Louisville Getting 'Great Competition' from Placekicker Battle

Change is the only constant in college football, and for Louisville, one of the more under-the-radar changes they will experience for the upcoming 2025 season will be at the placekicker position.

For the last two seasons, the Cardinals had a somewhat underrated asset at this spot in Brock Travelstead, While his consistency was hit-or-miss at times, he still departed the program with his name in the record books. His 35 made field goals and 102 made extra point attempts are sixth all-time in program history, and he has the longest made field goal in UofL history at 56 yards.

Of course, with losing an experienced player at a very under-appreciated position, there comes a natural adjustment period. That being said, the ongoing battle for the starting placekicker spot - primarily between Cooper Ranvier and Nick Keller - has been neck-and-neck over the course of spring ball and fall camp.

"I think it's a great competition," special teams coordinator Karl Maslowski said. "It's probably the best competition we've had."

While either Ranvier or Keller will be taking over as the primary kicker, neither will be flying blind, as both players have gotten in plenty of development behind the scenes. Keller is entering his redshirt junior year, and the 6-foot-1, 200-pound kicker got some reps on the kickoffs unit. While Ranvier is heading into his redshirt freshman campaign, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound kicker saw his role in game-day preparation take a big step forward ahead of the Sun Bowl, and he has exploded in terms of development.

While the duo had combined to go just 2-for-2 on extra point attempts and have yet to attempt an in-game field goal attempt, they have been looking the part in fall camp.

"Cooper and Nick Keller got to really develop the last few years," Maslowski said. "To see (Cooper Ranvier) really develop and come on strong- at the end of the bowl prep, we started giving him some competitive stuff with between him and Brock, and him and Nick, and he really stood out. Well, then Nick started, he came on super strong, and both guys have a huge leg."

Through fall camp, it can be argued that Ranvier has a slight edge over Keller, as his kicks have been the most booming in the Cardinals' preseason. However, Keller is still putting in good work and giving himself a chance to earn the starting gig.

"The field goal responsibility competition, it's pretty tight right now," Ranvier said. "You got a lot of guys who have really strong legs, and we're really accurate. Me and Nick been going at it since I've got here, and then Carson just got in here. We're honestly just making each other better, just keeping each other accountable, making sure we can make all our kicks, and be as consistent as possible."

Regardless of which player wins the starting job, the coaches and players will be comfortable with it based on what they have seen in the offseason and seasons leading up to 2025.

"We lose guys like Brock who played, but all these other guys were still here," long snapper Shai Kochav said. "They were learning, and they were getting better, and they were doing the offseason training, doing practice and pressure field goals. I feel like we still have an experienced group, maybe not to everyone else, but we trust them. We believe in every single person, all nine of us, to step on the field at once and perform."

While the battle for the starting placekicker is primarily between Keller and Ranvier, don't count out true freshman Carson Hilbert to throw his name into the ring at some point in the future. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Louisville native is coming off of a standout senior season at Trinity, going 12-of-14 on field goals - including a school-record 55-yarder - as well at 47-of-48 on PATs.

"This kid is super calm," Maslowski said of Hilbert. "He doesn't hardly smile, he doesn't hardly talk. He goes out there, kicks it, high five, and kind of trots off the field. I can't tell is he's nerves of steel, or completely nervous.

"They all do a really good job. They're all hitting right now around 80% of their attempts, and then they're athletic. Hopefully we get some ability to run some fakes with those guys, and have some fun with that too."