LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In this day and age of college football, thanks to the transfer portal, it’s commonplace for position groups to be almost entirely flipped from one year to the next.
Louisville is no exception, as several spots on the roster have a plethora of new faces heading into the 2025 season. Their secondary is almost completely new, there are a lot of newcomers on the defensive line, and they are going with a portal quarterback as their starter for the third season in a row.
That being said, there is still a lot of homegrown experience on the Cardinals’ roster. No area of the field has quite as much as their two inside linebacker spots, and so far through spring ball in preparation for year three of the Jeff Brohm era, this has been very evident.
“No matter how much you study and you work, you can’t beat experience,” linebackers coach Mark Ivey said. “You can’t beat actually taking a physical rep, and then going and watching it, and saying, ‘Did it work or did it not work? And why?’ Those guys have that much experience, and it’s going to be really nice.
“We’ve got guys that are new faces that are wanting to learn and do right, that already know a lot of ball, and then some guys that have had some experience and done some things in this defense already. They know what Coach English is like, they know what Coach Brohm does in this program. They’ve been in there with Coach Reno all summer, and then they’ve been around me for getting ready to be three years in this defense.”
Of course, there are a few new faces in Ivey’s room. Kalib Perry comes over after three years at Tennessee, and he provides some valuable SEC experience after logging 61 tackles in three seasons as a Volunteer. True freshmen Caleb Matelau and Cameron White enrolled early, and have shown in spurts what their potential can be down the line.
However, the two expected starters on the inside for Louisville this upcoming season are a duo who has combined for 68 career games as members of the Cardinals.
The headliner of this group is, unsurprisingly, fifth-year senior T.J. Quinn. The 6-foot-1, 235-pound ‘backer has led UofL in tackles in back-to-back seasons, and is coming off of a year in which led tallied 82 tackles plus a career-best four for loss. He has long established himself as a force against the run, amassing 116 tackles and eight for loss during his previous four years as a Card.
Right next to him is someone who arguably has an even higher ceiling heading into their junior year. After cracking the main linebacker rotation as a true freshman in 2023, Stanquan Clark took a massive step forward in 2024. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound linebacker logged 76 tackles, behind only Quinn, as well as eight for loss, two interceptions, two pass breakups and two forced fumbles.
While Clark has had to miss spring ball due to a minor injury, the experience that he and Quinn have brought to the table during this time has been an invaluable asset to the team and their teammates.
“I feel like it’s better, just because I don’t necessarily have to worry about what I have to do on a play,” Quinn said. “I can worry about what the offense is doing, because I know the playbook. I’ve been in the system three years, so it just allows me to focus on other things, and just trying to think about my job.
Another homegrown linebacker that’s heading into their third year in college is T.J. Capers. After having to redshirt his true freshman season to rehab an injury, he started to showcase in spurts what made him a former five-star prospect coming out of college, although he finished with just six tackles and an interceptions.
So far through spring ball, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker has taken a major step forward in terms of his consistency.
“Capers has had a very eventful spring,” Ivey said. “Last year he did some good things, but it just kind of wasn’t in the cards at the time. Right now, he is figuring this thing out. He has made some impact plays this spring, and he’s getting to the point where he’s reliable all the time, not just some flash in the pan. So that’s the consistency we’re looking for.”
Someone else to potentially monitor for the 2025 season is Trent Carter. While he is lean on experience compared to the other returners, playing the maximum four games before taking a redshirt as a true freshman last season, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker has shown great things in both this spring ball and last fall camp.
Additionally, he’s been someone who has helped elevate the his position group as a whole, because according to Ivey, Carter has been the best communicator amongst the inside linebackers.
“That spills over to each person in the room,” Ivey said. “So when he’s doing that, that makes everybody else demand that of themselves, because it just becomes normal. It’s like Pavlov’s dogs. When you train yourself to do something the right way all the time, then it just becomes what you do, instead of having to trick yourself into it on occassion.”
Louisville will wrap up their third spring ball under head coach Jeff Brohm with the annual Spring Game. Kickoff is set for Friday, Apr. 11 at 7:00 p.m. EST.
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(Photo of T.J. Quinn: Scott Utterback – Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)
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