LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A year ago, the combined brainpower and football forecasting faculty of the Atlantic Coast Conference media predicted that the University of Louisville football team would finish eighth in the league in its first season under Jeff Brohm.
It went to the ACC Championship game despite key injuries in crucial positions, including the loss of its leading rusher (Jawhar Jordan) and receiver (Jamari Thrash).
As Brohm and a trio of Louisville players head back to Charlotte for their spin around the ACC Kickoff media days this year, you wonder if anyone around the league has learned.
So far, it's tough to tell. Phil Steele's Preseason Yearbook has the Cards picked in a four-way tie for seventh. Sports Illustrated has Louisville fifth, and Athlon's preseason yearbook projects the Cards' fourth. CBS ranked Louisville No. 6 coming out of spring practice, with some concern after portal defections.
The highest estimate of Louisville so far comes from ESPN, which has the Cardinals No. 3 in its ACC Power Index, based on an FPI rating that puts them No. 21 in the nation.
Chances are the ACC will lag behind most media predictions. The group has a heavy Carolina-bias (north and south) and Florida State is a consensus No. 1, bias or not.
Here are a few storylines we'll be following as the Cardinals meet the media in Charlotte this week:
1. (SLIGHT) SCHEDULE UPGRADE. A year ago, Louisville avoided both Florida State and Clemson in the regular season, as well as North Carolina. It was a big reason for optimism locally heading into the campaign, even if the conference media didn't recognize the math.
This season, Louisville not only plays Clemson but will do it on the road. It does get Miami (but in Louisville) and avoid N.C. State, North Carolina and Duke altogether.
The Cards travel to Notre Dame and to Kentucky, but the conference slate again is manageable.
2. TYLER TALKS. New Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough is among the Louisville players heading to Charlotte to sit down with reporters. It will be his first extended time with the media since becoming Louisville's quarterback. Shough has shown a lot of good things in his six college seasons. He's also suffered some freak injuries. Louisville's ability to keep him healthy and his ability to take advantage of one, last college try are major keys to this season for the Cardinals.
Beyond that, Shough bridges two generations of college football: the pre-pandemic, pre-NIL days, and the new pay-the-players era in which even his golden retriever puppy has had an NIL deal.
3. WHERE DOES THE ACC STAND? Florida State and Clemson, the schools with the ACC's most successful football programs, are suing to get out of the league. North Carolina, a charter member and very much a flagship of the ACC (football media day has been held in North Carolina every year since 2009 and the league just moved its headquarters to Charlotte from Greensboro), has had trustees say openly that the school needs to explore going to a more lucrative conference.
On Monday, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips offered his most impassioned defense of the league to date, and vowed that the ACC will fight legal challenges to the long-term media grants of rights being tested by Clemson and Florida State “for as long as it takes.”
"We are confident in this league and that it will remain a premier conference in college athletics,” Phillips said at the open to ACC Media Days on Monday, in comments that were not televised live by the ACC Network nor distributed on the conference's official transcript of events. “These disputes continue to be damaging and disruptive to the league."
“We've have six months of disruption. I think we've handled it incredibly well,” he said later. “I will tell you there isn't a day that goes by that I don't spend some time on the legal cases. I don't think that's going to change.”
Asked about the emotion behind his comments, Phillips said, “Forceful moments deserve forceful support and leadership. . . . This is a really important time for the conference. Either you believe in what has been signed or you don't. We are going to do everything we can to protect and fight for the league.”
Moreover, Phillips said that the league is exploring “every avenue that's available” in the area of generating new revenue, though he would not disclose specifics and would not speak to private equity money or conference naming rights specifically.
4. NEW ADDITIONS. This will be the first football media days for western additions Stanford, Cal and Southern Methodist. Phillips went out of his way to note that the league will realize $600 million in incremental revenue from the addition of the three schools over the life of its current media rights deals.
Schools will also incur additional travel expenses. At Louisville, an additional $1.2 million in travel expenses was budgeted for 2025 over 2024.
5. DEFENSIVE POSTURE. Two of the three players Brohm is bringing to Charlotte are defensive players. Ashton Gillotte led the Louisville defensive line last season with 14 ½ tackles for loss and in the coming season will move to the spot of edge rusher exclusively, after bouncing inside to out last season. Quincy Riley, a ball-hawking cornerback with 11 career interceptions.
The Louisville defense was a surprise a year ago, ranking fourth in yards allowed and 10th in the nation against the run. Seven starters return to the unit, and Brohm has worked through the transfer portal to build more depth along the line and in the secondary.
“On the defensive side. I think we have some really good depth in the secondary,” Brohm said. “We feel very confident that those guys can play very well. They did last year but I think we can be even better. The linebacking unit we like, but just like last year we had some unproven pieces that stepped up and played well, there's a mixture of both now. We've got a couple of veterans that I think will play well and then we've got some new guys that need to step up and emerge and do a good job.”
Follow WDRB's ACC Kickoff Coverage on Wednesday at WDRB.com, WDRB+ and watch reports on WDRB News.
Louisville Football Coverage:
- BOZICH | Tougher 2024 football schedule: U of L or UK? Tougher call than you think
- CRAWFORD | After breakthrough season, playing at Louisville 'just means more' for LB TJ Quinn
- BOZICH | Ashton Gillotte finishing journey from 2-star recruit to 1st-team All-American
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