Pitt’s Kyle Louis Built an All-American Foundation in the Film Room

Kyle Louis leaves home around 5:30 every morning. He gets to the facility at about 5:45, sets out his clothes for practice and is up in the film room before anyone else at 6.

He got used to waking up early while he dealt with injuries over his first two seasons in the program. He doesn’t need coffee or anything — doesn’t like it. There’s motivation enough in wanting to be great. Are there long days?

“Yeah, but it pays off,” Louis said Wednesday after practice.

It’s certainly paid off this season. Louis — a 6-foot, 225-pound redshirt sophomore from East Orange, N.J. — is one of the best linebackers in college football. It’s just about impossible to find a linebacker who has produced at the rate Louis has this season. And of course, Louis has been instrumental in the Sharks movement at linebacker.

It really is a movement. Louis, and his twin shark Rasheem Biles, started it. There’s a reason the Jaws theme plays over the PA system at Acrisure Stadium when the defense takes the field. Louis is aggressive. He’s quick in pursuit of the ball, hits hard and hits often.

It’s a testament to his athletic ability, the way he’s prepared his body over the years, but it’s also the result of his time spent in the film room.

“That was the biggest thing that changed my perspective on how I see the football games,” Louis said. “Athleticism is one thing, but especially at linebacker, all you gotta do is take one wrong step and you already lost the play. Coach Manny already opened my eyes to that, so I just exaggerated. I made sure I stayed on top of my film game because as a linebacker, you gotta know everything. You’re not just in the pass coverage like a DB or just in the run game like a D-lineman, you really gotta know everything.

So, Louis has made sure to prepare himself every single day. He tries to be in the first one in the building, his coaches can attest, but that preparation doesn’t stop in the facility. He sneaks film sessions wherever he can — in the facility, in the classroom, everywhere in between.

It’s not as if there’s a constant motor either. He’s human. There are days where feels motivated and days where he doesn’t. It boils down to desire.

Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker Kyle Louis (9) November 9, 2024. Michael Longo/PSN

“No matter how I feel, I definitely just condition myself, like ‘You gotta go, you gotta go,’ because who else gonna go for you? The same way for on the field, like ‘You gotta go make this play, don’t wait for the next, you gotta go make it, they counting on you.’ Even before people knew my name, just thinking the same way, like you gotta be that person because if you waiting for the next man, the next man probably waiting for the next man, so who gonna do it?”

Louis has waited for no one this season. It’s impossible to find a defensive player, not just a linebacker, in this case, who has produced at his level.

Louis has racked up 83 tackles (37 solo), 15 tackles for loss, seven sacks, four interceptions (one returned for a 59-yard touchdown), a pass breakup and a forced fumble. There isn’t a player in college football who can claim to match those numbers.

According to PFF, he leads Pitt with 30 quarterback pressures, 44 run stops (with a relatively low 13.3% missed tackle rate) and has allowed a 48.4 NFL passer rating in coverage.

There’s an argument to be made that Louis should be the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and he’d be the first Pitt player to do so since Calijah Kancey in 2022, to go along with All-ACC and All-American honors.

It’s not a surprise for assistant head coach and safeties coach Cory Sanders. He’s watched Louis show up every single day, in the film room, on the practice field and on game days. It isn’t the splash plays that stand out either, it’s the consistency with which Louis carries himself.

“Well, I don’t do the (All-American) voting, but I know that I love that he’s on our team every single Saturday,” Sanders said Tuesday after practice. “I do know that. I know that I love that he’s on our team every single practice, the way that he works, the way he shows and the way he makes everybody else better around him. So, at the end of the day, whoever does all that voting, hopefully they vote right.”

Louis himself doesn’t care about postseason accolades, whether it’s All-ACC or All-American or more. The goal is to win, and everything will fall into place with wins.

“I don’t really focus on that type of thing, I just try to keep tunnel vision on the next team, next opponent and how can I help my people win this game,” Louis said. “That’s the main thing I just focus on.”