Pitt linebacker Kyle Louis' study habits matter just as much as his athleticism

At the end of Pitt’s football season — when Kyle Louis finally has a chance take a deep breath and go home to East Orange, N.J. — he will arrive bearing a special gift for his mom, Kesha Chisolms.

It’s a game-worn jersey, but this one Kesha won’t have to wash. Louis was wearing the jersey the night he returned a interception for a touchdown against Syracuse. When Louis caught the football and started running toward the end zone, a Syracuse player only could get a hand on the jersey to tear it.

“I got it nice in a framed box,” Louis said. “I made purposefully sure the ripped part is showing.”

Kesha told Louis, “You look so fast running the ball. Can I keep the jersey?”

He replied, “You know I got you.”

The jersey is a badge of honor and a symbol of the work Louis put in while turning himself into an almost sure-thing All-ACC linebacker with All-American-type achievements.

There are numbers associated with Louis’ season, but the more pertinent part of his story is how they came to be.

Not many 20-year-olds pop out of bed at 5:30 a.m., but Louis is part of a power conference team that still holds high aspirations. For that reason, his daily routine is not unlike most of the top players across the country.

He arrives at Pitt’s practice facility before 6 a.m. and immediately gets his gear and clothes ready for practice while he’s warming up the iPad or video player to begin studying the next opponent. His linebacker partner Rasheem Biles — Louis calls him “my twin shark” — joins him by 6:30.

He said he and Biles have worked on the same pass-rush move “hundreds of times” over the past months.

Louis is consumed by football for the better part of the day, even sneaking a look at his iPad during class. He said he doesn’t need coffee or anything else to get him stimulated for practice.

“I just get up and get it,” he said. “I try to be the first person in.”

At the end of the day, he said, “I sleep great.”

Pitt’s game Saturday at Louisville is the 11th of the season, following consecutive months of conditioning this past winter, spring practice, summer workouts and August training camp. His body might ache, but he said he keeps going.

“No matter how I feel, I condition myself, ‘You have to go. You have to go,’ ” he said. “Who else is going to go for you? Same way on the field. You have to make this play. Don’t wait for the next man. You have to go make it. They’re counting on you. Even before people knew my name, you have to be that person. If you’re waiting for the next man, the next man probably is waiting for the next man. So who’s going to do it?”

Louis isn’t the only player blessed with a quick first step and good speed. So he takes his preparation several steps further with video study.

“Athleticism is one thing,” he said, “but, especially at linebacker, all you have to do is make one wrong step and you’ve already lost the play. At linebacker, you have to know everything.”

He studies the opponent’s play-calling tendencies, plus the best way to beat a block or to bring down a ball carrier. With practice, meetings, video study and class, Louis can say without bragging that his long days have “paid off.”

Here are a few examples:

• Louis is the only player in the nation with 80-plus tackles (83), 14-plus TFLs (14¹⁄₂), at least seven sacks (7) and four interceptions (four), according to Pitt’s sports information department. He also has forced one fumble. He is the first FBS player to reach those numbers since Utah consensus All-America linebacker Devin Lloyd in 2021.

• His average of 1¹⁄₂ TFLs per game is fourth in the nation, No. 1 among linebackers.

• He is second nationally and first among Power 4 players with 29 TFLs that resulted in no gain.

• His four picks lead the nation’s linebackers.

Beyond the numbers, Louis has sealed the West Virginia and North Carolina victories with an interception and fourth-down sack, respectively. No wonder, in his first season as a starter, he’s become a player teammates follow.

“Kyle is definitely the voice we hear in the huddle that says we need to get it going,” cornerback Ryland Gandy said.

There are whispers about Louis’ All-America candidacy, but he said he ignores it.

“I just try to keep tunnel vision on the next opponent and how I can help my people win this game. Our main goal is to win, and everything else is going to fall in line.”

Like everyone else around the facility the past three weeks, Louis is confident Pitt (7-3, 3-3 ACC) can shake out of its slump and end the regular season on a positive note. After being picked 13th in the 17-team ACC in a preseason poll of 170 media members, a 9-3 record would look good.

“We’ve been dealing with adversity since summer,” Louis said. “We’re not letting it affect us. We’re keeping the same demeanor. We can’t have more (losing). You’re playing for the name on your chest.”