2024 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Special Teams

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As we inch closer to the start of the 2024 college football season, Louisville Report 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 (2): LS Shai Kochav, PK Brock Travelstead
• Departing (0): N/A
• Incoming (0): N/A

Projected Depth Chart:

Placekicker

1. Brock Travelstead (6-1, 205, Sr.)
2. ^Nick Keller (6-1, 200, R-So.)

Kickoffs

1. ^Carter Schwartz (6-4, 230, R-Fr.)
2. ^Brady Hodges (6-1, 200, Sr.)

Long Snapper

1. Shai Kochav (6-3, 230, R-Jr.)
2. ^Hayden Travelstead (6-0, 200, R-Fr.)

Holder

1. ^Brady Hodges (6-1, 200, Sr.)
2. ^Carter Schwartz (6-4, 230, R-Fr.)

Punter

1. ^Brady Hodges (6-1, 200, Sr.)
2. ^Carter Schwartz (6-4, 230, R-Fr.)

Kickoff Returner

1. Maurice Turner (5-10, 190, Jr.)

Punt Returner

1. Quincy Riley (6-0, 195, R-Sr.)

^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 able to post a their first 10-win season in a decade and get to their first ever ACC Championship Game, when you look at the special teams numbers from last season, it almost feels like the Cardinals won in spite of their special teams.

In the punting game - whether it was kicking the football, returning the punt or defending the opposing returner - Louisville struggled immensely in 2023. Their 40.51 yards per punt ranked 103rd in the FBS, their 4,39 yards per punt return was 112th, and their 8.89 yards allowed per punt return was 83rd.

Kickoffs weren't much better for the Cardinals. While Louisville did do a good job at actually booting the ball in these situations, with their 62.69 yards per kickoff ranking 38th, what happened when the ball landed wasn't as adept. The Cardinals' 23.40 yards allowed per kickoff ranked 115th, while their own kickoff yardage mark of 20.21 was 63rd.

There were even times where Louisville fans had to hold their breath when the field goal unit trotted onto the field, but more on that in a bit.

Heading into the 2024 season, there isn't massive turnover at the kicking spots for Louisville like there was last season when they lost both James Turner and Mark Vassett. But that doesn't mean there aren't questions across the board on special teams.

At placekicker, Louisville brings back their starter here in Brock Travelstead. However, Travelstead's 2023 season was up-and-down to say the least. He went just 17-of-24 on his field goal kicks, with his 70.8 field goal percentage ranking just 88th in the FBS, and even went 39-of-41 on extra point attempts. It was the first season that Louisville as a team missed multiple extra points in a season since 2019.

Even with his struggles in his first season as the full-time starter, Travelstead still has potential. His 53-yard field goal against NC State set the program record for longest field goal, and he did seem to have much more consistant spring. That being said, these efforts will have to continue heading into fall camp.

Part of the reason that he'll have to maintain that consistency heading into camp and then the season is because Brohm and Co. have already shown that they have no issue giving reps to someone else if need be. This is evidenced by Nick Lopez getting some action late in the season.

While Lopez has moved on, walk-on Nick Keller put together an impressive spring, and there were even times where true freshman walk-on Cooper Ranvier looked solid. This could be something to monitor from a competition standpoint. A.J. Vinatieri, the son of the NFL's all-time leading scorer in Adam Vinatieri, is also an option, but he didn't look as impressive in the spring as the latter three.

While punting wasn't great overall for Louisville last season, it did get better in the second half after the the staff made a change. Travelstead started out as both the field goal kicker and punter, but midway through, walk-on Brady Hodges took over as the starting punter. While Travelstead averaged 39.7 yards and 26 punts, Hodges improved that mark by averaging 42.8 on 28 punts.

But if there are signs of slippage with Hodges to start the year, it wouldn't be surprising to see Louisville try out another punter. Hodges himself had a good spring and got plenty of hang time on most of his kicks, but it was fellow walk-on Carter Schwartz who usually had the most distance on his punts in spring ball. If anything, Schwartz will probably be the guy the Cardinals go to as their kickoff specialist. Adam Winkenhofer, a true freshman walk-on, also joined the roster earlier this summer.

The most continuity and consistency out of all the specialists, oddly enough, comes from the long snapper spot. Shai Kochav is back for yet another season, and the former walk-on isn't showing any signs of regression in any form.

When it comes to the return game, Louisville will go with a new face at punt returner after Kevin Coleman Jr. entered the portal. There were multiple players getting reps returning punts over the course of the spring, but the first one in line was almost always cornerback Quincy Riley, and he did look good as a return man. Jimmy Calloway, Caullin Lacy, Ja'Corey Brooks, Jadon Thompson and Isaac Brown also got their fair share of punt return work as well. It will be interesting to see how this competition plays out in fall camp.

As far as kickoff returns go, while Louisville's primary kick returner in Isaac Guerendo is now in the NFL, they do bring back running back Maurice Turner. Last season, he returned five kicks, averaging 21.8 yards per return. Of course, fall camp will ultimately dictate that starter here, but Turner has the inside track.

Overall, there are a plethora of questions regarding special teams. Can Travelstead be more consistent in his second season as a starter? Who ultimately wins the battle at punter between Hodges and Schwartz? Will the coverage on kickoffs and punts take a much needed step forward? Is there a player ready to take on a role as a reliable return man?

The one thing that special teams does have going for it is that, for the most part, there is a fair amount of continuity. That being said, the continuity at the position must translate into on-field performance and production in 2024.

Other Position Breakdowns:

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

(Photo of Brock Travelstead: Brett Davis - USA TODAY Sports)

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