2022 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Special Teams

The Cardinals head into the 2022 season with some optimism, but some questions regarding special teams.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As we inch closer to the start of the 2022 college football season, Louisville Report will break down each individual position on the Cardinals' roster. Next in our positional breakdown series, we take at look at the special teams.

Position Roster Movement:

*scholarship players only

Returning (3): PK Brock Travelstead, PK James Turner, P Mark Vassett
Departing (1): LS Mitch Hall
Incoming (0): None

Projected Depth Chart:

Placekicker

1. James Turner (6-0, 205, Jr.)
2. Brock Travelstead (6-1, 203, So.)

Kickoffs

1. Brock Travelstead (6-1, 203, So.)
2. James Turner (6-0, 205, Jr.)

Long Snapper

1. Drew Brenowitz (5-10, 210, Sr.)*
2. Justin Brummett (6-0, 192, So.)*

Holder

1. Brady Hodges (6-1, 198, So.)*
2. Mark Vassett (6-4, 220, So.)

Punter

1. Mark Vassett (6-4, 220, So.)
2. Brady Hodges (6-1, 198, So.)*

Kickoff Returner

1. Jawhar Jordan (5-10, 180, R-So.)

Punt Returner

1. Josh Johnson (5-11, 187, Gr.)

*walk-on

Breakdown:

As any well-versed football fan knows, you have to win all three phases of the game to put yourself in the best position possible to come out with a victory. Unfortunately for Louisville, special teams has been an area where they haven't gotten everything firing all at once.

In 2020, Louisville regularly found themselves losing the field position battle, largely due to the combination of average kickoff and punt defense, and inconsistency at the punter position. However, there was a bright spot in that true freshman James Turner was quickly establishing himself as a solid field goal kicker.

Last season, the Cardinals got much better when it came to containing opposing kick and punt returning, and were able to get a little better at punter with Mark Vassett joining the fold. On the other hand, James Turner struggled on some the longer kicks that he had easily drilled the season before.

As we head into the fourth year of the Scott Satterfield era, there are still a lot of questions here. Mainly, a lot of them revolve around how successful Louisville will be operating under the "special teams coach by committee" approach with Stu Holt leaving for Virginia Tech and Satterfield not assigning a permanent special teams coach.

Last year, Louisville held teams to 20.81 yards per kickoff return (60th in FBS) and 5.58 yards per punt return (38th in FBS), while averaging 23.61 yards per kickoff return (30th in FBS) and 11.21 yards per punt return (23rd in FBS). Time will tell how much not having a full-time special teams coach will impact these solid numbers.

Not to mention that a couple of the specialist positions saw some form of turnover. Long snapper Mitch Hall, who had been a five-year starter with the Cards, graduated and is now moving on. Here, it'll be a battle between Hall's backup Drew Brenowitz, Justin Brummett and Arkansas State transfer Shai Kochev.

With Tyler Harrell leaving for Alabama, that makes way for Jawhar Jordan to take over as the full-time kickoff returner. But considering what we saw him do in the First Responder Bowl vs. Air Force, which included a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the talent and production drop-off here shouldn't be that steep at all.

Louisville returns both of their go-to kickers, but something to monitor will be if James Turner is able to rebound. He went 13-15 on field goals attempts including 6-8 on kicks 40 yards or longer in 2020, but was just 9-12 and 4-7, respectively, in 2021. It was event to the point where Brock Travelstead - the Cards' kickoff specialist - had to take over on a few extra points. When it comes to kicking, the mental aspect of it plays a huge role, and hopefully Turner's yips don't carry into 2022.

Affter neither Logan Lupo or Ryan Harwell could really get things gong in 2020, Australian punter Mark Vassett gave Louisville some marginal improvement here. The Cardinals averaged just 36.59 yards per punt (96th in FBS) in 2020, whereas Vassett averaged 38.80 yards per punt (73rd in FBS) last season. With a year under his belt, one can assume he will only get better.

Overall, there are some questions when it comes to special teams. Can the kickoff and punt defense continue on their upward trajectory? Will Turner overcome last season's yips? How does the long snapper position battle play out? Will Vassett get better with a year of system and collegiate familiarity?

If it all comes together, Louisville will be in a position to where they will be able to gain a tremendous amount of "hidden yardage" thanks to special teams, and put themselves in a better position to win games. They just need to be all doing their job well.

Other Position Breakdowns:

• Quarterback
• Running Back
• Wide Receiver
• Tight End
• Offensive Line
• Defensive Line
• Outside Linebacker
• Inside Linebacker
• Cornerback
• Safety

(Photo of James Turner: Jaylynn Nash - USA TODAY Sports)

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