Multiple Louisville Players Confirm Their Return for 2025 Season

On the final day of the portal window, a handful of the Cardinals' top players confirmed they will be coming back.

Nov 23, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals running back Isaac Brown (25) runs against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the second half at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Louisville defeated Pittsburgh 37-9. / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In this day and age of collegiate athletics, it's fairly commonplace at this point for schools to see multiple guys depart at the end of the season - even guys who are major playmakers. With the near-unlimited player movement allowed by the transfer portal, some of the biggest recruiting wins a program can have is simply retaining the players they already have.

With that being the case, the Louisville football program experienced some major recruiting wins on Monday.

Under updated transfer portal rules, players on postseason teams have up until five days after their final game of the season to enter their name into the portal. For current Cardinals, that meant that Jan. 6 was their final day of the winter window to transfer.

With that in mind, a handful of Louisville's top players took the opportunity to declare to the fans that they were staying put.

Using graphics made by the 502 Circle with the tagline "Never left. Just making if official," the following players have announced that they are indeed coming back for the 2025 season:

• RB Isaac Brown
• RB Duke Watson
• WR Chris Bell
• TE Nate Kurisky
• OL Pete Nygra
• OL Lance Robinson
• MLB T.J. Quinn

Getting Brown back is a massive development for next season. As just a true freshman, he ran for 1,173 yards and 11 touchdowns on 165 carries, while also catching 30 passes for 152 yards and a score. Not only was he named the ACC's Rookie of the Year, he broke Lamar Jackson's true freshman rushing record at Louisville.

Watson coming back is also huge for the running back room. While he was Brown's backup, he still managed to rush for 597 yards and seven scores on just 67 carries, while hauling in five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. His 8.91 yards per carry was No. 1 in all of the FBS.

Bell took a massive step forward in his development, posting a career year in 2024. His 43 receptions for 737 yards and four touchdowns were not only all career-highs, but second on the team to First-Team All-ACC receiver Ja'Corey Brooks.

While Mark Redman was the starting tight end this season, Kurisky was a valuable asset off the bench. He caught 12 passes for 112 yards, as well as a career-high three touchdowns.

Nygra was one of the Louisville's top offensive lineman on the 2024 season. In 475 pass block snaps and 848 blocking snaps overall, he allowed just one sack and 15 total pressures overall.

Robinson originally joined Louisville prior to the 2023 season, but could only play in the Holiday Bowl due to transfer rules at the time. He was set to take on a big role for the 2024 season before suffering a season-ending injury on the first day of fall camp.

Over on the defense, Quinn posted yet another standout campaign. For the second year in a row, he led the Cardinals in tackles, posting 82 on the 2024 season. He also had four for loss, 1.5 sacks, and a pass breakup.

(Photo of Isaac Brown: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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