Move to ACC enhances Louisville's football recruiting

The University of Louisville's move from the American Athletic Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference, which becomes official on Tuesday, will instantly and automatically ensure the Cardinals' football team will have a chance to compete in games of national importance and chase major championships.

Likewise, the Cards' AAC-to-ACC shift is a single-letter change that will keep the football program viable in recruiting, an attractive option for top-level high school players.

"It's nothing but a huge positive (for recruiting) to be associated with, and going into, the ACC," safeties coach and recruiting coordinator Greg Brown of U of L told The Courier-Journal. "… Obviously we're going to be in better shape, being associated with the ACC."

Brown said the Cards' new conference allows the team to sell top recruits on the chance to play an exciting schedule and take advantage of the league's multiple high-level bowl tie-ins, including a path to the new FBS playoff system.

"It's a huge deal for kids to know that, 'If I'm in this league and we do well, we're going to have our chance to achieve any goal that we set as a team,' " he said.

U of L was already recruiting well under former coach Charlie Strong, who had made recruiting in Florida a priority.

Brown said U of L's pursuit of Florida players remains strong under new coach Bobby Petrino, noting that he and three assistants recruit in that state almost exclusively.

"We want to continue that tradition," Brown said.

Now the Cards, who have one 2015 commitment from Florida — Citra running back James Allen — among their eight pledges, can sell Florida prospects on the chance to play against Florida State each season, including in Tallahassee every other year, and against Miami.

The same is true for high school targets in Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia; now they can come to Louisville with the opportunity to face major opponents from their home states.

"It's really beyond measure when you're able, with kids in Florida — with as heavily as the University of Louisville recruits Florida — to tell his parents, 'Hey, we will be taking him home — and he will be playing against (FSU) — every other year,' " said Brown, who recruits primarily in central Florida. "It's just a huge bonus."

Rivals.com analyst Mike Farrell said it was imperative for U of L's recruiting for the school to get out of the AAC, whose champion is no longer guaranteed a top-tier bowl, and into the ACC.

"It's huge because they got out of purgatory, essentially," he said. "You look at the UConns, the Cincinnatis and the USFs of the world (that are still in the AAC), and you wonder. Nobody is talking about the big six or the BCS. It's the big five conferences now. Had (the Cards) not gotten into the ACC, they would have been kind of left out of that, and it would have really hurt recruiting. It's extremely hard to sell that (AAC) schedule to kids. But now you can sell Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Miami. It's a completely different world."

Brown said the ACC's newest member, boasting a 23-3 record the past two seasons, is being well-received on the recruiting trail. Moving leagues only increases the Cards' profile.

"Louisville is a great name and a good brand, and it speaks for itself right now," he said.

Steve Jones can be reached at (502) 582-7176 and followed on Twitter at @SteveJones_CJ.