The Louisville football team has been in the offseason for about a month now as they wrapped up their 2024 campaign with a win over Washington in the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve. It was a good way for the Cardinals to end the year as it's always nice to go out with a win even though the Sun Bowl isn't a very meaningful bowl game. Now, Louisville is looking to take the next step in 2025 as they want to win the ACC, and the transfer portal will be an important tool as they strive for that goal.

Louisville has already added a good amount of talent in the transfer portal this offseason. Most transfer portal additions go down in December, but there are still guys that aren't committed to a new school and there are still people entering the portal from teams that made deep runs in the College Football Playoff.

The Cardinals have certainly added the bulk of their transfer portal talent already, but there are still a few guys that they should be taking a look at to address some of their offseason needs. Here are the top three remaining targets for the Louisville football team:

Patrick Gurd, TE, Ohio State

One player to watch for Louisville is Ohio State transfer Patrick Gurd. Now that the national championship is over, we are getting some departures from teams like the Buckeyes and Notre Dame and still some other College Football Playoff teams that made deep runs. These players were waiting for their seasons to be over before they entered, and if they were in the portal when it first opened, they would've been receiving a lot of attention.

The tight end position is one of need for Louisville, and Patrick Gurd is a player that couldn't quite find a major role at Ohio State, but maybe he wants to stay close as Louisville isn't too far away from Columbus. He could have a bigger role with the Cardinals and it could be a good fit.

Rocco Spindler, IOL, Notre Dame

The Notre Dame Leprechaun wears offensive lineman Rocco Spindler's (50) helmet after winning a NCAA college football game 52-3 against Florida State
© MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Rocco Spindler is one of the best players in the transfer portal, and he just entered a few days ago as the Fighting Irish fought until the very end this season. Spindler isn't just one of the best players that is still available, he is one of the best players overall. The Fighting Irish lost a good chunk of their starting offensive line to the portal after the national title game, and Spindler is one of those guys. He is going to make a big impact at his next school, and it's worth it for a team like Louisville to go after him. It's a long shot, but he could completely revamp this offensive line.

Zach Evans, RB, North Texas

Zach Evans started his career in the Big Ten as he played for Minnesota for two seasons before transferring to North Texas. Evans had a decent season in 2023 with the Gophers as he carried the ball 52 times for 230 yards and one touchdown, but the sample size has been quite small in his other two seasons of college football. Louisville could use a RB in the transfer portal, and Evans is a player that they should consider taking a look at. He hasn't quite found the school that is the right fit yet, but if he wants to return to the power four level, Louisville could be a good option for him.

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The Louisville football team has certainly been one of the better ACC squads in recent years, and right now is the perfect opportunity for them to get over the hump. The conference as a whole is relatively weak, and traditional powers Clemson and Florida State both seem to be trending in the wrong direction despite the Tigers winning the conference last year. The ACC is wide open, and with the right talent, the Louisville football team can go and take it.

Transfer portal overview

One of the biggest parts of the college football offseason is the transfer portal, and the festivities begin before the offseason actually starts. Teams that didn’t qualify for the postseason have entered their offseason, but there are a lot of teams that still have bowl games to play. The transfer portal opened up on December 9th, so it creates some issues for players that want to transfer but still have a season going.

The transfer portal is a massive part of college football now, and there are definitely positives and negatives to it. One of the biggest issues that people have with it is the timing of the first window. It is open in early December so players can pick a new school and start the next semester there when January rolls around. However, it does create issues as we have already seen players this year on College Football Playoff teams have to miss out on the opportunity to participate in the CFP because of their transfer.

On the flip side, the transfer portal gives teams a chance to completely rebuild their squad in just one offseason. New head coaches can come in and bring in a lot of experienced players from the jump, and it can make for a quick turnaround. Any team has hope in the offseason because of the transfer portal.

The transfer portal opened up for the first time this season on December 9th and it stays open until December 28th. This window is the main window where a lot of the action takes place, but the transfer portal will open again in the spring.

From April 16th until April 25th, the transfer portal will be back open. That way, players can go through spring ball and have a better idea of what their upcoming season will look like. If they aren’t satisfied, they can leave. We even sometimes see players that transferred in the first window transfer again in the second window, sometimes back to their original school.

The transfer portal is a crucial part of the offseason, and we will be hearing a lot about it from now until the end of the spring.