Louisville's T.J. Capers Taking the Necessary Steps Forward Following Critical Comments

The redshirt freshman linebacker for the Cardinals drew criticism from his defensive coordinator at the start of spring ball.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Spring ball is in full swing for the Louisville football program. With the Cardinals getting their early preparation in for year two of the Jeff Brohm era, there have plenty of standout performances in practice up to this point. As such, the coaching staff has spoken glowingly about some of Louisville's top expected playmakers in 2024.

However, a player for the Cardinals that seemed to be in the doghouse entering spring ball was T.J. Capers. One day removed from Louisville's first of 15 practices this spring, co-defensive coordinator Ron English raised some eyebrows when he voiced his displeasure regarding the linebacker. When asked what sort of role he expected Capers to have in 2024 amongst an experienced linebacker room, English not only said he didn't anticipate one yet, but offered some not-so-thinly-veiled criticism.

"I got to see more," he said. "I don't anticipate any role yet. T.J's got to do what we ask him to do. Whatever it is we ask him to do, he's got to do that. There's some things that we've asked him to do that he has not done. As you can tell, I'm not pleased about it at all. We want him to have a role, we brought him here to do that, he's a highly recruited guy. But he's got to do what we ask him to do, and it's not an option."

Considering his pedigree as a high school prospect, hearing this answer was nothing short of a disappointment. At the time of his commitment to Louisville in January of 2023, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker/edge rusher hybrid ranked as high as the No. 5 prospect in the Class of 2024 according to Rivals, and was the highest-ranked prospect to ever commit to Louisville in the modern recruiting era with a 247Sports Composite rating of .9957.

The Miami, Fla. native would later reclassify to the 2023 cycle so that he could sign with Louisville a year early - partially so he could rehab a knee injury - and he still ranked as the No. 126 prospect nationally. Despite having the ability to play in four games before burning a redshirt, Capers did not see the field this past season.

It's now been a little over three weeks since English's comments on Capers. As it pertains to spring ball, Louisville is entering the home stretch, with 10 of their 15 practices now in the books. During that time, it seems the Capers has responded to English's public criticism, and has started to correct whatever it was that he was lambasted for.

"What I'll say is, he has made a decision to try and improve daily," linebackers coach Mark Ivey said on Tuesday. "I think he does a good job of taking coaching. He doesn't get real sensitive about stuff. He's willing to listen to whatever it is you're willing to tell him, because I think he wants to get better. There's a skill set in there. A quickness and some some like explosiveness, and that is starting to show up. I think T.J. is, on a day-to-day basis, continuing to grow and get better."

That being said, Capers likely still has a while to go before he carves out any sort of meaningful role on the defense. Ivey noted that Capers has been primarily running with the third-string inside linebacker group, alongside true freshman early enrollee Trent Carter. Returners T.J. Quinn and Jaylin Alderman consist of the first-stringers, while Texas A&M transfer Jurriente Davis and Stanquan Clark are the backups. Unlike this time last year, it's a two-deep where Louisville has a lot of experience, production and not a lot of questions heading into the season.

Another reason that Capers probably has some time before he becomes a factor on the defense is because of his youth. While he is entering his second year at the collegiate level, had he not reclassified, he would be entering his true freshman season right now. Considering he'd also be an early enrollee freshman at the moment, there's a chance that Capers might not even be on campus had he not moved from the 2024 cycle to the 2023 one.

So while Capers is making progress, Ivey knows to have some patience when things don't go perfect during practice. The bottom line is that Capers is trying, and that's something that he can appreciate.

"You gotta put that in perspective, because some of the things he's doing, you just got to remember how young he is," Ivey said. "He's going to continue to improve, he's going to make strides, and they should be big strides. Because when you're that young, there's so many things you can improve upon. I think he's very interested in doing that. I'll say this too: repetition is what gets you where you need to be. But as far as being able to give answers in the meeting room, he's there with that. Now, we got to be able to get it to translate to (the field). Ball got snapped, things are moving fast, I can go fit where I need to be and I can do cover where I need to cover."

Additionally, Capers' own teammates have noticed his progression during practice. Most importantly, they get the impression that he cares not only about making progress from a personal standpoint, but from a team perspective as well.

As a football player, you can tell TJ cares," linebacker Jaylin Alderman said. "He cares about football. He has like a million questions, so you can tell that he loves doing what he's doing. He also wants to know what's going on, not just from a linebacker standpoint, but from everybody else on the defense. He he has grown tremendously."

(Photo of T.J. Capers: University of Louisville Athletics)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter