BOZICH | At Louisville, Jeff Brohm trusts his gut over college football recruiting rankings | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Before the howling begins about the plusses and minuses of Jeff Brohm’s third University of Louisville football recruiting class, the class that 247Sports ranked No. 16 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and No. 75 class in the nation, a note of perspective:

Did you watch Isaac Brown rush for 5-star numbers (1,074 yards) as a 3-star recruit, a freshman who came to Brohm’s program ranked the 39th best back in America?

Only one freshman ran for more yards than Brown this season — and the other guy did it at Louisiana-Monroe, not a Power 4 Conference.

What about Ashton Gillotte, the Cards’ defensive lineman most likely to be taken in the second or third round of the 2025 NFL Draft?

Duke Louisville Football — Louisville defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte (9) attempts to get to Duke quarterback Riley Leonard (13) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
Timothy D. Easley

In 2021, Gillotte was ranked the 13th best prospect in the Cards’ 26-player class. Only 120 Florida high school players were considered better prospects than Gillotte, who became a force as a freshman.

Offensive tackle Michael Gonzalez is another senior who will have a chance to play in the NFL. He was ranked one spot behind Gillotte in that U of L recruiting class.

Then there is the Cards’ defensive lineman who finished his career with more touchdowns (three) than recruiting stars (zero). That would be Ramon Puryear, who went from walk-on to two-year player without a scholarship to starter to mammoth contributor.

None of those guys made the recruiting needle tilt.

Throughout his career at Western Kentucky, Purdue and Louisville, Brohm has proven the recruiting rankings that matter to him are the ones that his staff settles on after watching video, bringing guys to campus and making a personal connection.

“I respect anyone's recruiting rankings that they want to make on any players,” Brohm said.

“I think sometimes in these high school recruiting rankings, it's about how many players you get. Sometimes that makes your ranking go up, instead of the quality of players.

“At the same time, we want to get to know our young men, whether they have a star or two or three or four next to them.

“I'm not saying that we haven't ever looked at it, but you can tell on their film. You can tell when you get to know them, you can tell when you watch them practice. You can tell when you research, talk to their coaches and people that know them what they're all about.

“And we want to make sure we get good quality young men who are talented, that love the game of football, that want to be here, that it fits. Like this is where they want to prove their worth and try to get to the next level and have a lot of fun doing it.

“I just think that you look at everything. But like I said, I think recruiting nowadays has changed. It's young high school prospects, it's portal additions, and for us, sometimes it's veteran players that have played a lot of football that can help your football team win.

“And it's now retaining players on your team that you definitely want to be here, that have helped you have success over the years.”

I need a timeout. You know those rankings I mentioned in the first paragraph? Well, they’re obsolete.

While I was writing this column, Louisville added a 15th recruit, flipping receiver Kamare Williams from Arkansas. That bumped the U of L class to 15th in the ACC and 67th in the nation, if you’re scoring at home.

The 15 players include five Kentucky prep players as well as five from Florida, three from Alabama, one from Tennessee and another from Ohio

There’s one quarterback, four defensive linemen, two offensive lineman, two receivers, one cornerback, one tight tend, one safety, two linebackers and a running back.

There will be a string of additions from the transfer portal. There will also be a string of subtractions. Welcome to College Football 2024.

According to 247Sports, the highest ranked player is C.J. May. He is a 6 foot, 4 inch, 250-pound defensive lineman from Highland Home, Alabama. He reportedly had offers from Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, Auburn, Syracuse and Washington.

Every Power 4 school recruits Florida. But Alabama is prime Southeastern Conference country. I asked Brohm how his staff was able to land three players from a state that believes it is the center of the college football universe.

“There's a lot of really good football players,” Brohm said.

“And you recruit the best young men. You get a feel of, ‘Are you really in the mix, or are you not?’

“Sometimes someone may be the first choice somewhere else. But maybe they're not the first choice somewhere else, and you really don't know that.

“So you’ve just got to continue to recruit, continue to recruit. You got to just let the thing play out. So it does force you to recruit a lot of young men that sometimes you may not get.

“But you don't know that, and you can't really back down. You kind of have to just hang in there and still continue to recruit in football a high volume of young men, because you don't know how this is going to play out …

“… I just think you kind of have to have a broad picture, go in, attacking anybody that you think can play and fit with your program. And sometimes it plays itself out in your favor naturally, and then other times things fall in your favor.

“But I think with CJ, we got on him early. Got a chance to know him and his family. They came here a lot early on, everything was going well, and he just felt very comfortable with what we were selling and what we're all about.

“And we probably know him as well as any of these recruits. And he really wants to be here and make a difference. His team had a really good, successful year. He's got really good size, and when you look at him, the way they're supposed to look, and he's going to continue to develop and grow, and we think he can be a really good football player.”

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