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Louisville football lands former Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough from transfer portal

alexis cubit, louisville courier journal
·3 min read
Texas Tech's quarterback Tyler Shough (12) runs with the ball during the first quarter against the West Virginia, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, at Milan Puskar Stadium, in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Jeff Brohm opened his tenure at Louisville by capitalizing on the transfer portal during the 2022 offseason.

In the months leading up to this season, Brohm assembled a transfer group that made up one-third of the team and played a key role in Louisville’s first ACC championship appearance.

Brohm's success in the portal continues this season with the addition of Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough, who posted his commitment on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Let's Play Football," he posted.

The Cardinals hosted Shough on a visit Monday. Shough, listed at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, already has a rapport with Cardinals running back Jawhar Jordan. He and Jordan, who spoke up for Shough on Monday after the announced visit received negative comments on social media, were teammates at Hamilton (Arizona) High School. Shough was a pro-style, four-star recruit and the top player in Arizona, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Shough’s college career has been injury-riddled, though. He first enrolled at Oregon in 2018 and redshirted, playing eight games during his three-year stint with the Ducks. The Arizona native transferred to Texas Tech in 2021 but struggled to stay healthy. In his first season with the Red Raiders, he broke his collarbone.

The next year, Shough was limited to seven games while dealing with a shoulder injury and totaled 1,304 passing yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. This past season, he broke his fibula in the Red Raiders’ Big 12 opener against West Virginia on Sept. 23 but was named to the Maxwell Award preseason watch list. The QB applied for a waiver to get an extra year of eligibility due to medical hardship after playing in only four games in each of the 2021 and 2023 seasons.

It’s unclear if the waiver has officially been approved yet, but Shough should have no problem winning his case.

It's almost guaranteed that Shough will be the Cardinals' starter after losing Jack Plummer. Plummer had spent four years in Brohm’s system before playing at California during the 2022 season.

Plummer was almost immediately named the Cardinals’ starting quarterback in a room of nine players that returned Brock Domann and Evan Conley, who had been Louisville’s backup quarterbacks during the respective prior two seasons. Conley, Domann and Plummer are all seniors and have the most on-field experience, which left Louisville in search of another quarterback from the transfer portal.

Though Brohm and Plummer had a prior relationship, this will be Brohm’s first full cycle at Louisville to evaluate what the portal has to offer at the position.

Louisville is expected to have six of its nine quarterbacks returning. Deuce Adams is coming in as part of the 2024 recruiting class. But much like the experience Plummer brought to the team this season, the Cardinals needed a veteran behind center heading into the 2024 season.

And luckily for them, the portal is loaded with experienced quarterbacks this offseason. According to The Athletic, 532 FBS players opted to enter the transfer portal Monday, 85 of whom were quarterbacks. Louisville had been among schools considered by Shough and former Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who started his college career at Clemson.

The quarterback tradition and Brohm’s success in Year 1 at Louisville give the Cardinals an immediate advantage for attracting some of the top QBs in the portal looking for a new home.

Jeff and brother Brian Brohm, U of L’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, have a history of developing NFL-ready quarterbacks, dating back to their time at Western Kentucky. The most recent QB to make the league was Aidan O’Connell. The former Purdue Boilermaker was taken in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft and has played in six games and thrown for 1,194 yards as a rookie for the Las Vegas Raiders.

And now, Shough will look to join the ranks of NFL-bound quarterbacks under the Brohms.

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football: Ex-Texas Tech QB Tyler Shough joins Jeff Brohm