Louisville football: 5 prospects you need to know for 2021

Corey Kiner – Running back

Cincinnati, OH, four-star

Running back is a position that’s going to be a lot of fun to follow over the next few seasons on the recruiting trail, as Scott Satterfield looks to cash in on the success of Javian Hawkins.

Four-star running back Corey Kiner out of Cincinnati is another prospect who like Dingle, Crowdus, and Ford has been on campus multiple times and has built a great relationship with the Louisville football staff.

Kiner has visited Louisville unofficially three times, including most recently at the Satterday junior day recruiting event along with multiple other elite prospects. The Cards will be competing with some of the nation’s most prestigious programs for the Cincinnati product, including Michigan, Ohio State, and Notre Dame, but they should have a chance to land the most coveted running back recruit in quite some time.

Even with offers from a ton of top programs, the plan that can be laid out in front of Kiner with Javian Hawkins as the blueprint seems like a way to potentially sway the running back into looking at the Cards. In just his first season under Satt, Hawkins rushed for nearly 1,600 yards as a redshirt freshman and looks poised to have an even bigger sophomore year.

Kiner has been a special talent playing for Roger Bacon high school as he’s racked up nearly 5,000 rushing yards and 75 touchdowns through his first three seasons. His production has pushed him into the top 1110 players in the country and currently has him ranked as 247 Sports’ seventh-best running back in the country.

These are the type of players Louisville will need to continue to target and most importantly land over the next few seasons as they look to climb up the national rankings and compete with the likes of Clemson and Florida State within the ACC.

Kiner told Cleveland.com that playing time matters to him, something that could potentially help the Cards in their pursuit. He said:

"“(Playing right away) matters. I would love to play right away, but sometimes that isn’t an option. Sometimes you have to come in and learn and get better because those are grown men. Coming from high school to college is completely different.”"

Hawkins will enter his redshirt sophomore season in 2020, meaning he’ll be able to declare for the 2021 NFL Draft should he so chose. Considering how much production he had in just his first season as a starter, it’s hard to imagine him not replicating that next year – which should catch the eyes of NFL scouts.

That leaves Hassan Hall, who would be entering his senior season in 2021 when Kiner is eligible to play, as well as Jalen Mitchell and Aidan Robbins at the running back position.

It’s going to be really difficult for Satterfield and company to beat out teams that have a strong footprint in the Ohio area, including Ohio State, but don’t be shocked to see an early relationship pay off.