Stanquan Clark Taking Steps Forward to Improve Consistency

While the offensive side of the ball for the Louisville football program is certainly chock full of talent, the other side of the line of scrimmage has some impact guys as well. Among this crop of playmakers, arguably the best on the defensive side of the ball for the Cardinals is Stanquan Clark.

A highly-regarded prospect coming out of high school, the 6-foot-3, 235-pound inside linebacker got a good amount of run as a true freshman in 2023. Playing in all 14 games, he finished with 15 tackles, two for loss and forced fumble.

Last year, he took a massive step forward, and had the top breakout year of anyone on the roster. Starting all 13 games, Clark finished last season with 76 tackles and eight for loss, both of which were second on the team, plus two interceptions and two forced fumbles, with both marks leading the Cards.

"He showed up last year, and did a good job. We expect him to play well. He has as much potential as anybody," head coach Jeff Brohm said of Clark during the program annual Media Day to start fall camp.

Clark has already collected 91 tackles, 10 for loss, three forced fumbles and two interceptions over his first two years in college. Ahead of his junior season, the Miami, Fla. native's stock is sky-high, and he is viewed as one of Louisville's top prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft.

However, because of the injury bug, it's been and up-and-down offseason for Clark ahead of year three. Due to a shoulder injury, the linebacker was actually held out of all of spring ball for the Cardinals. Fortunately, he was able to use that spring and subsequent summer to recovery, and was a full go by the end of fall camp.

"Quan is 100 percent now, and there's nothing holding him back," linebackers coach Mark Ivey said. "We did kind of take our time making sure he didn't do anything in the spring, but he's good now. We've seen that because we do our contact drills during individuals, full live tackling, anything we got more, we're good to go. It would have been great having him out there in spring, but he was able to step in this summer and do all the stuff with us there. Now he's just rotating back through."

Of course, while Clark was finally able to participate in practice during the fall, it still was tough for him to have to sit on the sideline in the spring. But instead of playing the "woe is me" card, he wanted to be supportive for his linebacker teammates who were getting additional snaps in place of him.

"It was just a little difficult, because I wanted to be out there with my brothers and stuff like that," Clark said. "But I was there every single day, just watching them, helping TJ and the rest of the linebackers getting calls and stuff like that. I was there every day, but I wasn't physically out there, so it wasn't that bad. I would just say that I was trying to help them get better, and focus on the mental part of it."

Clark couldn't get on the field, but he was able to take massive strides forward in that aforementioned mental aspect. Between watching film and getting that much more familiar with the playbook, Clark just began to prepare h imself for when he eventually was able to get back on the practice field.

"It did help me a lot, because I was just watching film, just seeing them do it. So I was like, 'when I'm back out there, it should be easier for me,' because I could see everything," he said.

Clark was slowly ingratiated with the team to start fall camp, and by the end of the open practices he wasn't just back to his old self, he looked like a much improved version of it. Already a super athletic and versatile athlete, Clark was making multiple plays both against the run and in pass coverage over the last few open practices of camp.

While Clark already had the ability to make these sorts of impact plays, seeing him do it on a regular and consistent basis was the biggest development for him during camp.

"Quan is now at the point where he's going to come out and give you a good day, and have some consistency every day, which is what you got to ha ve when you got that type of talent and that type of ability," Ivey said.

Because of that, Clark feels like the sky is the limit heading into his junior season.

"I have a lot of confidence now," he said. "Right now, we're just trying to get better as a unit, not just myself. I want me and my brothers to get better, so we're just working and focusing on each other, uplifting each at this point."