2025 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Special Teams

As we inch closer to the start of the 2025 college football season, Louisville Cardinals On SI will break down each individual position on the Cardinals' roster. Concluding our positional breakdown series, we take at look at the special teams.

Position Roster Movement*:

*scholarship players only

• Returning (1): LS Shai Kochav
• Departing (1): PK Brock Travelstead (Graduation)
• Incoming (0): N/A

Projected Depth Chart:

Placekicker

1. ^Cooper Ranvier (6-2, 200, R-Fr.)
2. ^Nick Keller (6-1, 200, R-Jr.)
3. ^Carson Hilbert (6-3, 215, Fr.)

Kickoffs

1. ^Carter Schwartz (6-4, 225, R-So.)
2. ^Adam Winkenhofer (5-10, 195, R-Fr.)

Long Snapper

1. Shai Kochav (6-3, 230, R-Sr.)
2. ^Hayden Travelstead (6-0, 210, R-S.)

Holder

1. ^Adam Winkenhofer (5-10, 195, R-Fr.)
2. ^Carter Schwartz (6-4, 225, R-So.)

Punter

1. ^Carter Schwartz (6-4, 225, R-So.)
2. ^Adam Winkenhofer (5-10, 195, R-Fr.)

Kickoff Returner

1. Bobby Golden (5-9, 185, R-Jr.)
2. Caullin Lacy (5-10, 190, R-Sr.)
3. Antonio Meeks (6-1, 195, Sr.)
4. Jamarice Wilder (5-9, 180, Fr.)

Punt Returner

1. Caullin Lacy (5-10, 190, R-Sr.)
2. Bobby Golden (5-9, 185, R-Jr.)
3. Antonio Meeks (6-1, 195, Sr.)
4. Jamarice Wilder (5-9, 180, Fr.)

^walk-on

Breakdown:

As any well-versed football fan knows, you have to win all three phases of the game to put yourself in the best position possible to come out with a victory. But while Louisville was unable to make a return trip to the ACC Championship Game in 2024, it wasn't because of their special teams, as this phase of the game for Cardinals was largely improved from their very poor showing in 2023.

The one special teams area where Louisville struggled was in the punting game. Their 37.44 yards per punt ranked 97th in the FBS, and their 5.62 yards per punt return was 101st. That being said, their 52.27 yards allowed per punt return was 33rd nationally.

On kickoffs, the Cardinals were just average when it came to actually booting the ball, with their 61.97 yards per kickoff ranking 71st nationally. However, they still did a good job at limiting damage done, as their 17.74 yards allowed per kickoff ranked 2nd in the FBS. As far as their own returns go, they were back to average, as their 20.25 yards per kickoff return ranked 67th nationally.

The special teams area where Louisville shined the most was in the blocked kicks department. Their six blocked field goal and extra point attempts tied Notre Dame for the most in the FBS, while their three blocked punts tied for the second-most (UNLV - 5).

Then when the field goal unit trotted onto the field, Louisville fans didn't have to hold their breath as much as they did in 2023. Brock Travelstead posted one of the better kicking seasons in program history, going 18-of-25 on field goal tried and a perfect 58-of-58 on extra point attempts.

Heading into the 2024, while there is changeover at the two primary kicking spots, Louisville is still in relatively good shape at both placekicker and punter.

After seeing Travelstead exhaust his eligibility, it is now a two-horse race to replace him as the starting placekicker. The odds-on favorite to win this position battle is Cooper Ranvier.

Ranvier doesn't exactly have much collegiate experience, as he made his only extra point attempt as a true freshman last season vs. Austin Peay. However, he was the kicker who was routinely the most impressive during spring ball. Both his accuracy and his power were consistent, and he nailed a 52-yarder in the spring game. He has big shoes to fill, but he seems up to the challenge.

But if for some reason his consistency starts to waiver to start the season, Brohm and Co. have shown in the past that they have no issue giving reps to someone else if need be. The next guy in line would be Nick Keller, who also doesn't have a ton of college experience, also making his lone extra point attempt last season, coming against vs. Austin Peay.

With Keller, he's got the power, and had a couple open practices where he was the more impressive kicker because of it. He just leaves a bit to be desired in the accuracy department. He was prone to bad shanks in spring ball, and even missed a PAT in the spring game. If he can refine this area, he's got a real chance to challenge Ranvier in fall camp.

A wild card in the placekicker battle is incoming freshman and local product Carson Hilbert. Last season at Trinity, he averaged 43.2 yards a punt and made 12 of his 14 field goal attempts. He's got the potential, but how will he make the transition to the college game?

While punting wasn't great for Louisville last season, there is promise for a bounce back. After Brady Hodges opted out and hit the transfer portal the morning of the Sun Bowl, Carter Schwartz is in line to take over as the primary punter.

Not only was Schwartz' average (41.7 in 17 attempts) over two yards better than Hodges' (39.3 in 24 attempts), he continued to look the part in spring ball. The vast majority of his kicks both featured a lot of hang time, and covered a lot of ground. Louisville should be in line too see their punting get better with his as the go-to punter.

But if there are signs of slippage with Schwartz to start the year, Hilbert is an option they could insert here. However, following A.J. Vinatieri's portal entry, the backup at punter will likely be Adam Winkenhofer. He was mainly a placekicker in high school, but has shown the ability to be a punter.

The most continuity and consistency out of all the specialists, oddly enough, comes from the long snapper spot. Shai Kochav is back for his final season, and the former walk-on isn't showing any signs of regression in any form. In fact, in three previous years as the long snapper, he didn't have his first collegiate bad snap until last season.

When it comes to the return game, Louisville will likely go with Caullin Lacy as their starting punt returner. Between last season and his time at South Alabama, he has 61 punt returns for a 7.9 career average - including six for 5.8 yards in his first season as a Card. At kick returner, this weill almost assuredly go to Akron transfer Bobby Golden. He was the Zips' go-to in this department last season, returning 17 kicks for an 18.6 yard average.

Two other players that could be in the return mix are Antonio Meeks and Jamarice Wilder. During special teams segments in spring ball, Lacy and Golden were always the starters, but Meeks and Wilder regularly accompanied them in their return group. How many return attempts these two will get remains to be seen, but they're at least getting trained for it.

Regardless of who is fielding kicks, Louisville has to get better here. Both in 2023 and 2024, the Cardinals were next to a non-factor when it came to generating extra yardage on their punt and kick returns. Football is a game of inches, and every single extra one counts.

Overall, while there are certainly a few questions regarding special team, Louisville still head into the 2025 season in a very good spot here. This is mostly because of their efforts in kick/punt coverage, which took a massive step forward. While Ranvier and Schwartz seem like they'll be able to handle their new roles, time will tell how they fair in games. Also, someone will have to become a reliable option as a return man.

Other Position Breakdowns:

• Quarterback
• Running Back
• Wide Receiver
• Tight End
• Offensive Line
• Defensive Line
• Linebacker
• Cornerback
• Safety

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