Catholic standout QB Carothers picks Louisville

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Owensboro Catholic standout quarterback Dre’Mail Carothers has picked the University of Louisville for his college football destination.

Carothers announced his commitment to Louisville on Thursday afternoon in front of a large crowd at the Catholic High gym. Carothers will be a senior for the Aces football team, which he helped lead to the Class 2-A state championship game last December.

Carothers said he committed to Louisville on Monday, which was certainly welcome news for Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm and offensive coordinator-quarterbacks coach Brian Brohm. Brian is considered one of the top quarterbacks in Louisville history, and Jeff was also a top all-time quarterback for the Cardinals.

Brian visited Carothers at his home in Owensboro in May, and that left a big impression on the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Catholic passer.

“He was the only coach to visit my house,” Carothers said. “That had a big impact; it made it seem they wanted me to be their guy, they wanted me to commit. I just felt like the program they’re building, hopefully over the next two or three years they’ll be in the playoffs (CFP). They’re winning bowl games, they’re working their way up.”

Carothers was in his first season as a starter in 2025 after being the backup to former Catholic All-State quarterback Brady Atwell. Carothers put up huge numbers in his junior year, throwing for 4,022 yards, 49 touchdowns and eight interceptions in helping push Catholic to a 13-2 record. Carothers hit 287-of-427 passes for 67.2%.

Learning from a noted quarterback developer like Brian Brohm was a big draw for Carothers to Louisville.

“I felt like I had a better chance to develop there,” Carothers said. “Both of the Brohms are from Kentucky, both went to (Louisville) Trinity, they’re in state quarterbacks who went to Louisville. I feel like I made a great decision.”

So did his family and Catholic coach Jason Morris.

“I think he understands and likes that both Jeff and Brian were both quarterbacks, they’re Louisville guys, they put several kids in the league,” said Dre Carothers, Dre’Mail’s dad. “They’re competing, they’re a top 25 team. Dre’Mail thinks they can really develop him into the quarterback that he wants to be, to maybe get to the next level.”

Dre’Mail was in charge of making his own decision on where to play college football. He also had offers from North Carolina, USF, Oregon State, Western Kentucky, Ohio, UAB, Troy, Toledo, Missouri State.

“He did a great job, he probably stayed more calm and patient than any of us,” Morris said of Carothers and the recruiting process. “It’s frustrating as a coach to watch these colleges go through the transfer portal with everything they do. It’s awesome to see a school like the University of Louisville put so much time that they put into a kid like Dre’Mail because they saw what kind of talent he had at an early age, and have recruited him all the way through. They could have easily said we’re going to go through the portal. They didn’t.”

Carothers’ first season at Louisville will be about developing into a college quarterback.

“They almost have to,” Morris said of Louisville taking time with Carothers. “They have gone through the portal for the last two or three quarterbacks they’ve had, but if you look at the landscape of college football right now that’s what these schools have to do right now to be as good as they can be.

“When you’re an 18-19 year old kid in a Power 4 football program, it’s not realistic thinking anymore, you have to be developed. I think that’s the approach we had here at Owensboro Catholic, Dre’Mail playing behind Brady, then he got his turn. Now he understands he’s going to have to do that at Louisville.

“The University of Louisville and the Brohms get to pick and choose from the entire country when it comes to quarterbacks. They had Dre’Mail at the top of their list, and they’ve had him at the top of their list for a long time. You don’t get that kind of recognition unless you’re really good, and you better be a really good leader.

“The main thing for him was be patient and enjoy it. He’s the first one in this school’s history to go play Power 4 quarterback, and we’ve had a lot of good quarterbacks at Owensboro Catholic.”

Carothers will have another chance to be very good quarterback during his senior season at Catholic, and his college recruiting is behind him now. Early football signing period is in December.

“We’ll have the dead period soon, and that will help me clear my mind,” Dre’Mail said. “I’m going on vacation with a few friends and our moms, and getting that (recruiting) stress off me is a big deal. After the dead period, it’s straight football. I can work on getting my mind right, getting my body right, helping my teammates get right. I can focus on making my team better and getting ready for the season.”

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