Louisville’s special teams enter the season with two very different storylines: a kicking game that needs stability and a return game that already knows how to flip field position in a hurry.
The biggest concern is simple enough. The Cardinals have to replace both starting kickers, and after a couple weeks of fall camp, the staff still doesn’t sound fully settled on the answers.
Louisville finished last season with one of the country’s better kicking games, but its punting operation was among the worst in college football. Now the bar feels lower in a hurry: get the basics right and avoid the breakdowns.
Nick Keller is the lone returner from last year’s kicking group and looks like the early favorite to take over. He handled long field goals and kickoffs a year ago, connecting on half of his attempts.
Keller brings a huge leg, and that alone gives him real value. The question is whether the consistency will come with it.
Garth White is the other name to watch, and he has a legitimate shot to win the job. In the looks available to media and fans, White was steady on shorter kicks, though the longer tries were a different story.
Last season, he went 14-for-18 with a long of 54 yards and another make from 52. If there’s a position where a jump in competition can be managed, kicker is probably it.
Punting, though, is a different problem. There isn’t a punter on the roster who has clearly shown he can be an asset, and Jeff Brohm made his feelings on the kicking game clear in his first press conference of the fall.
That same message carried through practice observations, and the results weren’t encouraging. Snaps were shaky, punts were mishandled, and too many kicks lacked either hang time or distance.
The one punt that looked clean took so long to get off that the punter would have been in serious trouble off the edge.
The good news is Louisville still has time to sort it out, and the staff has tried to manufacture competition during camp. Those improvised drills and pressure situations should help narrow the field, even if the personnel pool is what it is.
The return game gives Louisville a lot more confidence. Caullin Lacy was one of the nation’s top return men last season, bringing back two punts for touchdowns and posting a strong kick return average.
He had plenty of help too, with good blocking and a scheme that consistently opened space for him to work with. Karl Maslowski has emerged as one of the ACC’s better special teams coaches, and Louisville has the pieces to keep stressing opponents in the return game.
Tre Richardson averaged 25 yards per kick return last year, which makes him the leading candidate to handle that role now. Still, he has an important offensive workload, and Jeff Brohm may choose to keep him protected. If that happens, Braxton Jennings, Lawayne McCoy, Keyjuan Brown, and possibly Jordan Vann could all get looks.
Keller may have the inside track at kicker, but White could wind up handling shorter field goals and even emerge as the starting punter. He worked through punting drills during one of the open practices, and his background as a starting kicker gives him a different kind of appeal. With no experienced punter on the roster, that kind of composure could matter.
In Other News...
Louisville Is Still Right In The Middle Of A Recruiting Fight
Louisville remains right in the thick of the race for one of the top guards in the 2027 class, with five-star point guard Reese Alston down to seven schools. The Cardinals are in the mix with Kentucky, LSU, Vanderbilt, Wichita State, Tennessee and Houston, a group that shows just how competitive this recruiting battle has become for a player drawing major attention early.
Alston has already made unofficial visits to Louisville and Wichita State, giving those staffs an early chance to make their case in person. For the Cardinals, being viewed as a strong contender is a meaningful sign, but the real challenge now is holding that position as the recruitment moves forward and the pressure intensifies. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville May Have Found A Timely Strength Before Ole Miss
Louisvilles tight end room has become one of the more interesting groups to watch as fall camp winds down, with Paul Petrino pointing to steady progress ahead of the season opener against Ole Miss. The Cardinals have leaned on a mix of experience and upside in that room, and Petrino said the development of Brody Foley, Jaleel Skinner and Justyn Reid has given the staff reason to feel better about what the position can bring early in the year.
Freshman Julius Miles is part of that conversation too, adding another layer to a group that appears to offer some versatility as Louisville sharpens its game plan for the Rebels. For a team looking for any edge in a high-profile opener, getting dependable play from the tight ends could matter more than usual, especially if the Cardinals want to make life easier on the rest of the offense while the staff continues sorting out roles and matchups. [Read more 🡒]
Louisvilles Offense Has One Big Question Beyond Isaac Brown And Lincoln Kienholz
Louisvilles season opener against Ole Miss on Sept. 6 at Nissan Stadium will offer the first real look at an offense built around a familiar idea for Jeff Brohm: give the Cardinals enough playmakers, then let the system sort out the rest. Much of the attention naturally lands on running back Isaac Brown and new starting quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, and Brohm has sounded upbeat about both the ceiling of the group and the depth behind them.
Still, the larger question is how the rest of the offense fills in around those two. The Cardinals are counting on several players to produce at a high level if they want the 2026 season to match the optimism around the program, and the opener should provide an early sense of whether Louisville has the kind of supporting cast that can make Brown and Kienholz part of something bigger. [Read more 🡒]