Louisville's Secondary Drawing Confidence From Jaire Alexander

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Over the offseason, a lot of the discourse surrounding the Louisville football program has been speculating what they can do on the offensive side of the ball in year one of the Jeff Brohm era. When you have an offensive mind like Brohm, have weapons like Jamari Thrash and Jawhar Jordan, it's hard for the discussions not to gravitate towards the offense.

However, the secondary for the Cardinals has a chance to be just as good as their offensive counterparts. While Louisville did lose star corner Kei'Trel Clark, impact playmakers like Jarvis Brownlee Jr., M.J. Griffin, Quincy Riley and Josh Minkins are back, and the secondary was bolstered via the portal with guys like Storm Duck, Cam'Ron Kelly and Devin Neal joining the program.

"It's been good," cornerbacks coach Steve Ellis said when asked about the start of fall camp for his unit. "The guys, they have a great attitude. I think they got a good foundation here. It started this spring, and just carried over into the summer. The first two days, we've got a bunch of excitement. They've been energetic, they've been open to listening, want to get better and want to learn. I'm very pleased with the first two days."

During the spring and summer, Ellis spent a lot of time pulling clips from some of the top cornerbacks in the NFL, and showing them to his guys in order to help them draw inspiration for the upcoming season and beyond. The very first player that he used as an example was former Louisville star Jaire Alexander.

“He’s a Louisville great, so we started off with him, because you want to start off with somebody first that sat in the same seat you sat in," Ellis said. "Everybody knows LeBron James, but we've never met LeBron James. But when you get a chance to sit in that seat that Jaire Alexander sat in, you’re like, ‘man, he sat in this seat and he is the predominant top corner in the game.’ That gives those guys a lot of confidence.

"We watched a lot of his tape this spring and this summer. Just the way he transitions, the way he back pedals, the way handles interviews, he’s got a certain spotlight when you see him do interviews. He got a great smile on his face. ... We're just telling those guys, 'just do what he does.' Come to work every day, and you'll get better."

Over the first couple days of fall camp, which began on Tuesday, the secondary has been showing that they very well could be in line for a big 2023 campaign. During the Cardinals' second practice on Wednesday, multiple defensive backs made plays throughout the days, including multiple interceptions, pass breakups galore, and a couple forced fumbles.

Ellis believes that a lot of the confidence and play-making ability that the secondary has shown early in fall camp has been greatly assisted from scouting Alexander during the offseason.

"When you see somebody who actually played at your university, go into the National Football League, and be one of the top players at that position, that gives you confidence," he said. "We can go back and forth with his video tape here, and just watch him play. It is a treat to see. And, we actually know that he is a really good player for the Green Bay Packers.”

"Really good player" might be a bit of an understatement. Over the first five years of his professional career, Alexander has already made the Pro Bowl and been named to the AP All-Pro Team twice, and is regarded as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Last offseason, he agreed to a four-year, $84 million extension that made him the highest-paid corner in the NFL.

Of course, anyone who has ever watched Alexander play or listened to one of his interviews knows that he oozes confidence. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that a unit that has used him as inspiration this offseason think they will be in line for a massive 2023 campaign.

“I feel like we could be one of the top secondaries this year,” Brownlee said. “All we got to do is keep executing, man, and just be consistent doing it. Just putting the time in, day in and day out. As we keep doing that, we'll keep progressing. Just keep executing, man. That's all it takes, just really being consistent with it.”

It's not outrageous to think that Louisville could have a top flight secondary this upcoming season. While the front seven garnered all the attention in 2022 due to all the sacks and tackles for loss, the Cardinals' passing defense was no slouch either. Their 197.0 passing yards allowed per game ranked 22nd in the FBS and third in the ACC, while their 15 interceptions was good for 14th nationally and second in the league.

While Ellis does like the confidence that Brownlee and the rest of the secondary has for the upcoming season, he's more so focused on trying to get better one day at a time.

"Our job is, on Thursday, be ready to roll, and everything else will take care of itself," Ellis said. "I love the optimism of (Brownlee), and I like him setting high goals, but our job is to get better every day. Right now, we're not focusing on that, we're focus on one thing: How can we be better on Thursday than we were Wednesday? That's all."

(Photo of Jaire Alexander: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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