2023 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Special Teams

The Cardinals head into the 2023 season with some questions regarding special teams, specifically at the kicking spots.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As we inch closer to the start of the 2023 college football season, Louisville Report will break down each individual position on the Cardinals' roster. Concluding our positional breakdown series, we take at look at the special teams.

Position Roster Movement*:

*scholarship players only

Returning (2): LS, Shai Kochav, PK Brock Travelstead 
Departing (2): PK James Turner (Transfer - Michigan), P Mark Vassett (Transfer - Colorado)
Incoming (0): N/A

Projected Depth Chart:

Placekicker

1. Brock Travelstead (6-1, 205, Jr.)
2. Nick Lopez (6-1, 190, R-Sr.)^

Kickoffs

1. Cole Hussung (5-10, 190, So.)^
2. Nick Keller (6-1, 185. R-Fr.)^

Long Snapper

1. Shai Kochav (6-3, 240, R-So.)
2. Hayden Travelstead (6-1, 205, Fr.)^

Holder

1. Carter Schwartz (6-2, 215, Fr.)^
2. Brady Hodges (6-1, 200, Jr.)^

Punter

1. Brady Hodges (6-1, 200, Jr.)^
2. Carter Schwartz (6-2, 215, Fr.)^

Kickoff Returner

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

Punt Returner

1. Kevin Coleman Jr. (5-11, 180, So.)

^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. While the defense garnered most of the storylines by the end of the 2022 season, that year, Louisville had one of their best all-around special teams seasons in program history.

James Turner rebounded from a down 2021 campaign to have one of the best seasons in school history by a placekicker. His 20 made field goals were good for second-most in a single season at Louisville, while his 90.9 field goal percentage set the new UofL single-season record. Mark Vassett also put together one of the best seasons in Louisville history by a punter, as his 44.6 yards per punt not only ranked 17th in FBS, but it set a new single-season school record.

However, special teams -specifically kicking - for Louisville will look vastly different in 2023, as neither Turner or Vassett are returning for another year with the Cardinals after both entering the portal. Turner is back home in his home state and now with Michigan, while Vassett joined Deion Sanders at Colorado.

With Louisville's two best specialists moving on, that will likely leave a lot on the shoulders of Brock Travelstead, who is the only returning scholarship kicker. He was the go-to kickoff specialist last season, averaging 61.5 yards per kickoff on 70 kicks, and took a fair amount of punting snaps in the spring. But with Turner departing, he is the most likely candidate to take over as the day one field goal kicker. He doesn't have any field goal attempts in college, but did connect on five PATs in 2021, so he's not completely inexperienced.

If Travelstead at placekicker doesn't work out, Louisville has a hodgepodge of options behind him. They recently brought in former Cal kicker Nick Lopez as a walk-on, but he has just one field goal attempt (a 34-yard make) to his name in four years in college. The only other placekickers on the roster are walk-ons Cole Hussung and Nick Keller.

Speaking of which, it would make sense for Travelstead to not do double duty with field goal kicking and kickoffs so that his leg doesn't wear out, so Hussing and Keller are likely going to compete for the role of kickoff specialist. Hussung has the inside track here, but not by much, has he has attempted only one kickoff in college, coming at his previous home of Michigan in 2021. Keller, meanwhile, is a redshirt freshman with no college snaps.

Barring a massive fall camp showing by Carter Schwartz, the punter job is Brady Hodges' to lose. He took the majority of first team reps at punter during spring ball despite having never punted a ball at the collegiate level (was previously the holder), but seemed to be comfortable doing so. Though Schwartz did average 42.8 yards per punt at Louisville (Ky.) Trinity last season as a senior, so don't count him out.

The most continuity out of all the specialists, oddly enough, comes from the long snapper spot. Starter Shai Kochav is back for another season, and was even recently put on scholarship.

When it comes to the return men, Louisville is actually in good shape here. Running back Jawhar Jordan is one of the best all-purpose backs in the ACC, averaging 25.21 yards per kick return (third-most in ACC), while being one of only four in the conference to return a kickoff for a touchdown. The Cardinals do lose wide receiver Braden Smith, who was their primary punt returner, but Jackson State transfer wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. looked very good fielding and returning punts in the spring.

Arguably the biggest question at special teams will be how new special teams coordinator Karl Maslowski will impact this area. Last offseason after Stu Holt left for Virginia Tech, then-head coach Scott Satterfield opted to run a "special teams coach by committee" approach.

This decision didn't end up backfiring on Satterfield, either. On top of the kicking success, Louisville held teams to 18.15 yards per kickoff return (36th in FBS) and 5.52 yards per punt return (34th in FBS), while averaging 24.73 yards per kickoff return (6th in FBS) and 5.04 yards per punt return (102nd in FBS).

Three out of the four major returning categories placed inside the top 40 in all of FBS, with the lone exception being punt return yardage. With Maslowski following Brohm to Louisville, making his return to the Cardinals after spending the 2019-21 seasons as the senior quality control specialist, time will tell how much having an actual special teams coach will improve this area.

Overall, there are a lot of questions when it comes to the kicking aspect of special teams. Can Travelstead make the transition to every day field goal kicker? Will Hodges be able to give Louisville minimal production drop-off at punter? Who does Louisville go to if either player falls well short?

Both the Louisville offense and defense are shaping up to have good outings in year one of the Jeff Brohm era. But if the special teams takes a significant step back, it will in turn handicap what the Cardinals are able to accomplish in 2023. A lot hinges on multiple players taking large steps forward.

Other Position Breakdowns:

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

(Photo of Brock Travelstead: Mike Watters - USA TODAY Sports)

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