—Vince Marrow says he’s “on a mission” to take Louisville football to new heights.
—It was expected, but still awesome, to see Peyton Siva officially promoted to assistant coach on Wednesday.
—Eric Crawford writes that Siva’s promotion is good for him, but even better for Louisville.
He’s been coaching since before he had a team.
Before he was a Big East champion, a Final Four MVP or the pride of the KFC Yum! Center, Siva was helping pull his father out of addiction, his family out of chaos and his teammates
out of slumps. He made assists everywhere — some on the court, but many more off it.
I remember writing in 2013 that his greatest gift wasn’t his speed or court vision. It was his ability to lift people. Everyone he touched, he tried to lift.
Rick Pitino couldn’t get through Senior Day without choking up trying to describe him. I remember that, too. If you were there, you’ll never forget Siva’s family, one by one, placing leis around his neck.
“He’s never had a bad day,” Pitino said. “Never one time did he come to work with anything but a great attitude.”
That’s the kind of presence Louisville is adding to its bench. And frankly, it’s the kind of presence college basketball could use more of.
—C.L. Brown is the latest to write that Louisville needs to go ahead and put the 2013 banner back up.
—The Jeff Brohm radio show starts a week from tonight at the Roosters in Fern Creek. You can find the full schedule for the 2025 season here.
—It’s a soccer double-header at Lynn Stadium on Thursday night, with the men’s team opening their season against Southern Indiana at 5, and the women’s team playing their home-opener against Detroit Mercy at 7:30.
—Ten days until the next generation of Cardinal fans start the process of “growing up in that tunnel.”
—Louisville WR Caullin Lacy has been named to the 2025 College Football Comeback Player of the Year watch list.
—Mini plans for the upcoming U of L women’s basketball season are now available.
—Cardinal Sports has a player profile of Mo Camara.
—Danny Kanell is calling his shot and saying that Louisville won’t just make the College Football Playoff, it’ll be a single-digit seed.
—Steve Wiltfong writes about the recruiting buzz($$) surrounding Louisville football right now.
—Christian Academy standouts Ja’Hyde Brown (2027) and Kellan Hall (2028) have both scheduled game day visits to U of L on Nov. 29, which just so happens to be Battle for the Governor’s Cup day.
—Jizzle James has been dismissed from the Cincinnati men’s basketball team. The Cards face the Bearcats in Cincy on Nov. 21.
—Hang it.
—The CJ previews Kentucky High School football Class 6A, where Trinity is looking to win its third consecutive state championship.
—The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel predicts a 4-4 ACC season for Louisville, and then presents zero words to explain why.
—Coming off a dynamic freshman season, handling the weight of expectations is something new for Isaac Brown.
“It’s hard because I got a lot of pressure, and they want to perform how I performed last year,” Brown said. “I got a lot on my shoulders. I’m just trying to pray, hope I played better this year than last year, but I think I put in the work.”
Adding to said pressure are the amount of accolades Brown has already accumulated in his short college career up to this point. His true freshman season earned him Second-Team All-ACC honors, and he was named the ACC Offensive and Overall Rookie of the Year. He was also named a Freshman All-American by PFF and 247Sports.
Even before taking a single snap this season, the preseason honors have been pouring in. He has earned six different preseason All-American honors, including a First-Team nod, and was voted to the 2025 Preseason All-ACC Team. He has also been named to the preseason watch lists for the Doak Walker Award, Paul Hornung Award, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year.
Fortunately, running backs coach Chris Barclay has been a huge asset for Brown this offseason in terms of dealing with the pressure.
“I tell him ‘don’t worry about that.’ We try to focus on this year, we don’t focus on what happened last year,” Barclay said during fall camp. “He talks about that, but we’ve had many conversations that there is no pressure. We just got to go out and play one play at a time.
“This is a new year. Last year was last year, and it was what it was, but we’ve got to prove ourselves all over again. It’s almost like this is starting over from scratch. So don’t focus on that. Let me be great today, let me be great on this rep, and that’s all that matters right now. He’s a young guy, and there’s people in his ear and things like that. But we just stay on him, and communicate with him.”
—The entire college football world is ripping on Indiana’s non-conference scheduling philosophy.
—The latest episode of the Starting 502 podcast is here.
—Major congrats to Christen, one of the best human beings to come through this program.
—Because of construction delays due to the weather this spring/summer, one-third (7 of 21) of JCPS football teams – including Male and Manual – don’t have operational stadiums at kickoff for the 2025 season.
—The latest episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone podcast is here. It features 502 Circle president Dan Furman.
—The Field of 68 has Russ Smith ranked as the 23rd best college basketball player since 2000.
—Louisville going UNDER 8.5 wins is one of the best betting plays in the ACC this season, according to ESPN’s Pamela Maldonado.
Louisville Cardinals to go UNDER 8.5 regular-season wins (+120)
The bad outweighs the good when it comes to the Cardinals, at least early. Louisville’s defense was a problem last year (106th against the pass), and they lost their best cover corner and top two pass rushers. That’s not a small fix, and while they hit the portal hard this offseason, the Cardinals are also banking on USC transfer quarterback Miller Moss to instantly click as a pure pocket passer in a new system behind a newly-assembled offensive line. Louisville is good enough to beat easier teams on the schedule but not complete enough of a team to trust to win nine games.
—One of the highest-rated recruits in Louisville football history, T.J. Capers is ready to show what he’s got this season.
—The Field of 68 fellas have an in-depth discussion on Louisville here.
—This is how you do it.
—Pro Football Focus has its preview of the 2025 Cardinals here.
—Consistency is the next big step for Stanquan Clark, who is expected to be the star of the 2025 U of L defense.
—Three Louisville players have been named to the Senior Bowl watch list.
—David Cobb of CBS takes an in-depth look at the 2025-26 Louisville men’s basketball team.
Louisville has all the ingredients of a Final Four squad and should be regarded as a national-title contender. Kelsey added a potential lottery pick at point guard, elite shooting and quality size to a core nucleus that was around for last season’s 27 victories. With versatile forwards such as Hadley and Rooths on the roster, the Cardinals will have options for how to play.
It’s also helpful that each player in a deep group of post options brings a slightly different skill set to the table. Opposing defenses will be getting a different look every few minutes. The Cards can crush you with size, or they can go small and play fast while terrorizing you with three or four must-guard shooters on the floor.
Given the age, talent, size and depth on this roster, last year’s No. 8 seed for the NCAA Tournament should be the floor for Louisville. The ceiling? Well, that’s where they hang banners, and Louisville is absolutely talented enough to hang some in 2025-26.
—Will Stein says Oregon QB Dante Moore reminds him of former teammate Teddy Bridgewater.
—Cardinal Sports’ countdown of the 50 most important Louisville football players for 2025 continues with No. 15-11.
—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show returns from 2:30-5:30 this afternoon on 1450/96.1 The Big X. Starting on Sept. 1, the show will be televised live on WBNA Channel 21, which means I’ve got 11 days to lose like 30 pounds. Feel like having one cookie instead of two after dinner should be enough to do the trick.
