Chris Wolfe has coached high school football in Louisville for 25 years and has seen his fair share of talented players give up the sport because of a lack of opportunities.
He believes the Louisville Thunder — the first junior college football program in Kentucky — can offer a solution.
“There’s definitely a need for this,” said Wolfe, who will serve as the Thunder’s offensive coordinator after stepping down as Male High School’s head coach in November. “There are kids who graduate who have a college-football itch. Either they’re not getting recruited to the level they want to play, or they want to play football but don’t have the grades and the only (junior colleges) available are 10 or 15 hours away from home.”
Mike Reed is the owner, founder and head coach of the Thunder, which is a member of the National Junior College Prep Football League.
The league stretches from California to Florida and will expand to 18 teams — from eight — for the 2026 season.
Reed had head-coaching stops at Iroquois (2021-22) and Fort Knox (2023-24) before serving as an assistant coach at Langston (Oklahoma) University last season.
Reed said he was approached about starting a team and had the option to place it wherever he wanted.
“It just made sense for me to put it in Louisville,” Reed said. “There’s a lot more kids, and we can actually build something really special for the city. A lot of those kids in the city get overlooked … and don’t get to showcase their full potential.”
The players for all 18 teams in the league will take online classes through Southern Utah University.
Wolfe said the cost is $6,000, with financial aid and scholarships available. While the majority of players are expected to come from the high school Class of 2026, older players who already have graduated from high school are eligible to try out.
“We’re trying to help these kids get to where they want to go, whether that’s academically or athletically,” Wolfe said
Reed said more than 60 players already have registered for the Thunder’s first tryout on April 11 and he is expecting 80-100 players to make the roster.
“The goal is 150, but that’s probably not realistic,” Reed said.
Other tryouts are scheduled for May and June, with the team’s first practice set for Aug. 3. While the game schedule is tentative, the Thunder is scheduled to open play Aug. 30 against the Alabama Rays in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Joining Reed and Wolfe on the staff will be former Atherton and Pleasure Ridge Park head coach Kenny Walker as defensive coordinator.
“Me and several coaches used to meet a few years ago and fix all the problems in Louisville football,” Walker said. “One of the things we always discussed was that we needed a junior college program. We needed something for those kids who were falling through the cracks. … It was so exciting when I heard about it.”
Wolfe met with administrators and athletics directors from Jefferson County Public Schools on Wednesday to discuss the new team.
“We had kids going five, six, seven, eight hours away to do essentially what we can now do in the city,” Wolfe said. “This is a good opportunity. I’m excited.”
For more information on the league and to register for tryouts, visit the following website: https://njcpfootball.com/teams/louisville-thunder
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; [email protected]; Follow on X @kyhighs.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Chris Wolfe joins Louisville Thunder, Kentucky junior college football