Pitt LB Kyle Louis eager to spearhead Panthers' bounce-back in 2025
Kyle Louis enters his redshirt junior year at Pitt having been named to the preseason watch lists of just about every applicable defensive award in college football.
The Butkus Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Walter Camp Player of the Year, Chuck Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award — Louis will be in play for every one.
That’s the stage Louis’ 101-tackle (15.5 for loss), seven-sack campaign last fall set for himself heading into 2025.
Pitt has never had a Butkus Award winner, honoring the nation’s top linebacker.
Being included on the award’s watch list didn’t surprise Louis, who, when asked about making the cut, promptly shifted attention to the inclusion of his position mate, Rasheem Biles.
“It was already expected,” Louis said. “I’m more so happy that me and (Biles) were on the watch list. Now it’s on the two of us — one of us has to bring it back to this team. That’s probably the main mindset for me and (Biles). Outside of just winning, as long as you win, the people that vote for that kind of stuff are going to be more likely to choose one of us.”
Coach Pat Narduzzi has had Louis in his program going on four seasons.
In that time, Narduzzi has seen Louis ascend from a reserve redshirt freshman to partial contributor to All-American and All-ACC standout.
“He’s got great instincts,” Narduzzi said of Louis, who also led Pitt last year with four interceptions. “Every linebacker you ever look at, you’ve got to talk about instincts first. You can be elite athletically like he is — he’s athletic, he can run, he can hit, he can tackle, he’s a playmaker. He’s going to make the play.
“He’s got that heart and desire to go get the football because there’s only one football at a time on the field. He finds the football, but it comes down to his instincts. He’s got linebacker instincts to play at the next level and be a first-rounder.”
As Louis prepares to follow up a stellar individual campaign, Narduzzi hasn’t detected any changes in how he goes about his business.
“I don’t think he’s got a fat head — he’s a worker,” Narduzzi said. “Anybody can get a fat head. Coaches can get fat heads. Players can get fat heads. But Kyle, he wants to win. All those accolades are great. Win the Butkus Award, that’s great. He wants to win an ACC championship. That’s what we strive for.”
Louis understands the challenges inherent to coming off such a solid year. Primarily, what’s to stop opposing offenses from simply doing their utmost to avoid him?
The extent to which that’ll be possible, or Louis’ ability to circumvent those attempts, remains to be seen.
But Louis surely will be the highlight of many film sessions as teams prepare to play the Panthers.
“I’m not like a cornerback or nothing, so the ball is bound to come my way at some point,” he said. “I won’t be sleeping. I’m on edge, and I know there’s going to be a play where the offense has to change it up and come my way at some point, so I’m going to be ready.”
Additionally, Louis has a pair of proven playmakers next to him in Biles, who made 82 tackles (14.5 for loss) in 2024, along with 5.5 sacks, in earning second-team All-ACC honors.
Braylan Lovelace (Leechburg), who moved inside to the Mike linebacker spot, also returns and is set to start.
Together, the three are expected to anchor what might be considered Pitt’s strongest position group on both sides of the ball: the linebackers, or “Sharks,” as the position players have dubbed themselves.
“With me and Kyle returning, we’ve got Braylan returning — it’s going to be an exciting season, definitely,” Biles said. “We got older, more mature, more comfortable with the game — everything’s going to flow a lot more. We’re definitely going to have the Sharks on a whole different level this year. We can be the X-factors of the defense.”
Louis and his teammates understand a new season is on hand. But it might be too much to suggest they’ve totally flushed the frustration from last year, when a shot at an ACC championship and College Football Playoff berth evaporated behind an 0-6 conclusion to the season.
Moving forward, starting with Duquesne on Aug. 30, Louis aims to get Pitt back to exactly where it was two months into last season.
Only from there, he hopes to maintain the momentum.
“You can’t let history repeat itself,” Louis said. “The goal is definitely (to) beat every team that comes across us. When we finally get to the same point where we’re 7-0, we’ll just carry that onto 8-0, 9-0 and 10-0. We’ll stay focused on the team and not let the outside noise get into our heads.”
Justin Guerriero is a TribLive reporter covering the Penguins, Pirates and college sports. A Pittsburgh native, he is a Central Catholic and University of Colorado graduate. He joined the Trib in 2022 after covering the Colorado Buffaloes for Rivals and freelancing for the Denver Post. He can be reached at jguerriero@triblive.com.
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