It’s almost August, and Louisville’s special teams room looks nothing like it did a year ago.
The Cardinals are 41 days away from kicking off the 2026 season in Nashville against Ole Miss, and the overhaul is impossible to miss. The good news for Jeff Brohm’s team: this unit has a real chance to stay a strength, even with several key departures. The challenge is obvious too - Louisville has to replace production at kicker, punter, returner and long snapper all at once.
Last season, special teams gave the Cardinals plenty to work with. Cooper Ranvier was steady in the kicking game, going 21-for-25 on field goals and 39-for-41 on extra points while earning Third Team All-ACC honors in 2025.
Nick Keller also delivered one of the year’s biggest highlights, drilling two 57-yard field goals in back-to-back weeks against Bowling Green and Pittsburgh. Those kicks set a Louisville record for the longest in program history.
The return game was just as dangerous. Caullin Lacy changed field position in a hurry, including two punt return touchdowns in the first three games.
Louisville finished first in the ACC in punt return average at 16.13 yards per return and sixth in kick return average at 22.35. The one area that lagged behind was punting, where the Cardinals averaged 39.11 yards per punt and ranked 16th in the league.
That marked the third straight season Louisville finished in the bottom three of the ACC in that category.
Now the roster has turned over. Ranvier is gone after transferring to Tennessee, David Chapeau graduated, Carter Schwartz transferred to Arizona, Shai Kochav graduated, and Lacy moved on after graduating and signing as a UDFA with the New York Jets.
The most likely answer at punter is EKU transfer Jacob Baker. The Corbin, Ky. native spent the last two seasons as Eastern Kentucky’s starter and averaged 43.3 yards per punt over that span.
His 43.0-yard average last season would have ranked tenth in the ACC, and it was nearly four yards better than Louisville’s team mark. Baker was a first-team All-UAC selection in 2024 and already has experience against the Cardinals, punting nine times in last year’s game with a 42.6-yard average.
Kicker looks like a three-man battle between Keller, Carson Hilbert and Garth White. Keller should still handle kickoffs after posting a 76% touchback rate last season, which ranked fifth in the ACC.
He also showed he can stretch the field, so don’t be shocked if Brohm gives him chances from 55 yards and beyond after those two 57-yard bombs a year ago. Hilbert, an all-state kicker and punter at Trinity High School, appeared in just one game last season, but with Keller and White both in their final year of eligibility, he could be a name to watch for 2027.
White arrived late in the portal in early May, and he brings a solid résumé of his own. He made 14 of 18 field goals last season at Rhode Island and hit a long of 54 yards. He also has punting experience from his JUCO season at Ventura Community College.
Louisville also has to replace Lacy’s impact in the return game, and that’s no small task. The Cardinals brought in Tre Richardson from Vanderbilt, where he led the team with 806 receiving yards and seven touchdowns while also handling kickoff returns at 25 yards per attempt. He gives Louisville a fast, versatile option who should get the ball in space often this fall.
Punt return duties may be a competition between Jackson Voth and Brycen Scott. Both transfers have FCS punt return experience. Voth put up 600 receiving yards and five touchdowns last season at Drake, while Scott worked as a reserve cornerback at Elon and returned punts for the Phoenix over the last two seasons.
At long snapper, the job is still up for grabs between Hayden Travelstead and Ryan Manis. Travelstead has been in the program for three seasons and is the younger brother of former Louisville kicker Brock Travelstead. Manis comes over from Liberty University.
Louisville’s special teams may be starting from scratch in a lot of places, but there’s enough proven leg talent and enough transfer help to keep this group interesting.
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