LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Stanquan Clark speaks at roughly the volume of a man trying not to wake a baby.
The Louisville linebacker sat behind a microphone Tuesday and answered questions in a voice that occasionally required the people asking them to lean forward.
This is worth mentioning because he is the guy in the middle of Louisville's defense responsible for telling everybody where to go. And fortunately, Adam Mueller says Clark has another setting. On the football field, everything he does is at a higher volume.
"We expect him to be the leader of the defense," Mueller said. "I mean, communication all goes through him."
Apparently, he saves his voice for work.
Then there is T.J. Capers.
Capers made an interception at Miami last season that, had I made it, would still be playing on my phone. I would have it saved under Favorites. There might be a QR code tattooed on my arm.
Capers doesn't even go looking for it.
"We watch a lot of game film, so if it comes up, it comes up," he said. "But I'll never go search for it too much."
This is one of many differences between T.J. Capers and me. Another is that he could make that interception.
Louisville would be happy to see more of them.
Because beneath the whispers and understatement is one of the more intriguing possibilities on Louisville's roster.
The Cardinals have two linebackers whose ability has never really been the question. Clark arrived as a four-star recruit. Capers, when he signed, was the third highest rated recruit in Louisville history.
They were supposed to be the future. The future took its time.
Now they stand together in the middle of a Louisville defense with increasingly high expectations and more depth than it has enjoyed in years.
Louisville coaches have spent fall camp making the case position by position. The defensive front is as deep as it has been. The secondary is as deep as it has been. And Mueller looks at the linebackers and sees the same thing.
Stanquan Clark lines up in his linebacker spot during a 2025 game in L&N Stadium.
"Depth-wise, I don't think we've ever been in a better spot than we are right now," Mueller said.
Depth is important. But the possibilities in the middle begin with Clark and Capers.
One has spent too much of his Louisville career trying to stay on the field. The other arrived with almost impossible expectations at a young age. Now, Louisville may be positioned to find out what happens when their potential, experience and health arrive at the same place at the same time.
For Clark, potential had already begun turning into production. In 2024, he finished second on the team with 76 tackles, made 7.5 tackles for loss, intercepted two passes and forced two fumbles on his way to honorable mention All-ACC recognition.
Then, two games into last season, Clark reportedly broke his right ankle and had to undergo surgery.
"It was very hard because I've been playing football since I was four years old, and that's all I know," Clark said. "So me not being out there, I was kind of taking it tough. But teammates and coaches were helping me through it."
There are lessons football teaches willingly and others it teaches by force. Clark got the latter.
"Being injured, it teaches you a lot because football can be gone any day," he said. "So it just makes you have more love for the game."
It also changed Louisville's plans.
When Clark went down, Capers suddenly had a larger role waiting for him.
He had arrived at Louisville with high expectations. A five-star prospect, Capers reclassified and came to college a year early in 2023. A hand injury slowed him in 2024. He briefly entered the transfer portal before deciding to stay.
Then Clark got hurt. And Capers jumped into the void.
By October, with Louisville trying to protect a three-point lead at No. 2 Miami, the Hurricanes faced third-and-1 at the Louisville 31 with 36 seconds left.
Miami quarterback Carson Beck threw toward the sideline. The pass was deflected at the line. And somehow Capers dove toward it and plucked it before the first blade of south Florida Bermuda grass could touch it.
The interception finished Louisville's 24-21 upset and secured the first road victory over an AP top-five opponent in school history.
It also provided a pretty good glimpse of why Louisville had been willing to wait on Capers.
Still, he doesn't spend much time admiring it.
"It's just one of the things to just show focus throughout the whole game," Capers said. "Execute. You never know what play will be an important play like that."
Mueller isn't asking Capers to become more athletic. That part appears to have been handled.
"He's a very athletic player," Mueller said. "He's really good at slipping blocks, and he can do some things in the pass rush too."
The next step is less exciting to fans and sportswriters but considerably more important to defensive coordinators.
"Just ratcheting up the details of every single call, every single assignment," Mueller said.
Capers says he sees the game better now. He and Clark watch film together, correct each other and hold each other accountable.
In addition to Clark and Capers, Louisville may get another veteran back. Kalib Perry, who played three seasons at Tennessee before coming to Louisville last year, is back with the Cardinals for now under the fifth-year eligibility opening created by the Colorado court case. Perry played all 13 games for Louisville last season and finished with 55 tackles, an interception and a pass breakup.
Perry played the second-most snaps among Louisville's linebackers last season behind T.J. Quinn.
"He's a very experienced guy," Mueller said. "He's played four years of college football, and he's got a great attitude every day."
There are younger players pushing, too. Mueller mentioned freshmen Brady Ballart and Taj Powell, along with Cam White, Caleb Matelau, Trent Carter and Kentucky transfer Jacob Smith.
Which helps explain why Mueller looks around his room and sees something his fellow defensive coaches have been seeing in theirs.
Options. Louisville doesn't merely have Clark back and a more seasoned Capers, it has enough around them that everything doesn't have to depend on them.
"We've got a handful of linebackers that can go play in the game," he said. "Depth-wise, I don't think we've ever been in a better spot than we are right now."
But Louisville's ceiling at the position probably resides with the two guys at the front of the room.
One barely talks loud enough for a microphone.
The other made the kind of play most people would spend the rest of their lives bringing up at dinner parties and doesn't bother searching for the replay.
Neither seems particularly interested in telling anybody how good he is. But around the Louisville football complex and elsewhere, people know.
Now Louisville needs something it hasn't gotten often enough from Clark and Capers. Both of them – together and healthy – every Saturday.
As for the Miami interception, Capers can move on if he wants.
I'll keep the replay handy.
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