Louisville's Takeaways From the 2025 ACC Football Kickoff

The Atlantic Coast Conference held their annual Football Kickoff media event earlier this week, and you can imagine, the Louisville football program was present and had plenty to discuss regarding the upcoming season.

Below are some of the more impactful takeaways points over the course of the three-day event in Charlotte, N.C.

Louisville will kickoff the 2025 season against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, Aug. 30 at 3:30 p.m. EST at L&N Stadium.

Transfer QB Miller Moss has become extremely comfortable with his new team and home.

This time last year, Brohm and Louisville took a little bit of a gamble when they brought in Tyler Shough. It was a gamble that paid off tremendously, as the Texas Tech transfer quarterback not only revitalized UofL's passing game last season, but became a second round NFL Draft pick because of it.

Heading into the 2025 season, the Cardinals will be starting a transfer signal caller for the third season in a row. Following an up-and-down 2024 season at USC, Miller Moss hit the portal and will play his final season with the Cardinals.

"We have high expectations, and I feel confident he can do that." Brohm said of Moss. "I think he's a talented young man, he's played a lot of football For us, when we go try to bring someone in that position, if they've got experience, if they've been battle tested, if they've had some ups and downs already, that's beneficial, because he's already gone through that process."

While he has only been with the Cardinals for less than half a year, the Los Angeles native has adjusted well to not only his new team, but the city of Louisville as a whole.

"I think there comes a time when it's time to experience something else, and I've been very grateful to have the opportunity to do that," he said. "I don't think Louisville gets enough credit as a national city. It wasn't like I moved somewhere and there wasn't anything there. It's got great food, the Derby, and then, obviously, the city and the team and the program welcomed me with open arms. I've been super grateful to have the experience that I've had so far, and looking forward to a great year."

Moss might not have quite the arm strength that Shough had, but during spring ball this past March and April, he still had a fantastic spring. During those few weeks, he showcased his next-level capabilities to command an offense, while also flashing some upper tier arm talent.

"I have seen so much from Miller," wide receiver Chris Bell said. "Coming in as a new guy, he kind of took the quarterback role on really good. He's been a leader. He has led by example, and he has led by being vocal."

Jeff Brohm will continue to implement an aggressive scheduling approach.

One of the hottest topics of debate in the College Football Playoff era, especially in the last couple years, has the various approaches when it comes to scheduling your non-conference games. Do you schedule cupcake games to increase your amount of wins? Or do you play a tougher schedule at the risk of taking on losses?

The debate rages on even to this day (just ask Curt Cignetti), but Brohm had made clear what his stance is. So long as he is the head coach of the Cardinals, Louisville will continue to try and cut their teeth against the best of the best.

"That's what people want to play in, that's what coaches want to coach in, and that's what fans want to see," he said. "I really hope that eventually we get to that point, and it sounds like people are trying to go the other way. Let's take on everybody. It'll help your team get better, but it'll also be more fun for everybody involved."

Louisville was originally slated to play Indiana this season before the Hoosiers backed out, and had to replace them with James Madison at the last minute. The Cardinals will also play home-and-homes with Georgia, Texas A&M and Notre Dame over the next decade, and even tried to add both Tennessee and Ole Miss to future schedules.

This mindset mainly stems from the fact that his college coach at Louisville, Howard Schnellenberger, carried the same attitude towards scheduling.

"I believe in a lot of things that he's believed in and taught," Brohm said. "One of them was we took on all challenges, we played all tough teams we could. We believed in a tough schedule. We knew that that was going to make us better in the long run.

Louisville's recruiting philosophy will be a balanced approach between the portal and high school.

During Brohm's first two years at Louisville's, his philosophy when it came to roster construction placed a heavy emphasis on the transfer portal. In the 2024 and 2025 cycles combined, Louisville brought in 64 transfers to just 31 high schools prospects.

That being said, Brohm seems to be tipping the scales a little bit more in favor of high school. In the current 2026 high school recruiting class, the Cardinals hold 21 commitments - the most in a Brohm class at UofL - and they are actively pursuing other targets in the cycle.

Moving forward, instead of placing a massive emphasis on the portal, Brohm says that Louisville will likely use a balanced approach that utilizes both transfers and high schoolers.

"Our team will consist of both," he said. "We want young players that you believe in from the high school ranks that fit and come in and work hard and you hope they get on the field as fast as they can, but if not, you've got to continue to work with them and understand that it's a process sometimes that takes a little bit of time. But if you spend the right time with your players and you invest in them, you'll get the most out of them.

"When it comes to transfers, whatever is going to make our team better. I think if you ask our good players on our football team every year, they're going to want more and more of the best players you can to help them succeed and play well and win football games. I think even when you get those guys in, you've got to continue to develop their talent and sharpen some things along the way and study film and put a lot of work in to help them succeed."

Regardless of his exact approach, Brohm gained a massive recruiting asset earlier this offseason. After 13 years at Kentucky, Vince Marrow left the Wildcats to be Louisville's new Executive Director of Player Personnel and Recruiting.

Marrow had been with UK as their tight ends coach since Mark Stoops was hired as the head coach in 2013, also serving as the Wildcats' recruiting coordinator. All 12 of UK's recruiting classes since Marrow became their recruiting coordinator have ranked in the top-40, per the 247Sports Composite.

"He's a huge addition for us," Brohm said of Marrow. "As you look at how can we continue to improve as a team - offense, defense, special teams - for us, it's recruiting and acquiring talent and building relationships. Vince, he's an expert at it. He's been doing it his whole life, it comes natural to him. So to get someone who's that talented of a coach, person and recruiter is very valuable for us.

"I think he can help us acquire talent, he can get to know get to know our players, he can get to know parents, he builds relationships, and it comes naturally. This guy can talk to someone who's 85 years old, and someone who's five years old like no one else. He can just carry a conversation, and he's just a valuable piece that I think really will do a great job for us and help us become even better."

UofL believes returning to the ACC Championship is very much on the table.

Louisville has been supremely successful in their first two seasons under head coach Jeff Brohm. The Cardinals are 19-8 so far under him, which includes an appearance in the ACC Championship Game back in 2023.

While the Cardinals did not make a return trip to Charlotte last season, the team very much believes that getting back to the ACC title game is a possibility. They just have to find way to flip some of the close losses theat they experienced in 2024.

"Having two pretty good years is a good start, but how can we get better?" Brohm said. "Everyone wants to get to the prize at the end, especially at the beginning of season. Everyone thinks they can go undefeated and win this whole thing. You do have to have that belief. But at the same time, you got to be able to handle close games, you got to be able to handle a loss here and there, and how you respond."

While the preseason predicted order of finish in the ACC does not come out until later this week, many have tabbed Clemson as the favorite to win the league, with Miami and SMU as their primary challengers. If you ask Louisville's players, they don't mind the perceived disrespect.

"I'm fine with it, I ain't got no problem with that," linebacker T.J. Quinn said. "Let those boys have all the hype, man. When Louisville comes, they'll notice."