Louisville football had a crazy-busy offseason, bringing in over 32 transfers and securing a top-five Transfer Portal class in the nation. Jeff Brohm and Vince Marrow were working overtime to put this team together, and now they are expected to be a major dark-horse candidate for the College Football Playoffs this upcoming season.
The Cardinals fans are super excited about many newcomers, including Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz, Florida State transfer Lawayne McCoy, Vanderbilt transfer Tre Richardson, and many others. However, the two Cardinals who are getting the most spotlight this upcoming year are actually former Louisville stars from the previous season.
Recently, Sporting News released its 2026 college football Preseason All-America team, and Louisville fans are happy to see their two stars, Clev Lubin and Isaac Brown, each on the Second Team.
Isaac Brown and Clev Lubin named to Preseason All-America team
The Cardinals are gaining a lot of attention this offseason, largely because of their running back room and defensive line. And the leader of that running back room is the former ACC Rookie of the Year, Isaac Brown, and the leader of the defensive line is the former All-ACC Third-Team member, Clev Lubin.
Both Brown and Lubin made the Sporting News 2026 college football Preseason All-America Second- Team, as both are expected to be major pieces for Louisville this upcoming year. Brown has been with UofL for two seasons now and has emerged as one of the top running backs in college football, while Lubin has played just one year with the Cardinals but made a dominant presence on the Cardinals' defensive front in that lone year.
Lubin and Brown were the two biggest names this offseason that Cardinals fans wanted to return. Lubin is coming off a year where he was one of the league's top edge rushers in the ACC, securing a team-high 8.5 sacks, along with 61 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, five pass deflections, and three forced fumbles.
Before his time at Louisville, Lubin played for Coastal Carolina, where he logged 12.0 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks, along with three pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Now, he enters 2026 as one of the top edge rushers in college football and is expected to cause havoc for the Cardinals.
As for Brown, he will enter his junior season as a preseason All-American for the second time. Brown had a dominant freshman season after breaking the program's freshman rushing yards record with 1,173 rushing yards and tying Lamar Jackson’s freshman record after securing 100 yards or more in five games. He won the ACC Rookie of the Year and the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Brown was limited this past season due to injuries, playing only 8 games. However, in those eight games, he was nothing short of impressive, averaging 8.8 yards per carry and making the All-ACC Third-Team after running for 884 yards and seven touchdowns.
Louisville fans have high hopes for this upcoming season, and if these two stars can stay healthy, the Cardinals have a real chance at making the program's first College Football Playoff.
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