The University of Louisville football team has a ton of new faces, including 21 transfers and 11 true freshmen who joined the team in January.

Even some of the returning faces have new numbers.

Running back Isaac Brown, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, switched from No. 25 to No. 1, while linebacker TJ Capers is now wearing No. 11.

So, the first day of spring football marked a new start for the Cardinals heading into year three under coach Jeff Brohm. The Cardinals held the first spring practice of the year on Monday afternoon with another open practice on tap for Tuesday. The spring season will culminate on April 11 with the Spring Game.

“There are quite a few new faces out there, so while we’ve been around them in weight workouts and meetings,” Brohm said. “But it was truly the first time on the field in a practice setting. So, we’ve got some work to do without question, and getting to know everyone and what they’re good at and their strengths and what things they need to work on.

“We’ll take plenty of practices to make sure we’re on top of that, and we’re studying it, and we’re getting better. And you know, it’s, it’s quite a bit of a new team without question, and that’s just the nature of where we’re at right now. But we like what we have here. We’ve just got to put the work in, and we’ve got to give them as many reps as we can and watch it on video and figure out ways to be as sharp as we possibly can and crisp as we possibly can every time we step out there.”

Brohm said the best part of spring ball is the ability to take things slow and get better every day.

The Cardinals will practice three times this week and then take a break for spring break before practicing four times the next two weeks and then twice before the spring game on a Friday night in April. Brohm said there is plenty of time to watch the film from practices and correct mistakes.

“We’ll watch quite a bit of this video,” Brohm said. “I think that’s the best part about it. In spring practice, you’re not practicing every day, so you have some days in between, normally. You normally have about three practices a week. So, you have plenty of time to watch the film as a staff, to watch the film as a unit, to watch the film with your position players, and we want them to go back and watch it on their own and learn some things and quiz themselves. And that has to happen. So that’s the good part. “

Louisville does have 32 new players on campus participating in spring ball, including 21 transfers and 11 true freshmen. Plenty of positions are up for grabs, and Brohm said he’s excited to continue to work with this group of players.

“It takes a while to learn what they look like in the helmet,” Brohm said with a laugh. “So sometimes I’m asking who exactly that is. But I like our crew. I think that we’ve got some athleticism, we’ve got some length at certain positions, we’ve got some depth that we’ve built. They can play football. And I think just getting them up to speed and educated on what we’re doing, so that they’re sharp, they’re crisp, or know what they’re doing, they can play fast, is what’s going to be important.

“But I think talent-wise, you know, we have some key additions that will contribute and do a really good job.”