Anonymous opposing coach predicts Louisville's defense will struggle in 2023

Louisville is going through a fairly exciting transition with Jeff Brohm taking over as head coach of the Cardinals. With that intriguing give, though, comes some take in how they’re going to play, at least in the mind of one opposing coach.

In Athlon Sports’ annual college football preview, one Louisville opponent thinks that the Cardinal defense is set up for an obvious step back in 2023. Several things factor into that with the departure of Scott Satterfield, the introduction of a new scheme under Brohm, and a loss of production from that side of the ball from last season.

“One thing you know is that they’re going to give Jeff (Brohm) a lot of time here. So they won’t rush things or try to reach into the portal to fix their problems,” said the coach. “And they have problems, too.”

“They’re not going to be good on defense because they’re losing a lot and transitioning to a new scheme,” they continuned. “Last year was definitely their best on defense under Satt (Scott Satterfield); they fixed a lot of those problems and finally developed some dudes up front.”

2022 was Louisville’s best defense in Satterfield’s four seasons by far. From 2019-2021, the Cardinals gave up an average of 29.1 points per game and had an average finish of 78th in the country. In total, they were giving up 404.4 total yards per game.

Then, last fall, they leaped to 11th place in the NCAA by giving up only 19.2 points and 330.2 yards per game.

Still, the changing of the guard is going to impact those statistics and, in turn, their record. It’s nothing against what Brohm’s staff is going to run or the players who are going to compete for Louisville on that side of the ball. It’s just that, in year one, there could be a chance for some growing pains as they install everything for the seasons to come.

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Athlon Sports projects ACC’s order of finish in 2023

For the first time in a long time, there is some real debate about who will win the ACC.

Clemson has owned the league for the better part of a decade, winning seven of the past eight ACC titles. But it’s Florida State who many expect to come out on top in 2023.

Athlon Sports is the latest national outlet to offer its prediction for who will win the ACC this upcoming season. As of now, the magazine is buying into the hype with the Seminoles. Athlon predicts that Florida State will beat Clemson in the ACC Championship game.

This is the first year that the two former Atlantic rivals are eligible to meet in the ACC title game. That’s because the ACC is doing away with divisions this season.

Here is Athlon Sports’ full projection of what the ACC order of finish will be in 2023:

1. Florida State (11-2, 7-1)
2. Clemson (10-3, 6-2)
3. North Carolina (8-4, 5-3)
4. Miami (8-4, 5-3)
5. Duke (8-4, 5-3)
6. Pittsburgh (8-4, 5-3)
7. Louisville (7-5, 5-3)
8. NC State (7-5, 4-4)
9. Wake Forest (7-5, 4-4)
10. Syracuse (7-5, 3-5)
11. Georgia Tech (5-7, 3-5)
12. Virginia Tech (5-7, 2-6)
13. Boston College (5-7, 1-7)
14. Virginia (3-9, 1-7)