Louisville won’t have a true spring game this year but they will put on a Spring Showcase for the fans. Fans will get an inside look at how Scott Satterfield and his staff run their practices and will get their first look at what changes have been made.

WHAT QUARTERBACKS TAKE WHAT REPS

The big burning question with every football team that didn’t end last season with an entrenched starting quarterback is who is going to win the job for next year. Louisville played four (five if you include Tutu Atwell) quarterbacks last year and only two of those guys are on the roster right now. So, fans will be laser focused to see who takes the first reps during the showcase as well as who plays the best.

Malik Cunningham took the first reps of the spring but Scott Satterfield has made it clear that no one has separated themselves from the rest of the group. Jawon Pass has been described as the better passer of the two while Evan Conley seems to be behind while he tries to adjust to college football. I’d be shocked if Louisville doesn’t add a grad transfer option after the spring but their options could be limited.

My money is on Jawon Pass winning the starting job in the fall as of now. I tend to think that the staff will want a guy who can do what they need in the passing game. The early comments from Coach Satt and Frank Ponce have been very blunt. They feel that Pass is the better thrower right now and I’m not sure that that changes.

WHO IS WITH THE FIRST GROUP ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE

Louisville only has 7 or 8 scholarship offensive linemen right now so it will be very thin for the scrimmages and drills. However, we should be able to get a good look at who the staff feels good about as well as what spots these guys will man. Last year, Robbie Bell went from being injured, to benched, to switching positions. This was all after starting the vast majority of the previous year. Cole Bentley played at center at times last year but he’s maybe better at guard.

The uncertainty that we all saw with personnel choices last year won’t likely happen going forward but it has left us in the dark a bit on what the new staff will do. I think we will see Mekhi Becton, Cole Bentley, Caleb Chandler, Robbie Bell, and Adonis Boone with the first group. I just don’t really know who will line up where. One thing is for certain. T.J. McCoy will be taking over the center spot when he gets to start participating in the summer.

WHAT PLAYERS HAVE CHANGED POSITIONS

Bryan Brown has revamped the defense that he took over and has made a lot of changes in a short time. Some of those changes have been players moving positions to fit his scheme. The Louisville online roster has been updated to show some of those changes but basic position descriptions like “DB” or “DL” still leave some mystery. I’m looking forward to seeing which guys on the defensive line will be playing end and who will be at the nose tackle spot.

We should also get a look to see which players are able to play in different positions. Will we see C.J. Avery shift outside in some situations? Maybe Rodjay Burns will play as a safety lined up in the box as a linebacker. There is some potential for some very creative decisions from the staff.

So far I’ve tried to track the position changes and here’s what I have:

Rodjay Burns from corner to outside linebacker.

Malik Staples from running back to linebacker. He played there two years ago.

Russ Yeast from corner to safety.

Telly Plummer from corner to safety.

Yasir Abdullah from ILB to OLB. I honestly don’t know if BVG labeled his linebackers in any way.

Quen Head from OLB to ILB.

Robert Hicks from inside linebacker to defensive end.

Tabarius Peterson from outside linebacker/defensive end to just defensive end.

Adonis Boone from OL/TE to just OL.

I fully expected Tobias Little to be moved to tight end but it seems that the staff is happy with what they have at tight end. A guy that I’m keeping an eye on there is Jeff Banks. He’s a former walk on who was a receiver in high school. He’s bulked up a bit and his athleticism could help him get on the field.

HOW DO BRYAN BROWN AND MARK IVEY WORK OUT THE LOGJAM ON THE DEFENSIVE LINE

Allen Love entered his name into the transfer portal last week and he might not be the last defensive lineman to decide that his future might be better off elsewhere. Louisville will more than likely look to have some of their smaller and quicker guys at the defensive end position and that means that they might have an abundance of players at the nose tackle spot.

G.G. Robinson, Jared Goldwire, and probably Mike Boykin will all be candidates to start in the middle and that doesn’t leave a lot of room for other guys. I’m interested to see if Brown uses Boykin outside or if he just utilizes some of his bigger bodies on early downs while shifting to better pass rushers in passing situations. While we won’t likely see these types of things in the spring showcase, we should be able to notice subtle things that could point to what they will do in the fall.

THE ENERGY LEVEL SHOULD BE MUCH HIGHER IN ALL ASPECTS

It’s no secret that the coaching staff failed to bring the right energy or passion last season and that bled into the players. Louisville football has done a great job of providing some behind the scenes access to the coaches this spring and each coach has shown a level of energy that we haven’t seen around these parts since Charlie Strong left.

I completely understand some of the dissatisfaction with Coach Satt not putting on a true spring game, but I believe that the fans will get a better look at how this staff goes about coaching the team. The drills that we will see will give a different view of how coaches interact with players as well as how they specifically coach their positions.

My one hope is that we get to see scrimmages that pit the first team groups against each other. My one gripe with spring games is that we didn’t get to see that.