Takeaways From Louisville Football's Media Day

A look at the more significant takeaways from the Cardinals' 2024 Media Day.

Louisville head football coach Jeff Brohm talked to the media / Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal & USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On Friday, the Louisville football program held their annual Media Day. Earlier in the week, they also kicked off their second fall camp under head coach Jeff Brohm.

As you can imagine, the Cardinals had plenty to discuss regarding the upcoming 2024 season. Below are some of the more impactful takeaways points from those who were made available for questions:

Louisville is motivated by the way their 2023 ended, and are eager to learn from it.

Of course, as fans know by now, Louisville had an extremely successful first season under Brohm last year. The Cardinals went 10-4 for their first 10-win season in a decade, and the program made their first appearance in the ACC Championship Game since joining the league in 2014, as well their their first ever berth in a conference title game period.

But while Louisville did have an objectively successful 2023 season, it had a very disappointing end to it, dropping their final three games after starting 10-1. The Cardinals lost to Kentucky for the fifth straight time, fell to Florida State in the ACC title game, and were blown out by USC in the Holiday Bowl.

Fast forward to the present, and Louisville isn't short on the motivation to want to build on their disappointing finish. During the offseason, both their coaches and players have reflected on why the Cardinals dropped three-in-a-row to end the season, and have been using it as a lesson to get better.

"It was a combination of a lot of things," Brohm said. "From a coaching aspect, there are things we could have done better, in my opinion. In order to be competitive against the best teams, which we face some good teams late in the season, you've got to be sharp in every aspect. That, in combination with some mistakes we want to correct on the field. Just simple things, that I won't elaborate too much on, but there are things we all could have done better, including myself and our coaches.

"We got to make sure that we have the best plan, together, to help our players succeed at a high level. Being a former player myself, I'm aware of that. It takes everybody doing their part. We've got to be really sharp as coaches, and have a good plan and if not, have answers quickly when things come up."

Team-wide experience will help elevate the program, especially with returners in year two of the system.

Since Brohm took over the program, he has continually preached a win-now message. The main way that he believes Louisville can maintain their status as a contender in the ACC is to "get old and stay old," and have a roster chock-full of players who have seen their fair share of football.

Heading into the 2024 season, Louisville certainly isn't short on quality experience. In addition to return several impact playmakers from 2023, Brohm combined that crop of players with a transfer portal class that ranks as the No. 1 in all of college football by On3.

Put it all together, and Brohm loves the amount of in-game experience and production that his team has.

"I do like the fact that we have some veterans on our team," He said. "I think it's important to have guys that have experience, that have played football, have gone through the ups and downs and been able to handle adversity. They understand what it really takes to win at a high level in college football. I think we have that. There are guys who are willing to learn and mature and go out with a bang. We love having them on our team, and I think we have quite a few of those. Even if they're newcomers, I still think they can do a really good job for us."

While Brohm is excited about the potential with his top-ranked portal class, he's most excited about the players who are coming back for a second season under his guidance. He believes that with these players having another year in his system, it will allow them to flourish since there will not be an on-field learning curve.

"Without question, the guys that are here for the second year, we've seen progress," he said. "There's a handful of them that are noticeable, and have showed signs they're going to make really good strides this year. I'll certainly hope that what we're seeing carries over the game, because I do think people that have been here their second year could do a good job."

Mason Reiger's injury had a ripple effect on the defensive line.

During media day, Brohm announced that defensive end Mason Reiger - an underrated component to Louisville's defensive line - would miss all of fall camp and might miss significant time during the regular season due to complications from offseason knee surgeries. This wound up having a ripple effect on the Cardinals' defensive line.

For starters, Brohm mentioned that they had "known about this for a while," so they were proactive in trying to find someone to replace Reiger on the defensive line. While Brohm mentioned last month that they focused on the defensive line during the spring portal window simply so that they could have more depth at their disposal, he added that this was also a byproduct of Reiger's injury.

"Well, we've known about this for a while, so we went out and signed some guys at the defensive end position," he said. "Two guys, for sure veterans, that have played a lot of football in Myles Jernigan and Richard Kinley. We went out and signed a couple D-tackles in Thor Griffith, (Rene) Konga, Jordan Guerad. We tried to piece it up as much as we can. We do try to err on over-signing, number-wise, on the offensive and defensive line to make sure we have enough guys."

Reiger's injury also impacted players alreayd on the roster. For example, Ramon Puryear, who made the transition to defensive tackle last season, switched back to defensive end in the wake of the injury.

"We had injuries at different spots, and me being versatile and knowing the playbook, sometimes I have to come inside and sometimes I have to bump outsides," Puryear said. "Whatever the team needs is what I've been able to do."

Tyler Shough's impact has been felt by the entire team.

Players like Caullin Lacy and Thor Griffith might be the highest-rated transfers in Louisville's portal class, but quarterback Tyler Shough in undoubtedly the most impactful. Brohm has mentioned from day one how much of a playmaker he has the potential to be, and has like what he has seen since he first arrived.

Now that Shough has been on campus for a few months, he has firmly embraced a leadership role on the team. In additon to making numerous plays during spring ball and the early goings of fall camp, he has been the quintessential leader for the offense off the field.

"He's a really good guy, he's a leader," wide receiver Chris Bell said. "Not only that, we have this chemistry off the field too. We got a group chat, he texts us, we meet together just studying defense that we'll be playing against next year. We do team bonding, position bonding. Like one time he took the running backs out to TopGolf, then next week he took the receivers out to TopGolf, then the linemen. That plays a big part of the team and the offense."

In addition to being someone who helps elevate the offense both on and off the field, Shough has also challenged Louisville's defense to be the best version of themselves. Especially when you consider the fact that Brohm is wanting to see more of a vertical passing attack this season, and Shough has upper tier arm strength.

"It's always a test for the defensive backs," safety Devin Neal said. "I'm looking forward to the test. I just want to get better at that (defending the deep ball), and build on the season."

(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Jeff Faughender - Courier Journal & USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK)

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter/X - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisvilleonsi

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X