Newcomer Jack Plummer Taking on Leadership Role for Louisville's QBs, Offense

The quarterback position for the Louisville football program is going to look very different in 2023.

For starters, the Cardinals will have a different player under center to begin the season for the first time since 2019. Following a six-year career in Louisville, Malik Cunningham - who is the program's all-time leader in touchdowns responsible for - is finally heading off to the NFL.

Losing Cunningham and his abilities both with his arm and legs is one thing. But on top of that, the way that Louisville utilizes the quarterback is going to be night and day. Head coach Scott Satterfield's run-heavy, pistol formation based offense is now in Cincinnati, and replacing it is head coach Jeff Brohm and his pass-heavy, pro style offense.

Having to completely overhaul the offensive system is a large endeavor for Louisville's quarterback room, especially considering the position mostly consists of either career backups or younger players. Fortunately, the Cardinals are blessed to have one players who knows Brohm's system very well: Jack Plummer.

Earlier this offseason, Plummer opted to spend his final year of collegiate eligibility at Louisville after spending last season in the PAC-12 at Cal. The Golden Bears might have gone only 4-8 in 2022, but it was not due to Plummer's efforts, as he completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 3,095 yards, 21 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. His yardage mark was good for sixth-most in Cal history for a single season, and ranked No. 22 in FBS through the end of the regular season.

However, he started his collegiate career at Purdue, where Brohm was the head coach for six years before coming back to his alma mater. He bounced in and out of the starting lineup during his four years with the Boilermakers, where is  17 total appearances with 13 starts at Purdue, he completed 64.8 percent of his throws for 3,405 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

"He knows what we're looking for, what we're asking him to do," offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach Brian Brohm said. "He's able to help relay the cues to the other offensive players. 'Hey, this is what they're wanting,' to reiterate what the coaches are telling them. It's nice to have someone in the room that have been through it and kind of knows what to expect.

Having that prior experience with Brohm's system, on top of the success he had in his lone season out west, make him the clear frontrunner to be the starter under center when the 2023 season kicks off. Plummer believes that familiarity with how Brohm's offense works will help Louisville make the transition from the old scheme to the new one as they kick off spring practice.

"I think it's valuable," he said. "When we're doing a player run practices and stuff, me being a a sixth-year guy and having played in Brohm's system for four years, just being able to coach the guys up, knowing the ins and outs of the offense, all the calls all the routes, the splits, how many steps are taken. Just being able to explain to guys when the coaches can't be there, just give a little refreshers and stuff like that. I think it's very valuable."

Despite being the presumptive QB1, Plummer isn't gatekeeping what he knows about Brohm's offense. In fact, he's been an open book to every player in quarterback room. Drawing on his own personal experience from early in his career at Purdue when guys like David Blough would assist him in learning the scheme, Plummer is paying it forward and helping teach the new system to the other quarterbacks on Louisville's roster.

"He's been a great teammate," said Brock Domann, who started four games for Louisville last season. "Anytime we have a question in the room, he's always the first one to tell us. What does this mean? What does that mean? I feel like we have a really great relationship with all of us, and we just have mutual respect for each other."

Plummer hasn't limited his leadership and teaching of the system to just the quarterback room, either. With the Cardinals sporting an almost entirely new wide receiver room, Plummer has tried to spend as much time as he can with them over the offseason since he arrived, and has even occasionally poked his head into wide receiver meetings with Coach McGee.

Another way that he has tried to build a rapport with the offensive players was on full display following Louisville's first practice of spring ball. After practice had wrapped up and everyone else had left, he and center Bryan Hudson spent roughly 10-15 minutes simply working together on snapping the ball under center.

"He's been a great leader for us from the second he stepped in the locker room," Hudson said. "He's already affected this team in a very positive way. His experience, especially since he knows this offense already, and helping everybody else get acclimated to it, and just being that great leader for all of us. It's been huge."