my playbook. Just being hard on me, and getting me ready for the next level. It's everything I can ask for."

Having a new position coach and a new scheme to run is one thing, but the biggest reason that Louisville's offensive line will look so different in 2023 is because of the impact players they lost.

Starters Caleb Chandler, Adonis Boone and Trevor Reid all graduated, and are currently working towards a career in the NFL. Luke Kandra, who was one of the Cardinals' top depth pieces and was projected to replace Chandler at left guard, opted to enter the transfer portal and follow Satterfield to Cincinnati.

It's not all bad news for the offensive line. They do return starters Bryan Hudson and Renato Brown plus impact reserve Michael Gonzalez, and have talented newcomers coming in, such as Virginia transfer John Paul Flores and true freshmen Madden Sanker and Luke Burgess.

That being said, developing quality depth right now is of the utmost importance for the offensive line. The coaching staff has been leaning on Louisville's top returners to embrace enhanced leadership roles ahead of the 2023 season, and so far, they have answered the call.

"I definitely feel like more of a leader," Gonzalez said, who is projected to take over as the starting left tackle. "It's just time for me to step up, and a lot of these other guys to step up in the room, and really take over and take this team where we got to go."

While offensive line is likely an area where Louisville wants to add at least one more through the transfer portal when it briefly opens back up in May, competition has been high through the first two weeks of spring ball. It's only going to get more fierce as the newcomers start to settle in, as others start to get acclimated to new roles, and as the older guys continue to guide those under them.

"We got a lot of new guys, a lot of young guys stepping into that twos group, and a few guys new guys in that first group," Gonzalez said. "It's just been a lot of competition, a lot of learning. We got Madden (Sanker) and Luke who just got here, and then we got a group of freshmen that just got here in the fall, so they've only been here one semester.

"It's just a lot of learning, and you got to teach them. They're gonna make mistakes, and that's how it goes. You just got to help them learn."

(Photo of Louisville lineman: Michelle Hutchins - Special to Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

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