Louisville Cardinals news: JUCO pipeline, new coaches, more

Just fourteen days away from the NCAA transfer portal closing, the amount of same faces in new places is astounding. In what could widely be considered as the college free agency period, the Louisville Cardinals have plucked eight athletes thus far out of the portal, including notable names like Myles Slusher, Marquis Groves-Killebrew, and Stephen Herron Jr.

It is evident that Head Coach Jeff Brohm has been active in both the transfer portal market and the recruiting market. But there is one more pipeline of players that are available for Division I programs and Louisville has a few names from that very pipeline.

That pipeline is obviously the junior college market. Junior college was something that was widely overlooked by the average fan until the Netflix documentary Last Chance U debuted in 2016.

The first two seasons documented JUCO-powerhouse East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, Mississippi. Head Coach Buddy Stephens made a name for himself on national television through his boisterous personality.

The following two seasons would then move to JUCO-doormat Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. Then-head coach Jason Brown arrived there in 2016 to lead the Pirates out of the historic misery that ICC football had endured for so long. Upon his arrival, Brown had offices built, a weight room built, a deal with Adidas to produce their uniforms, and a turf practice field installed.

Despite his controversial behavior, he did leave the program as a whole better than he found it. Now, Independence Community College is a well-known pitstop for athletes trying to make it to the Division I level.

One of those athletes who joined the Pirates to further his football career is Louisville’s backup quarterback Brock Domann. Domann spent the 2020-2021 season with the Pirates and recorded 1,540 passing yards and 10 touchdowns, which ultimately earned him a Division I offer from the University of Louisville.

Joining Domann on the Louisville football team from a junior college are two athletes who graduated this year, defensive lineman Yaya Diaby and offensive lineman Trevor Reid. Yaya Diaby transformed himself from a zero-star recruit to an invitee to the 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Combine. The first stop in this process, after high school, was at Georgia Military College, where he played for two seasons before signing with the Cardinals.

Trevor Reid was with Diaby at Georgia Military College and has produced at a high-level for the Cardinals these past few seasons. The 6-foot-5 offensive lineman has a resume that was noticed by NFL scouts, even to the point of creating him an NFL draft profile even though he has not officially declared his name into the NFL prospect pool.

Yaya Diaby and Trevor Reid were two additions to the Cardinals in the Class of 2020. And a year prior, in 2019, Louisville added Hutchison Community College outside linebacker Monty Montgomery. Hutchison Community College is a rival of Domann’s ICC Pirates, but both found a home at the University of Louisville.

Montgomery has been a huge asset to the Cardinals and now is returning for another season after his medical waiver was approved. The 5-foot-11 linebacker will be a leader for the 2023 defense with a lot of freshmen joining the roster this offseason.

So, it’s evident that Scott Satterfield scoured the junior college markets while he was here at Louisville and Jeff Brohm has done a great job adding talent to this roster in the few short weeks he’s been here. But, could he continue his prospect scouting in the JUCO markets in years to come?

Other Louisville Cardinals News

Louisville Coaching Staff

As reported by Brandon Marcello, a National College Football Reporter for 247 Sports, Louisville has announced the hiring of Richard Owens as the new offensive line coach. Owens comes from Georgia Southern, which is the same school that Kenderick Duncan used to play for, back to his alma mater and former coaching pitstop. The former NFL tight end was the Tight Ends Coach for Louisville in 2018 and now returns to Louisville as a part of Jeff Brohm’s new staff.

Another addition to Brohm’s coaching staff in Louisville is Purdue’s Senior Associate Director of Football Strength & Conditioning Coach Ryan Phillis. Phillis is the latest member of the Purdue coaching staff to follow his head coach to Louisville, joining Chris Barclay, Garrick McGee, Ron English, Mark Hagen, and Brian Brohm.

Louisville Alumni

Cleveland Cavaliers star point guard and former Louisville standout Donovan Mitchell recently dropped 71 points on the Chicago Bulls to open up the new year with a bang. Mitchell scored nearly half of his team’s total 145 points by himself and has continued to be an impressive ambassador for the Louisville program.