Louisville football’s Jeff Brohm talks quarterback strategy
“Anytime you play the position it’s just a little different than what’s on the chalkboard or TV,” said Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm.
- Tyler Shough is set to become the seventh former U of L quarterback drafted since 2000.
- A sure sign of U of L’s rise is how Jeff Brohm is finding it harder to schedule top-tier nonconference opponents.
The 2025 NFL Draft has Louisville football poised for its biggest win of the offseason when quarterback Tyler Shough gets drafted. He’s just another sign pointing to how Cardinals coach Jeff Brohm has the program projecting upward.
Shough is expected to become the seventh U of L quarterback drafted since 2000. At worst, he’ll be a third-round pick. At best, he sneaks into the first round as the buzz around him from the Senior Bowl to the NFL combine to now suggests is a possibility.
Where he gets selected isn’t as important as the fact that Shough is being considered at all.
The NFL draft is still as big of a recruiting pitch as the name, image and likeness money stacks college collectives have to offer. And unlike NIL promises of cash, which may or may not come to fruition, being able to help a player achieve the ultimate dream of playing in the NFL is a tangible asset for coaches.
Defensive end Ashton Gillotte, cornerback Quincy Riley and receiver Ja’Corey Brooks are all former U of L players who expect to hear their name called during the draft. That trio was invited to participate in the NFL combine in February along with Shough.
Shough didn’t stir much intrigue in NFL scouts a year ago upon his arrival at Louisville due to his injury-riddled career. Had he declared for the draft out of Texas Tech, he probably goes undrafted in 2024.
He knew he needed another year to showcase his skills and correctly understood that Brohm could be the one who helped him do it.
USC transfer quarterback Miller Moss is up next.
Many assumed Moss would follow 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, whom he backed up, right into the first round.
Considered a top-10 pick at the beginning of last season, Moss ended up benched by the Trojans for the last three regular-season games after posting a 4-5 record. He could bring even more attention and adulation for the program, should Brohm turn him back into a first-round pick.
The draft isn’t the only way to signal the Cards’ progress in two seasons under Brohm. It’s apparently obvious to other programs that would rather not play them.
Brohm said during an appearance on the Drew Deener radio show last week that twice in the past two years he’s moved to schedule games against SEC opponents when an impromptu opportunity presented itself, and both times those opponents looked elsewhere.
Last November, Wake Forest announced it would opt out of its deal for a return game to play Ole Miss during the 2025 season. The Cards tried to be the fill-in, but Ole Miss decided on Washington State instead.
Nebraska backed out of a two-year agreement with Tennessee in February for games in the 2026 and 2027 seasons. U of L, with a chance to bolster its nonconference schedule with a game that made sense geographically, too, reached out to the Volunteers and was rebuffed a second time.
Tennessee scheduled Georgia Tech.
“I don’t know what works against us; I think that’s up to you guys to judge,” Brohm said on the radio.
It’s clear that Louisville is being avoided because the Cards could win those games. Power conference football coaches tend to only schedule nonconference games that tilt in their favor.
Back in 2021, Georgia and U of L agreed to a home-and-home series that begins with the Dawgs coming to L&N Stadium in 2026 with the Cards returning the game in Athens in 2027.
Don’t be surprised if UGA backs out of that deal before it comes to fruition. It’s a backhanded compliment really. Brohm has the Cards on the rise, and the signs are inevitable that people have to take notice.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This story was updated to add a gallery.
