Louisville is counting on T.J. Capers to turn a year of growth into a bigger role in 2026, and the redshirt junior sounds ready for the jump.
Capers, a four-star signee from Miami, Fla., has already put together a sizable resume for the Cardinals. Since arriving with the Class of 2023, he has appeared in 24 games.
Last fall, he was on the field for all 13 contests and made seven starts, finishing with 46 total tackles. Now he is lined up to start on day one alongside senior Stanquan Clark.
For Capers, the biggest takeaway from last season was simple: the more he played, the more the game slowed down.
"It definitely helped," Capers said. "Making plays last year I feel like the experience was definitely good. I see the game a lot better now, so I think it helped me be a better guy to the new guys coming in and the younger guys."
Louisville linebackers coach Adam Mueller sees the next step as a matter of sharpening the little things. He likes Capers’ athleticism and the ways he can impact a play, but he wants the execution cleaned up snap after snap.
"Just ratcheting up the details of every single call, every single assignment… something that we work on all the time," Mueller said. "He's a very athletic player, he's really good at slipping blocks, and he can do some things in the pass rush too. So, he's got a lot of skills, it's just a matter of refining all the details to it."
Capers already has one moment from last season that stands out. At No.
2 Miami in October, he delivered the play that sealed a 24-21 Louisville win. With 32 seconds left and the unbeaten Hurricanes moving into field-goal range, Miami quarterback Carson Beck tried to thread a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage by JoJo Evans.
Capers reacted immediately, diving to grab the ball before it hit the ground and shutting the door on the comeback.
The play gets plenty of attention from fans, but Capers said he does not go looking for it. What sticks with him is the lesson that every snap matters.
"We watch a lot of game films so if it comes up it comes up but I don't search for it too much," Capers said. "It's one of the things to just show focus throughout the whole game, execute, you never know what play will be important, play like that."
The Cardinals’ defense will be directed by co-defensive coordinators Mark Ivey and Steve Ellis, and Capers expects an aggressive approach.
"It's definitely going to be a red swarm defense, definitely going to be an aggressive defense," Capers said. "We going to get to the ball fast, we going to hit when we get to the ball."
At the program’s annual Kickoff Luncheon earlier this week, Jeff Brohm said "the time is now" when talking about the coming season. Capers said that message fits what Louisville is trying to build.
"I definitely like that 'the time is now,'" Capers said. "Now is the time to hold yourself to the highest standard, now is the time to make all the right decisions, now is the time to focus on what's in front of you."
No. 24 Louisville opens the season on Sept. 6 against No. 9 Ole Miss at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.
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