Smith Twins will rejoin Vince Marrow at Louisville

Long-time Kentucky assistant Vince Marrow has his fingerprints all over Louisville’s roster-building as Jeff Brohm‘s de facto general manager. It’s not a surprise to see the Cardinals all over for Kentucky players or commits. Kentucky transfer DJ Waller Jr. and former Kentucky commit Marquise Davis were both added to the UofL roster earlier this week. Two others have followed.

Twin brother Jacob Smith and Jerod Smith II committed to Louisville on Tuesday. There will now be three former Kentucky players — and Marrow recruiting targets — on Brohm’s roster.

Kentucky redshirt freshman Jacob Smith (@jjls_14) is transferring to Louisville, his rep @cjrecruiting tells @CBSSports.

The 6-4, 242-pound OLB has appeared in 7 career games. Was the a 4-star recruit and the No. 214 overall player in the 2024 class.https://t.co/7k14znlljb pic.twitter.com/XxsOyhO8Fe
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) January 7, 2026

BREAKING: Kentucky DL Jerod Smith has committed to Louisville, @PeteNakos reports🔴https://t.co/kSYG7dZ8sR pic.twitter.com/uwBSLLe7Bc
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) January 7, 2026

Jacob Smith will be a redshirt sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining in 2026. The outside linebacker dealt with a variety of injuries during his time at Kentucky and did not play one defensive snaps as a redshirt freshman in 2025. Jerod Smith II will be a junior with two years of eligibility remaining in 2026. The defensive lineman played in 12 games (54 snaps) as a true freshman with seven tackles. Jerod Smith II had a much bigger role as a sophomore when he played 283 snaps and finished the season with 27 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack, one forced fumble, and 10 pressures.

Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

The expectation was that Louisville would have a lot of Kentucky flavor moving forward with Marrow heavily involved with the recruiting department. That is playing out in the transfer portal.

Kentucky Football Portal Tracker

The transfer portal is open for business. So far, we know of 17 Kentucky football players who will be looking for a new place to play college football this offseason. The portal window officially closes Jan. 16.