How Louisville football's mental health resources landed commitment from Jaiden Spearman
From a steak and shrimp dinner to renting sports cars for photoshoots, Louisville football pulled out all the stops for 11 recruits over the weekend and received two commitments in the days following.
Jaiden Spearman was one of them, becoming the school's third defensive commit and first defensive back in Louisville’s Class of 2024, which is No. 24 nationally in the 247Sports recruiting rankings. But it wasn't the car rental or dinner that sealed the deal in the Cardinals getting the three-star safety Monday.
As someone who prioritizes his mental health, Spearman was pleased to find that aligned with Louisville’s values. The North Carolina native enjoyed getting a chance to meet Chris Morgan, the team chaplain and member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and took solace in having counselors available “around the clock,” he said.
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“I really think that being an athlete, nowadays it's pretty hard mentally,” he said. “You have to perform your best, and then you're gonna face adversity. I just find that really important that I have someplace to go and somebody to talk to when I'm feeling that way.
“(The Cardinals' coaches) want you to get better not only as a football player, but as a person and as a man.”
Louisville focused more on mental health last year. Prior to the 2022 season, players were given a group exercise to discuss their “why” for playing football and became more open with each other. Tight end Marshon Ford, who went undrafted in April's NFL draft, said his “why” was his father, who died in December 2021.
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“We were able to learn about each other — how each person comes to practice, what's on their mind, how they grew up and just different things like that along with building our skills mentally as individuals,” Louisville offensive lineman Bryan Hudson said in August. “I think that it was something huge. It helped us grow as people (and) as football players.”
Spearman valued the opportunity to have similar conversations with the current players over the weekend, which put him at ease about committing to U of L. Recently, he's included meditation and breathing exercises for about 15 minutes after workouts into his mental health practices.
“You get the music that gets you pumped up (and) you have so much adrenaline,” he said. “But, I feel it to be very important for me to just calm down and then do things I gotta do after I workout.”
Prior to the visit, Spearman, who will play his senior season at William A. Hough High School in North Carolina, already knew he wanted to commit to Louisville. Still, he didn’t want to be hasty in his decision before getting to see if everything he'd been told about the school's campus, internship opportunities and alumni connections rang true.
It also helped that he had a prior relationship with Cardinals co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Ron English. Spearman’s older brother, Ike, played at Eastern Michigan when English was the head coach. And Spearman's old high school, The Loomis Chaffee School (Conn.), runs a similar defensive scheme as the one Louisville will run. He had 62 tackles, 11 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and two interceptions last season.
But the Cardinals’ dedication to mental health was enough to make his decision official less than 48 hours after the visit ended.
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football recruiting 2024: Why Jaiden Spearman picked Cards
