Jeff Brohm Pleased With Louisville's Progress Ahead of Spring Game

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As quickly as it started, spring practice for the Louisville football program is nearly in the rear view mirror.

The Cardinals are now officially four weeks deep into their five-week spring ball period, with 12 of their 15 scheduled practice sessions complete. Spring practice wraps up in less than a week, culminating with the annual spring game at L&N Stadium. The spring game is set for Friday, Apr. 19 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Over the last couple weeks, practice efforts have ramped up to full blown live tackle periods. With just six days until the spring game and a dozen practices in the books, head coach Jeff Brohm has been pleased with what he has seen over the first month of spring ball.

"I think we've made really good progress," Brohm said. "Without question, today with a lot of team action, live tackling. I thought for the most part, I saw some good signs. Certain guys are stepping up and making plays, and other guys are right there on the edge of getting it done but not quite ready yet. It's a good thing that those things happen, so you can learn from it, improve and get better.

"I think we got capable players that work really hard. We're building depth. A little banged up in certain spots, but I would hope all we're ready for fall camp. A lot of newcomers have done well and improved, and a lot of guys that have been here for two years have really shown improvement and promise. We just got to keep pushing forward."

Most of the position coaches on Brohm's staff have noted that, compared to this time last offseason, Louisville is much farther along now than they were heading into their first spring ball under Brohm last season. This is due in large part to the amount of returners coming back from last season who already have a year in the system under their belt.

In turn, the newcomers have able to learn faster since they have multiple teammates who already know what the coaches want, which collectively raises the group.

"Without question, the people that are back for year two are ahead of the game," Brohm said. "They've shown improvement. Even guys that maybe you would have liked to play a little bit better last year, or a little bit more, they've made strides - pretty much all of them, to quite a bit of an extent. The newcomers have shown really good progress, shown really good athleticism, shown really good talent."

Of course, it can be hard to gauge at times how far Louisville has truly come along since spring ball isn't nearly as competitive fall camp. This is partially because of, as Brohm eluded too, the amount of players that are being held out due to precaution or have missed in entirely due to injury.

For instance, wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooke has been limited to positional period as of late. Both safety Blake Ruffin has been out for the last few open practices, while defensive end Tyler Baron hasn't been able to practice at all.

That all being said, Brohm really like that depth that Louisville has across the board, even with the injuries being a factor at some positions.

"I think, on offense, the depth on the offensive line is as good as we've had it since I've been a coach," he said. "So we've got to push that forward, I think there's a lot of depth at running back. We got to make sure that those guys are touching the ball in a whole lot of different ways, so that's been good. Other positions are progressing.

"I think our defense, there's some D-lineman out that aren't going through things, so you can't get a real test of what's going on. I think when they're back for the fall, we will have depth. Right now, we do not. But the secondary depth, we have not had that (in the past). That has to come in to play for us. We've got to play multiple guys. There's going to be competition, and we have to have guys keep people fresh. When some guy gets nicked up for a series or two or a game or two, the other one has to be no drop-off. To this point, we have made really good strides."

While another spring ball is nearly in the books for Louisville, Brohm is continuing to preach a message of "keep working" to his players. Whether it's in the film room, the weight room or the meeting room, he wants the Cardinals to continue carrying their momentum from spring ball all the way through the summer and into fall camp this August.

"We've got to keep keep working," Brohm said. "Every repetition matters, every day matters, every film session matters, every game-like rep matters. We got to make sure that, even when the sprint practice is over, that the summer is critical. We're making sure that we're constantly pushing the envelope on that, because we need those guys ready to go in game one."

(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Matt Stone - The Courier Journal / USA)

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