A 6-0 Louisville team arrived in Pittsburgh on Oct. 14 expecting an easy win over a reeling Pitt football team that was just 1-4 coming in.
Louisville, fresh off a home thumping of Notre Dame, may have been overlooking Pitt.
At the half, the Cardinals were struggling, but still leading, 21-14.
The second half was a different story, as Pitt scored 24 unanswered points to pull the shocking 38-21 upset.
That loss is what’s separating Louisville from first-place Florida State heading down the stretch in the ACC regular-season race.
Since then, the Cardinals have rebounded with two straight wins, crushing Duke and Virginia Tech by a combined 57-3 margin.
Cardinals first-year coach Jeff Brohm said he believes his staff has done a better job of coaching and leading his players since the ugly loss at Pitt.
Huh, what?
That’s a bit of a different slant from what we have heard numerous times this season from the head coach of Louisville’s next opponent, Virginia’s Tony Elliott.
Numerous times this season, Elliott has, in a backdoor kind of way, taken responsibility for a loss by talking up how he has to do a better job of coaching and preparing his team.
Brohm, for his part, isn’t just saying he needs to do a better job; he went out and did a better job.
In his weekly media briefing, here’s Brohm’s take on his and his staff’s coaching:
“Believe it or not, in my opinion, first, we’ve coached better. I didn’t think I coached well in the Pittsburgh game. We were too aggressive, we had turnovers, gave the other team the ball, on defense we were too aggressive, let Pitt throw the ball over our heads. We just needed to coach better,” said Brohm.
I guess Brohm understands that coaches aren’t any different than players, in that over the progression of a 12-game regular season, adjustments and reevaluations are often necessary to get better, to improve.
So, what exactly did the Louisville coaching staff do to get the team back to where they were after demolishing Notre Dame on national television?
“I think that we’re simply coaching better, our players are executing very well, we’re a little more conservative in our approach, believe it or not, but we’re smarter in what we’re doing,” said Brohm.
“Our guys are executing very well, so right now we haven’t had to open the playbook in the passing game. On defense, we did not have to bring the house, we ran our package. The mixture of what we have done has helped us throw the opposing offense and defense off.”
“It starts with me and our coaches, and our players have done a really good job,” added Brohm.
It’s OK for a head coach to pat himself on the back when he’s done what he is paid well to do, and Brohm has done a remarkable job in his first season in the Bluegrass State.
Last season, under Scott Satterfield, the Cardinals struggled putting teams away, or lost games that they had no business losing.
Sound familiar?
Virginia fans experienced that firsthand.
(Remember the 2021 game in Louisville?)
Under Brohm, Louisville has had a late-game approach that, instead of playing not-to-lose, has the Cardinals playing with a foot-on-the-throat mentality.
The praise around town regarding Brohm is his ability to make strategic in-game adjustments, not from just one half or one quarter to the next, but, if needed, from drive to drive.
Brohm came to Louisville preaching about his desire for a balanced offense to complicate things for the opposing defense.
Again, sound familiar?
Brohm returned to his native state as an experienced head coach, with a solid reputation for being capable of developing a strong passing attack, without sacrificing the running game.
This season, the Cardinals have had an effective passing game, but the running game has been excellent as well, their biggest strength.
Since the loss in Pittsburgh, Brohm and staff have seemed willing to work on figuring out the best approach for his players.
The offensive play-calling has been a little less aggressive, yet still has been very efficient.
The results have been two consecutive ACC wins in dominant fashion, and now the Cardinals control their own fate in getting to Charlotte and the ACC Championship Game.
Brohm, an experienced head coach, knows that coaches are no different than players.
They have to keep working to keep getting better.
It’s not enough to just talk about it.
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