EKU Transfer DL Tommy Ziesmer Commits to Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program is dipping back into the transfer portal to land a local product on the defensive line.

Former Eastern Kentucky defensive tackle Tommy Ziesmer announced Sunday that he has committed to the Cardinals.

So far, Louisville has landed 22 transfer commitments, beginning to offset 25 portal defections that they has seen so far. The 14-day transfer window officially opened up last Friday, and is the only opportunity for players to enter following the removal of the spring window.

While defensive tackles are not typically known for stuffing the stat sheet, Ziesmer had a very good 2025 campaign for his position. Starting in all 12 games for the Colonels, the 6-foot-2, 296-pound lineman collected the fifth-most tackles on the team with 53 (18 solo), along with 3.0 for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery.

Among the FCS defensive tackles with at least 600 snaps, Ziesmer's defensive grade of 72.1 on Pro Football Focus ranked 23rd, while his run defense grade of 80.9 came in at 10th. He also had the ninth-lowest missed tackle rate at 6.8 percent.

The Danville, Ky. native started his career at Kentucky, where he played his first two seasons in college prior to playing his lone year at EKU. Ziesmer totaled four tackles and a sack in six career appearances with the Wildcats.

In their third season under head coach Jeff Brohm, Louisville went 9-4 overall, including a 4-4 mark in ACC play and a 27-22 win over Toledo in the Boca Raton Bowl. The Cardinals have won at least nine games in all three seasons under Brohm, doing so for the first time since 2012-14.

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