Louisville football continues momentum in class of 2021

We already knew one four-star prospect would take his first official visit to Louisville football, but now another elite recruit will join him.

The commitments may soon begin rolling in for Scott Satterfield and the Louisville football program much like they did last season. While having zero commitments is by no means a good thing, the way the staff has recruited in the past seems to be working as they’ve spent the majority of the offseason prospecting and building relationships.

One of the relationships they’ve benefited from has been that of four-star running back Corey Kiner, who announced last week that he’d be taking his first official visit to Louisville. Kiner spoke to Josh Helmholdt of Rivals.com about his recruitment and why the Cards received his first visit, saying:

“They made me a top priority since they offered me sophomore year. I am close with coach Norval (McKenzie) – I talk with him every day – but really, I like the whole coaching staff. When I go visit, I talk to all of them. We have whole conversations and it’s not about football. We even talk about video games, shoes and that kind of stuff.”

Louisville football’s staff have deployed their relationship-building strategy for three classes now and have had quite a run of success. The momentum they’ve built both on the field and off the field can be directly tied back to their ability to connect with the players at a level we haven’t seen since Charlie Strong.

The Cards once again saw that pay off as another elite four-star prospect announced that he’d be taking his first visit to Louisville in May per his high school coach. Travion Ford, a highly-touted defensive end/edge linebacker has been one of, if not the top player on the board for the Cards in the class of 2021 and it’s not hard to see why.

Recruiting on the defense was not a priority for the previous staff and it showed in the final years of their tenure as well as the first year for Scott Satterfield. Depth, inexperience, and position inadequacy hurt the Cards throughout the season, resulting in several bad losses. Even with that being said, the staff and most reasonable fans understood that it was going to take a few years to build the talent level and depth back to a respectable level.

That’s what makes Ford such an important recruit. Rated by 247 Sports as the 8th best weakside defensive end and the 152nd best player overall, Ford has the ability to be an instant difference-maker for co-defensive coordinators Bryan Brown and Cort Dennison.

Allen Trieu of 247 Sports wrote about Ford, saying:

"“Lean body type, but has some length to him. Productive high school player who knows how to get to the quarterback. Has quickness off the ball and shows the agility to win inside with counter moves. Plays with a nice motor and runs plays down. For not being a bigger end right now, he holds his own well against the run and has good functional strength already although adding more bulk and strength is important in his development. Right now, he falls into a bit of a tweener spot. He could possibly play outside linebacker in a 3-4 and does have some experience playing from a two-point stance. Best chance at reaching his ceiling though may be to add weight and strength and be a weak-side end in a 4-3. Will be able to contribute early in his career on passing downs, and long-term projection will come down to how his body changes over the next few years, but his ability to rush the passer makes him a player we think will be productive at a Power 5 school and have a chance to play beyond college.”"

Ford has more familiarity with the coaching staff at Louisville than probably any recruit on the board for the Cards, considering he’s already taken three unofficial visits over the last year which should show how serious his interest is.

With the who’s who of college football pursuing Ford, the Cards will need everything to go their way if they want to land him. Luckily, Brown will have plenty of playing time available as he continues to build depth and talent along the defensive front and a system that compliments the strength of Ford to a t.