Jack Plummer. Aidan O’Connell. Tyler Shough. Miller Moss. Those are the latest quarterbacks that were under the tutelage of Jeff Brohm at one point in their collegiate careers. Every last one of them is in the NFL except for Moss, who just finished his final season of eligibility and could ultimately land on an NFL roster.
That’s what Jeff Brohm does, he develops collegiate quarterbacks into NFL prospects and he’s been pretty darn good at it. He’s a quarterback whisperer of sorts for (not so) amateur players and it’s more reason why some of the big names in the transfer portal already should have their eyes on Louisville. DJ Lagway, Dylan Raiola, Brendan Sorsby and any other quarterback in the transfer portal shouldn’t spurn Louisville.
It could be what gets them in the NFL.
Why DJ Lagway, Dylan Raiola and other top quarterbacks are linked to Louisville
Lagway and Raiola have been linked to Louisville and that shouldn’t be a surprise. With Brohm’s ability to develop quarterbacks that’s probably the biggest selling point. When you look at Lagway and Raiola, they’re two of the biggest names in college football that could both benefit from more development. Brohm has worked with a lot of under-recruited guys with Moss being the best talent he’s worked with.
If he lands Lagway or Raiola, it would go to prove just how good of a quarterback coach he truly is. When you look at Lagway and Raiola’s biggest weaknesses, it honestly makes too much sense for them to really consider a move to Louisville.
Let’s look at Lagway first. He was highly touted coming out of high school as the No. 1 quarterback and No. 3 overall player in the Class of 2023. He was backup behind Graham Mertz to start the 2024 season, but managed to start by the end of the season. The good thing is that he got some valuable experience as a true freshman. The bad news is after a full season as the starter in 2025, he hadn’t developed much.
You could argue that Billy Napier mismanaged him and didn’t allow him to truly play to his strengths. He’s a mobile quarterback, yet he had less than 200 rushing yards this season. He also had 14 interceptions this year with a lot of forced passes. A coach like Brohm would turn him into the prospect he was supposed to be.
The same could be said for Raiola. He really hasn’t had that great of a college career, considering he too was a five-star quarterback coming out of high school. After two years at Nebraska, he never reached 3,000 passing yards in either season and hasn’t reached 20 passing touchdowns yet.
We’ve already kind of seen what Raiola is going to be and he’s not going to have some crazy evolution with a new team. That said, if Brohm got a chance to work with him, it could be the thing in his career that gets him closer to playing in the NFL.
They’re the two names, but truthfully any quarterback that’s headed for the portal should be considering Louisville simply for the chance to be coached by Brohm. It doesn’t mean they’re destined for championship success or even that they’ll be a high draft pick. But Brohm has a track record of churning out NFL quarterbacks so it’s not a bad move.
Louisville could get aggressive in transfer portal to build a championship roster
This is all speculation, but Louisville has every reason to be aggressive in the transfer portal this offseason. Virginia got an influx of cash last year and in one season turned themselves into contenders in the ACC and one win away from playing in the College Football Playoff. You have to think as close as Louisville was, they’ll want to improve their roster to add more parity to the weakest P4 conference in 2025.
If Brohm is able to finesse Lagway or Raiola, it would go a long way to building a championship roster. Issac Brown, their star running back, could dart for the portal, but he could be intrigued to stay with a former 5-star quarterback. There’s also been rumblings that Nick Marsh could end up in Louisville as well.
Building a competitive roster has to be top priority for Brohm and the Cardinals. That starts with landing their quarterback reformation project and then filling out the rest of the roster. After how this year went, Brohm and the Louisville administration should have their eyes set on improving this roster. It could be the key for yet another program turnaround in an NIL era that has finally balanced the scales.