Depth and Versatility Standing Out on Louisville's Offensive Line During Spring Ball

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Last season, while the Louisville football program was anchored mainly by an efficient defense, the offensive side of the ball has plenty of strong moments. Head coach Jeff Brohm might be known for his high-flying offense, but year one under his guidance featured a strong running game, with Jawhar Jordan and Isaac Guerendo being arguably the best running back duo in the ACC.

While Jordan and Guerendo were both very talented players, a big reason that Louisville finished with the No. 37 rushing attack in college football was due to their offensive line. With the Cardinals midway through spring ball in preparation for the 2024 season, this unit will be looking to build on their 2023 campaign and help the program once again contend for the conference title.

"We just got to keep adapting, and I think we did really solid today," center/offensive guard Austin Collins said. "We're going to continue to grow as a unit. Spring ball's been going good, it's good getting back in it. Just gotta keep grinding."

Like every other position group on Louisville's roster, the offensive line is experiencing a fair amount of turnover. First Team All-ACC center Bryan Hudson, as well as All-ACC honorable mention tackles Willie Tyler and Eric Miller all graduated. Add in a few transfers, and the Cardinals are losing seven linemen from last season.

With this, the coaching staff saw opportunity. While the offensive line allowed only 5.29 tackles for loss per game, which came in at fifth in the ACC and 51st nationally, their 2.29 sacks allowed per game were 10th and 84th, respectively. Louisville wanted to utilize the transfer portal to not only upgrade the offensive line in terms of talent, but in terms of size and their ability to take advantage of it.

"We wanted to go out and we want to find some length and some size," offensive line coach Richard Owens said. "But you got to be able to use it. You got to be able to bend, and we felt like we found those guys that have the length, have the size, but they can also bend and they can move their feet. We got multiple guys like that."

During the winter transfer window, Louisville landed six portal additions: Ohio State's Victor Cutler, Yale's Jonathan Mendoza, Georgia Southern's Rasheed Miller, Texas Tech's Monroe Mills, Northern Illinois' Pete Nygra and Houston's Reuben Unije. Four of these transfers are at least both 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds.

Combine this group of newcomers with returners such as Collins, Michael Gonzalez, Renato Brown, Trevonte Sylvester and Lance Robinson, and Louisville's depth across the offensive line has really been standing out in spring practice.

"We have great depth right now," Gonzalez said. "The biggest thing we're working on is just everybody learning the plays, and building their football knowledge, learning the technique that we use in our offense, and then going out there and executing it. We have a lot of guys, so the biggest transition is those guys on the field getting it done, knowing the plays, knowing what they got to do, knowing if the linebacker walks on the edge, they got to push it, and things like that. So just building over time, and learning the whole offense.

On top of having a multitude of options in their two-deep and beyond, most players on the roster can play several different position. Gonzalez can play left guard and tackle. Collins has seen reps at both center and right guard. Mills, Miller and Unije can play both tackle spots. Cutler, Mendoza, Robinson have all played at three different spots on the line at some point in their collegiate careers.

Owens says that over the course of spring ball, Louisville has been taking advantage of this position-wide versatility and tinkering with various offensive line combinations in order to try and find what works and what doesn't.

"We're going to move guys in, move guys out," he said. "If somebody is struggling in an area, we're going to put somebody else in. We're going to flip a guy over, try to create that versatility, because you never know when you're going to need it, right?

"At the end of the day, you're going to start out, you're going to try to get the best five out there, best product on the field, and then who's the sixth, seventh, eighth guy and ninth guy, 10th guy? We're going to roll them in, try to keep them fresh, keep them on the field, and try to put out a great product."

While there's still another half of spring practice left to be played, Owens likes what he has seen so far. In fact, when asked who has caught his eye the most over Louisville's first seven practice sessions of the spring, his response was, "I don't know if there's just one right now."

"The biggest thing that we're continuing to work on is them gelling together as a unit," he continued. "We tell these guys all the time, 'It's not just about you, it's about the team. It's about the group. It's about the success of this team.' When you put all the personal things aside, and you focus more on the team success, everything else will happen for you. That's kind of what we're focusing on right now."

(Photo via Michelle Hutchins - Special to Courier-Journal)

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