New Louisville football recruit shows out on Last Chance U

New Louisville football commit- linebacker Monty Montgomery- had an appearance on ‘Last Chance U,’ and he left a lasting impression.

Louisville football is just around the corner, and Cards fans are chomping at the bit counting down the days until the season’s first kick-off.

One thing that has held many of us over for the last few summers has been the rise in popularity of the hit Netflix docuseries ‘Last Chance U.’

The series chronicles the lives of a group of the former star, now misfit players who are given a “last chance” at division one college football stardom if they can survive a season or two at a JUCO in the middle of nowhere. Their only chance to make it again is to get their lives back on the right track and survive the wrath of some pretty insufferable coaches.

In the end, the show is riveting because of the unpredictability of each season. You find yourself rooting for the players to get their lives right and make it to the end with a scholarship offer in-hand.

Also, as a Louisville fan, there’s a lot of rooting interest. As we chronicled this week, the Cards still have LCU Season 2 star Gary McCrae on the roster. They also lost a player who ultimately wound up on the show in Tim Bonner and lost out on stud current stud Markeise King to grades in 2015, and nearly had running back DJ Law in the fold.

If you made it to season 4, episode 3, you may not have realized you saw another Card on Last Chance U: current linebacker and former Hutchinson Community College stand-out Monty Montgomery.

Though he is only 5’11,” Montgomery is an absolute playmaker at linebacker. And at no time did he come up in a bigger way than his play to end the half against the Jason Brown’s Independence Community College Pirates.

Remember the dagger that sent “Hutch” up by three touchdowns? That was Montgomery who deflected the pass in the air, caught the pass, and then lateraled the ball while being tackled. His teammate eventually housed it, but it was the athletic play by the new Cardinal that was a jaw-dropper.

Later in the game, Indy’s Chance Main was chasing down a blocked PAT attempt when he was blindsided by a filthy tackle that put him out for the rest of the game. The blocker? Montgomery.

Montgomery didn’t generate much hype when he committed to the new Louisville football coaching staff, but he is the real deal, Holyfield.

In 11 games last season, Montgomery recorded 78 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, and 3 touchdowns. Throw size metrics out the window. Montgomery is quick, agile, an insanely hard-hitter, and as co-defensive coordinator Cort Dennison puts it, he’s a “play.maker.”

The bottom line is, Montgomery is a potential star in the making. If you want a darkhorse for a breakthrough stud in 2019, Montgomery’s name immediately comes to mind.

Not convinced? Check out his highlights from the 2018 season right here. Or, simply consider this: The number one JUCO player in the entire country, Jermaine Johnson, is a Georgia commit who was heavily featured on this season of Last Chance U and Independence CC’s premier pass rusher. You’d have to scroll all the way down the 247Sports JUCO rankings to No. 224 to find the player that beat him out for Jayhawk Conference defensive player of the year.

Montgomery was the NJCAA national defensive player of the week twice in 11 weeks. Not too shabby. Maybe it is his performances like his 24 tackle game against Garden City CC that helped him receive the award.

Whatever the case, fans need to start seeing Montgomery as a viable option in 2019. He has already worked his way to second-string weakside linebacker, right behind Louisville’s returning leading tackler CJ Avery. The two juniors-to-be could ultimately wind up stealing the spotlight on a much-improved Louisville defense in 2019.