Louisville football: Cards land future star defensive lineman

Scott Satterfield and the Louisville football program picked up their second commitment in three days, this time on the defensive line.

Louisville football’s defense in 2019 showed signs of life that we haven’t seen quite possibly since the Todd Grantham era. We knew it was going to be a long-term project for co-defensive coordinators Bryan Brown and Cort Dennison to get turned around, but we expected to see a competitive group who did what they could to take the first step in doing just that.

That’s what happened, and while moving up from the 130s to the mid-80s and 90s isn’t exactly the leap that will grab headlines, it showed that the future on defense was bright for Louisville. Behind CJ Avery, Dorian Etheridge, Rodjay Burns, Russ Yeast, and others, the Cards competed hard, made big plays and improved nearly every single week.

The valleys were definitely low, as they struggled in multiple games with giving up big plays and it resulted in a few very lopsided blowouts that were hard to watch. The talent at the top was there in some places, not in all, but overall the lack of depth and talent were too big of a barrier.

Last recruiting cycle the Cards made their defense a priority landing 12 commitments from defensive players, and signing two former commitments in Jamel Starks and Ja’Darien Boykin (both holdovers from the 2019 class). The defense will be a bit more youthful in 2020 but will once again look to take another major step in competing at the highest level in the ACC.

Even with the sports shutdown across the country due to the Coronavirus, the Louisville football coaching staff has continued to put in work in the recruiting department despite not being able to travel or meet with recruits face-to-face.

Louisville landed their first commitment this week from offensive lineman Aaron Gunn and today received their second verbal commit in three days when defensive lineman Victoine Brown announced his collegiate intentions.

On a unit that was a glaring weakness for the Cards in 2019, Brown is a player that will come in and be able to help out right away in 2021.

Brown is rated as the 411th best player in the country according to 247Sports, and is the 29th-ranked strong-side defensive end in the ‘21 class and will join players like Ja’Darien Boykin and Yaya Diaby as potential wrecking balls coming off the defensive line.

The Cardinals staff has done a great job at trying to build up depth over the course of the first two classes, particularly in areas where they were extremely thin in years past.

Louisville certainly addressed a need in the trenches with Brown, a guy who can be an absolute disruptor in opposing backfields.

Do you ever watch a high school player’s tape and think “wow, there are (X amount of) players better than this guy”? That’s how it feels when you flip on Brown’s highlights. As a high school junior, Brown already has ACC size, yet he gets off the line quick, and virtually unbothered by any tackle in his way. He’s a gamechanger for this Louisville’s defense from day one.

Brown had offers from LSU, Miami, Florida, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, and many more big-name power five schools.

The Cards have a good one on the way in Brown.