With an upgrade at head coach and a cupcake schedule, the Louisville Cardinals could be a darkhorse ACC contender in 2023

Take a peek at any number of one of the 2023 Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings and you won’t find the Louisville Cardinals.

That might change once preseason rankings are updated eight months from now. 

Quietly, Louisville has had a very strong start to its 2023 offseason, and the Cardinals could emerge as a darkhorse ACC contender this fall. 

First, they upgraded at head coach, bringing their Prodigal Son Jeff Brohm home after Scott Satterfield left for Cincinnati. That move alone changed the trajectory of the football program, as suddenly Louisville’s administration, coaching staff and fan base are in complete alignment.

Brohm then signed the nation’s No. 34 recruiting class (6th-best in the ACC) — their highest-ranked class since 2018. They added six blue-chip signees to the roster, including 4-star quarterback Pierce Clarkson. 

Louisville was also one of the initial winners in the transfer portal, especially compared to the rest of their ACC brethren aside from Florida State. They added 12 players from the portal, including likely starters at quarterback, wideout, edge, defensive line and tailback. 

Brohm grabbed an immediate replacement for quarterback Malik Cunningham by reuniting with Jack Plummer, who had 21 touchdowns and more than 3,000 passing yards at Cal last season. Plummer is very familiar with Brohm’s system, spending three seasons at Purdue with 14 starts. He’s not flashy, but he has plenty of experience and is a nice bridge starter for the Cardinals in 2023. 

Brohm added several potential impact receivers for Plummer to throw to, including Georgia State transfer Jamari Thrash (61 catches for 1,222 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022), former blue-chip recruit Kevin Coleman, who spent a year at Jackson State and had 33 catches for 510 yards and three scores, and Tennessee speedster Jimmy Calloway. 

Tailback Isaac Guerendo averaged over 6.1 yards per carry at Wisconsin last season, while edge rusher Stephen Herron led Stanford in sacks (5.5) and Texas A&M corner Marquis Groves-Killebrew is a former Top 150 recruit.

Meanwhile, the lone significant transfer to leave Louisville’s program was linebacker Monty Montgomery, who was second on the team in tackles (70) and sacks (6.0) and will play at Ole Miss in 2023. 

So if you’re counting at home: Louisville has a better head coach and a deeper roster, and on Monday it found out it has a very favorable 2023 schedule, too. 

With the ACC moving to a divisionless, 3-3-5 model in the fall, Jeff Brohm would be hard-pressed to ask for a better slate to start Year 1. 

The Cardinals don’t play Clemson, Florida State or North Carolina in 2023 — the three presumed favorites for the conference and teams ranked in every Way-Too-Early poll. 

They miss Wake Forest, too, and have seven home games, including rival Kentucky to end the season. Two of the Cards’ “road games” are actually neutral sites against Georgia Tech (Mercedes Benz Stadium) and Indiana (Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis) 

Sept. 1: vs. Georgia Tech (in Atlanta)
Sept. 7: vs. Murray State
Sept. 16: at Indiana (in Indianapolis)
Sept. 23: vs. Boston College
Sept. 29: at NC State
Oct. 7: vs. Notre Dame
Oct. 14: at Pittsburgh
Oct. 28: vs. Duke
Nov. 4: vs. Virginia Tech
Nov. 9: vs. Virginia
Nov. 18: at Miami
Nov. 25: vs. Kentucky

Louisville will likely be favored in its first four games. The three-game stretch in the middle of the season is tough (at NC State, Notre Dame and at Pitt), but again, when you miss FSU, Clemson and Drake Maye it’s hard to complain. 

The Cardinals have never had a 10-win season since joining the ACC in 2014. They’ve never played for the ACC Championship. 

Perhaps that’s too optimistic right now, but this is a team that won eight games a year ago (with two losses by a combined five points) against a tougher schedule. 

Considering the upgrades on the staff and how Brohm is quickly reshaping the roster, if it clicks this fall, then Louisville has all the makings of a surprise contender.