Coming off a 7-6 season and a win in the 2010 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl, the University of Louisville football program continued its upward trend Wednesday that is already earning praise as the best recruiting class in Louisville history and one of the top classes nationally.
The Cardinals signed 20 student-athletes on Wednesday in head coach Charlie Strong’s second recruiting class at Louisville.
Louisville had a balanced squad by signing 9 players on the offensive side of the football, 10 on defense and one kicker.
The Cardinals inked the most student-athletes in the country from a non-Florida school by signing 13 players from the Sunshine State, including seven out of the city of Miami. Louisville also landed four of the top local student-athletes in the city of Louisville.
Louisville signed a pair of U.S. Army All-Americans in quarterback Teddy Bridgewater out of Northwestern High School and safety Gerod Holliman from Southridge High School in Miami, Fla. Wide receiver Eli Rogers played in the Under Armour All-American contest.
Louisville is fortunate to have Bridgewater, linebacker Brandon Golson, safety Jermaine Reve, running back Jarvis Giles and wide receiver Charles Gaines already enrolled at Louisville.
Bridgewater, is one of the top dual-threat quarterback in the country coming out of Northwestern High School in Miami, Fla. A U.S. Army All-American, Bridgewater threw for 2,606 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior.
Reve, who recorded 70 tackles and an interception, while earning second team All-Dade County honors, while Gaines was considered one of the top wide receivers in Florida, averaging 18.0 yards a catch throughout his scholastic career. Golson, a linebacker from Fork Union Military Academy, logged 113 tackles in his last year in high school.
Holliman, another highly-touted signee, was ranked 49th on ESPN’s Top 150. after leading Dade County with 12 interceptions. The Cardinals also landed highly-touted wide receiver Rogers, who recorded 59 receptions for 691 yards and three scores. Andrew Johnson, Holliman’s teammate at Southridge High School, was one of the top all-purpose players in Dade County, registering 2,500 all-purpose yards.
Defensive end Bryant Dubose was another Florida signee from Northeast High School. Dubose logged 60 tackles and 11 sacks as a senior. Cornerback Terrell Floyd was signed out of Port St. Lucie, Fla. and safety Calvin Pryor from Port St. Joe and defensive end Deiontrez Mount from Fort Walton Beach, Fla. rounds out the signees from Florida.
The Cardinals added much-needed depth on the offensive line by adding Aaron Epps (Tucker, Ga,), Ryan Mack (Memphis, Tenn.), John Miller (Miami, Fla.) and Mike Romano (Port St. Lucie).
Louisville signed some of the top talent in the city of Louisville, including the city’s top wide receiver in DeVante Parker from Ballard High School. Parker caught 68 passes for 1,793 yards (fourth all-time in state history), which was an average of 26.4 yards a reception. Fern Creek had two players sign with the Cardinals in defensive tackle Jamon Brown and safety Jalen Harrington. The Cardinals landed their lone specialist signee with the inking of placekicker/punter John Wallace from Central Hardin High School. He connected on 32-of-40 field goal attempts in his career.
The Cardinals did land one transfer in running back Jarvis Giles, who came to Louisville after playing at South Carolina. Giles rushed for 277 yards as a true freshman with the Game
