The first game with Mark Stoops and Kentucky vs. Jeff Brohm and Louisville will come Nov. 25 at L&N Federal Credit Union (nee Cardinal) Stadium.
Yet the battle for in-state superiority between the winningest head man in UK history and the new U of L coach is well underway. So who is “winning” the offseason between Kentucky’s Stoops and Louisville’s Brohm?
Taken in whole, the recruiting metrics reflect a close fight.
For the class of 2023, Rivals ranked UK’s 19 signees No. 27 in the country. Stoops, Vince Marrow and Co. brought in nine four-star prospects and 10 three-stars.
With 15 signees, U of L’s 2023 class is ranked No. 43 by Rivals. Brohm’s first Louisville group of recruits featured seven four-stars, seven three-stars and a two-star.
For the class of 2024, Brohm and U of L are out to a quick start, holding eight commitments and sitting No. 22 in the 24/7 Sports Composite team rankings.
Kentucky is No. 71 in the same ratings for its class of 2024 — but the database shows the Wildcats with only two commits for 2024, having not updated to reflect that highly touted UK QB commit Cutter Boley is reclassifying from 2025.
As everyone anticipated, including UK’s Stoops, Brohm has made U of L a more significant presence on the in-state recruiting scene than it had been in recent years. At the time the former Trinity High School and U of L quarterback star and ex-Western Kentucky head man was named Cardinals coach, Stoops noted that Brohm “obviously (has) great connections to the state.”
In the class of 2023, Brohm and U of L beat UK for ex-Male High School lineman William “Woo” Spencer. For 2024, Louisville went into one of the Wildcats’ traditional “pipeline schools,” North Hardin, and got a commitment from wide receiver Shaun Boykins.
Of course, UK continues to hold its own in wooing in-state prospects. All three of the Cats’ current 2024 commits — Lexington Christian’s Boley, Taylor County offensive lineman Hayes Johnson, and Simon Kenton offensive lineman Aba Selm — are homegrown.
Both Stoops and Brohm have done commendable work in the transfer portal.
Louisville has some 20 incoming transfers. Included are two quarterbacks who each played for Brohm at Purdue as well as six — count ’em, six — offensive linemen.
California transfer Jack Plummer, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound pocket passer, completed 62.5 percent of his passes and threw for 3,095 yards and 21 touchdowns last season for the Golden Bears. Prior to that, the Gilbert, Ariz., product spent four seasons with Brohm at Purdue, making 13 career starts for the Boilermakers.
Redshirt freshman QB Brady Allen, is also following Brohm from West Lafayette. An Indiana high school legend, Allen threw for 11,918 yards and 149 touchdowns at Gibson Southern High School.
It seems likely that Plummer will be Louisville’s immediate starter with Allen vying with true freshman Pierce Clarkson to be the Cardinals’ quarterback of the future.
With an established program, Stoops has not been as prolific in the portal as Brohm but has, by most accounts, done good work in addressing perceived UK roster weaknesses.
Included in Kentucky’s 2023 transfer haul are four offensive linemen — Marques Cox (Northern Illinois), Courtland Ford (Southern California), Ben Christman (Ohio State), and Tanner Bowles (Alabama) — who figure to be “in the rotation” as UK seeks to rebuild an offensive front that lost its mojo in 2022.
Kentucky, too, used the portal to grab its presumed starting quarterback for 2023. Devin Leary, the former North Carolina State star, was generally considered the top QB in the portal at the time he committed to the Wildcats.
In former Vanderbilt standout Ray Davis (1,042 rushing yards last season with five touchdowns plus three receiving TDs), Kentucky also got its likely No. 1 running back for 2023 via transfer.
Brohm’s mere presence at U of L — coupled with the perception of early recruiting success — has energized what has, in recent years, been a downtrodden Cardinals fan base.
Entering his 11th season as Kentucky head man, Stoops (school-record 66 victories) put a charge into the Big Blue Nation by successfully luring popular offensive coordinator Liam Coen back to Lexington after the latter spent the 2022 season as OC for the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.
Coen’s return is credited for UK’s ability to land a top portal quarterback in Leary and a highly touted high school QB prospect in Boley.
Bottom line: When one is starting a new program, there is more chance for dramatic action, which Brohm has taken.
Yet Stoops has seemed to make the right moves in addressing the problem areas that led to the Cats’ disappointing 7-6 campaign last season.
So in what is a rarity in the history of the Governor’s Cup rivalry where one side or the other has typically held a clear upper hand, this offseason has seen the head football coaches at both Kentucky and Louisville simultaneously performing at a high level.
On Nov. 25, that should make things quite interesting.
2023 Kentucky football schedule
Home games in all capital letters
Sept. 2: BALL STATE
Sept. 9: EASTERN KENTUCKY
Sept. 16: AKRON
Sept. 23: At Vanderbilt
Sept. 30: FLORIDA
Oct. 7: At Georgia
Oct. 14: MISSOURI
Oct. 21: Open
Oct. 28: TENNESSEE
Nov. 4: At Mississippi State
Nov. 11: ALABAMA
Nov. 18: At South Carolina
Nov. 25: At Louisville
