Notes and Observations from Louisville's First Spring Practice of 2026

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Spring ball is officially here.

On Wednesday, the Louisville football program gathered at the Trager Center, and conducted their first of 15 sessions for their 2026 spring practice.

The session open to fans and the media, and Louisville Cardinals On SI was there for it all to watch the first day of the Cardinals' over month-long period of spring ball.

Considering it was the very first day of practice, there is bound to be an overreaction or two, especially since players were just in soft shell helmets and shoulder pads. That being said, below is our notebook of the more notable happenings that transpired during the first day of camp:

As far as who was running with the first team unit, for the most part it was about what I expected - although there were a few wrinkles when compared to my projected two-deep.
At quarterback, unsurprisingly, Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz got the majority of the first team reps. That being said, West Georgia Davin Wydner got a good amount of work in overall as well. Former walk-on Ryan Zimmerman and true freshman Briggs Cherry essentially split third team reps.
It shouldn't come as a surprise as to how the running back rotation was. Isaac Brown led the charge, followed by Keyjuan Brown (who now wears No. 5) and then Missouri transfer Marquise Davis. Former walk-on Braxton Jennings and true freshman Lekhy Thompkins split the end of the rotation.
At wide receiver, Florida State transfer Lawayne McCoy and TreyShune Hurry were consistently running with the ones. Since Vanderbilt transfer Tre Richardson is out for the spring, several guys rotated in and out of the third starting wideout spot - although Kris Hughes and Jackson Voth got the most reps.
My projected starting tight end, Tulsa transfer Brody Foley, is a little banged up and didn't participate in teams drills. The first team tight end on day one gave roughly equal reps across the board, but was mainly highlighted Jaleel Skinner, Tulane transfer Justyn Reid, and true freshman Julius Miles.
On the offensive line, they mixed and matched almost all day long between first, second and third teams, as well as between positions. But the most consistent first team OL, from left to right, was: Anwar O'Neal, Eryx Daugherty, Lance Robinson, Johnnie Brown III and Cason Henry. Evan Wibberly was surprisingly the second-team center, with Sam Secrest and Benjamin Corhei getting some reps here too.
Now onto the other side of the line of scrimmage. Unsurprisingly, Clev Lubin and A.J. Green were the primary edge rushers on the defensive line. As far as the first team on the interior, this was primarily Miami transfer Daylen Russell and Purdue transfer Demeco Kennedy. Kentucky transfer Jerod Smith II ran with the twos, but stuck with his more natural position on the edge.
In the middle of the field at linebacker, it was Stanquan Clark and T.J. Capers routinely with the ones. With Antonio Watts still rehabbing his injury, instead of Benjamin Perry getting the first team spot at STAR, it was Blake Ruffin - although Perry did rotate in frequently.
Finally, onto the secondary. The first team cornerbacks were primarily Tayon Holloway and Antonio Harris, with Elon transfer Brycen Scott and Texas transfer Santana Wilson backing them up (didn't see D.J. Waller, not sure if he's banged up too). At safety, Iowa transfer Koen Entringer and Tennessee transfer Kaleb Beasley were the main first-teamers, with Ole Miss transfer T.J. Banks rotating in.
A quick notes as to who stood out from a physique standpoint before diving into the actual practice. I knew Thompkins was a big running back, but he is every bit of his listed 6-2/235, and maybe a bit more. Reid is also well built as well. Miles is a bit on the skinny side in his lower body, and for sure needs to bulk up some. As the tallest QB on the roster, Cherry is a legit 6-4.
During the position drills, I spent most of my time watching the quarterbacks, and a little bit of the other offensive skill positions as well. It was evident from the jump that Kienholz is the best QB on the roster. All four scholarship signal callers have some mobility to them, but Kienholz certainly looked the best in mobility and footwork drills. He also has a very tight and snappy spiral, and his throws are noticeably faster than the other three. Wydner had a solid overall first practice, but you can tell his mobility and arm strength is a tick behind Kienholz. Cherry's accuracy was up-and-down for a lot of the day, which is expected from a true freshman, but he did flash some good things.
During the first 20 or so minutes of practice was positional drills. The quarterback had a segment where they practiced making the right read on read options (which I don't remember them ever doing this early), then teamed up with the running backs practicing handoffs for power runs and screen passes. They also had a 5-10 minutes segment working with the receivers for routes on air, and Hurry stood out the most here on both in and out breaking routes.
After this was a 7-on-7 period, and both the offense and defense got some good work during this segment. Voth made a good catch in tight physical coverage, McCoy ran a great hitch route, and Kienholz threw an absolute dime to Skinner - but it was dropped. On the other side, Wilson made a really good pass breakup, and Holloway leapt high into the air for an interception deep down the sideline.
Then there was the first 11-on-11 period of the day, but this couldn't have lasted more than a few minutes. The best plays here were a dime on the run to Hughes from Kienholz, and a sideline PBU from true freshman safety Jordan Vann.
Practice then transitioned back to a 7-on-7 period, and the defense seemed to have a leg up on the offense in this segment. Clark picked off Zimmerman, Banks got an interception as well (couldn't see who the QB was), Entringer came down in the box to break up a pass, and Beasley had a nice hit to break up a pass as well. Wydner got most of the work at QB in this segment, but Kienholz had a nice seam ball to Skinner, and Cherry delivered a strike to Hurry up the right sideline.
Following a water break was the first special teams action of spring ball. On the field goal unit, Carson Hilbert was able to nail a kick from around the 40-yard line, while Nick Keller - quite frankly - had some pretty bad misses. As far as who was getting work as a kick returner, this group included: Hurry, McCoy, Keyjuan Brown, T.J. McWilliams and Montavin Quisenberry.
Practice wrapped up with a fairly lengthy 11-on-11 session, and once again, both side of the ball got in some good work. Kienholz scrambled after the opening rep broke down (and showcased his burst in the process), and had another rep where he hit walk-on Jakob Dixon right in the hands on a deep shot. Cherry had one rep where he fumbled the snap, but the final rep of the day was a good ball to Miles over the middle. Quisenberry had a play where found the hole in a deep zone. Both Isaac Brown and Marquise Davis showcased their great burst, but the defense actually did a good overall job of bottling the run in this segment. Speaking of the defense, Perry blew up a screen, Wilson picked off Wydner (he was holding but still), Ruffin recovered for a PBU after initially being beat in man coverage, Scott had a leaping interception, and defensive lineman Bailey Abercrombie had a PBU on the line of scrimmage.

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