LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville football started Monday where it's started every August lately — in the Associated Press preseason poll's waiting room.
It's a fine place if you like reading year-old Phil Steele yearbooks and watching everybody else get called in first. The Cardinals haven't been invited to the preseason Top 25 in eight seasons.
But in the ballroom at the Galt House Hotel for the program's annual Kickoff Luncheon? Nobody was waiting for anything. In this room, expectations were high. Louisville fans know the drill. Everybody overlooks them — and they look to Jeff Brohm.
Athletic director Josh Heird came with receipts — the kind you slap down on the return counter before a big exchange. And Heird had one. He's been listening to new Louisville personnel and recruiting director Vince Marrow call Brohm one of the top 10 coaches in America.
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"You're wrong," Heird said. "He's the best."
Then he itemized the bill: The coaches immediately before and after Brohm at Purdue combined for six Big Ten wins in six years. Brohm, in five seasons in West Lafayette, won 24. Since he got to Louisville, he's won more ACC games (12) than anybody else in the league — even Clemson.
Brohm took the mic with a shrug and a grin. Asked an introductory question about the team, he said, "Well, like always, I'll just answer a question by not listening and saying whatever I want."
Laughter.
Brohm worked the room. He ribbed his new quarterback, Miller Moss, about being from California. He praised defensive end Rene Konga as "a true leader" and guy who wakes up bouncing off the walls – and never stops. He apologized to T.J. Quinn, a fifth-year linebacker whose father, Terry, played with Brohm at U of L, for calling him by his dad's name.
The crowd at Louisville football's annual kickoff luncheon at the Galt House in downtown Louisville.
Brohm said last year the team wasn't as good in short-yardage situations as he wanted. So, he revealed a couple of new offensive packages for the crowd – a "Heavy D" package with seven offensive lineman and four defensive linemen and no skill players, and another "Heavy E" lineup with the offensive and defensive line numbers switched.
"We'll see which one can run the ball better," Brohm said.
He was kidding. I think.
This is a man as buttoned-up about X's and O's as a poker champ in a monastery. Brohm isn't handing out free samples with lunch. If you want the full meal, buy a ticket to L&N Stadium.
The players stuck to their scripts. T.J. Quinn called it "an honor" to play a fifth season in the jersey. Asked to sum up this year's defense with one word, Konga answered, "Violence." Center Pete Nygra described Moss as "California cool." Moss, a transfer from USC, said he's enjoying his change of scenery.
"I was definitely ready for a change," he said. "My family's ready for a change, and I couldn't be more excited to be here. The people of Louisville, the university and team, have welcomed me with open arms, and I'm super grateful for that. And once again, just really excited about the opportunity."
Eight home games await. The AP voters still aren't convinced. Louisville fans already are.
And if the Cardinals really are still in the waiting room, Brohm looks like he's ready stop waiting, kick the door open, and stroll past the receptionist — with or without his "Heavy D" package.
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