Louisville Football is About to Have a Big Transfer Problem

Cover Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Louisville football just hasn't been the same since Lamar Jackson graduated. The cracks began to appear the season after Jackson won the Heisman when the Cardinals had one of college football's best quarterbacks but were still incapable of competing nationally. Jackson dragged them to an 8-5 finish but wasn't able to defeat Mississippi St. in the Taxslayer Bowl.

Now in 2018, Bobby Petrino and the Cardinals have hit rock bottom. Louisville sits at 2-7 on the year and 0-6 in the ACC. They've absolutely dropped off a cliff after almost usurping Clemson a couple of years ago. Now Louisville is a team that loses 77-16 when they play Clemson.

Things have gotten horribly bad very quickly in Louisville and it looks like there might be an exodus from the roster as well.

According to a source within the athletic department, in the Fall 2018 semester alone, 20 Louisville football players have requested the required paperwork to initiate a transfer. Number was described as “abnormally high. The most for one sport since the women’s lacrosse fiasco.”
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) November 7, 2018

With over 110 players on the roster this season, 20 isn't technically that many in raw numbers, but many of those 110 are seniors who can't transfer. Also, if 1/5 of the roster wants to transfer, that's a lot. Now, this doesn't mean they will, but the interest is there.

This doesn’t mean that all 20 players have submitted the paperwork or will. Just that 20 football players have requested the required paperwork that initiate the transfer process this semester. Compared to a much smaller number in your typical semester.
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) November 7, 2018

So it would be more accurate to say that 20 players on the roster have considered transferring deeply enough that they want the paperwork. That's still not a good sign for the team or the coaching staff. Half the goal of the coaches should be to make their players want to play for them and want to stay at the school they came to.

Update: An athletic department representative contacted me and disputes that Louisville has had this many football players request transfer paperwork. I stand by my earlier report, but in the interest of full disclosure Louisville denies it.
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) November 7, 2018

This season has already been a mess on the field for Louisville and it will almost certainly result in head coach Bobby Petrino being fired. Although if a good portion of their roster reportedly wants to transfer, that means Petrino needs to go immediately before the next head coach is working with a massive talent deficit.

Things have not been going well for Louisville in 2018 and it looks like they're only going to get worse before they get better.

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Ian McCafferty is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Ian McCafferty also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username itmccaff. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.