University of Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm hit the transfer portal during his first season on the job to help bolster a number of positions, but he put a lot of focus on the secondary.
Heading into spring, the Cards were down to four scholarship cornerbacks, but that changed in December and this spring with several Power 5 signees. That focus and attention has given the Cardinals optimism and depth in the defensive backfield after the first two days of fall camp.
The Cardinals finished their second day of practice with the secondary taking a small step forward on Wednesday, which gives cornerbacks coach Steve Ellis a lot of confidence and flexibility heading into the start of the season.
“We made an effort to build depth in the secondary,” Ellis said. “It’s hard to expect a cornerback to play 80-90 plays in a game and stay fresh,” Ellis said. “We think we added depth to help our players back there and remain fresh.”
Ellis, who came in from East Carolina, was with the Cards in the spring. He’s excited where his unit is after the first two practices in shorts and helmets.
“It’s been good,” Ellis said. “The guys, they have a great attitude. I think they have a good foundation here. It started this spring and carried over into the summer. The first two days, we got a bunch of excitement. The guys have been energetic, and they have been listening. They want to get better.”
Returning starter Jarvis Brownlee advanced his skill set after last season and has shown to have taken a large step forward after the first two workouts. Brownlee has shown an ability to be around the football and make plays after recording a pair of interceptions last season.
“Honestly, the first few days have been solid,” Brownlee said. “The first day we came out we didn’t get a lot of takeaways. However, today you see we had about seven takeaways so you know saw progress and we got a lot better today.”
Last season, the Cardinals were one of the best in the country in causing turnovers, forcing 27, grabbing 15 interceptions. If Louisville wants to get an opportunity to win the Atlantic Coast Conference, they must be one of the best at forcing other teams to make that critical mistake.
“I feel like we could be one of the top secondaries this year,” Brownlee said. “All we have to do is keep executing and just be consistent with doing it. We are just putting the time in , day in and day out here. As we keep going, it’s our goal to keep making progress and just keep executing. We just want to be really consistent in our play.”
Quincy Riley was consistent with his success last season. The Middle Tennessee transfer led the team in interception last season with three, returning one for a 91-yard touchdown against Wake Forest. He missed the spring with an injury but has been at the top of his game after the first two days of fall camp.
Riley came in last season and helped bolster the secondary. This spring, the Cardinals added a pair of cornerbacks in Storm Duck and Cam Kelly that give the Cards the added depth to help sustain them against high-potent passing teams.
“Our tools are really starting to come together as a group,” Riley said. “Everybody’s feeding off each other because it’s hard to go play after play on defense when you got receivers running deep balls and we’re expected to be ready the next play. We added a lot of good players that have helped us. It’s made us feel more comfortable going out there knowing there’s no drop off when the second group gets out there. But everybody feels like we have two starting groups.”
What’s Next: Friday, 6 p.m. (Practice No. 3)
Availability: Garrick McGee, Chris Bell, Ahmari Huggins-Bruce
Notables:
- LB T.J. Capers and CB Aaron Williams – both coming off knee injuries – were out there doing light running.
- The defense recorded a number of turnovers during team drills this afternoon.
- Head coach Jeff Brohm spent a number of periods working on the deep throws, allowing the receivers to adjust to the football and not be bothered by contact.
- Jawhar Jordan and Maurice Turner, who is now wearing No. 4, give the Cardinals some explosiveness in the backfield.
- Cornerbacks coach Steve Ellis is one of the more energetic and playful coaches on the field.
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