Louisville's Players, Coaches Pleased with Secondary's Spring Progress

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - By all means, the Louisville football program put together a successful 2024 campaign. They went 9-4 overall, took down Clemson for the first time, snapped their losing streak to Kentucky, and defeated Washington in the Sun Bowl for the Cardinals' first bowl win under head coach Jeff Brohm.

But as we all know, they could have experienced a lot more success, as all four of their losses were by seven points or fewer. What separated Louisville from the season they had and a potential berths in the ACC Championship, and perhaps even the College Football Playoff, was their defense.

Specifically, it was their secondary. By the end of their 2024 campaign, Louisville ranked 100th in the FBS in passing defense, allowing 236.2 yards per game. In eight of their games, they allowed either over 300 yards passing, over two or more passing touchdowns.

But fast forward to spring practice in preparation for the 2025 season, which will be the third under Brohm, and he's actually bullish where Louisville's secondary stands right now through two weeks of spring practices.

"Well, I like where we're at," Brohm said late last week. "There are a lot of new faces, so you got to digest who's in there, and how they're doing. We got to continue to throw a lot at them, and then with that, we got to make sure that the package is sound. and we put them in the best position to succeed as well. All those things matter when it comes to secondary play.

"As we studied our season last year, we've been good against the run. We have given up too many big pass plays. As we looked at some big plays from last year, the first 32 are pass plays. So we've got to continue to get better in pass coverage. That's players, and drill work and understanding, and that's us as coaches making sure we have the right plan that can help them succeed. That we give them a chance to make plays in the passing game by having the right combination of being aggressive, but also smart, and not letting balls be thrown over our head."

For better or for worse, it's a secondary that will look almost completely different. For starters, Louisville is losing their top five cornerbacks on the roster, including All-ACC defensive back Quincy Riley, as well as their starting safety tandem. That leaves just four returning scholarship defensive backs, which has forced this quartet to take one a bigger leadership role than in the past.

"I'm doing my best I can right now," safety D'Angelo Hutchinson said. "It's not really hard, because you watch and learn from all the older guys. I just take what they taught me, and just trying to put it out to the younger guys, follow my footsteps and do the same thing I did."

As such, heading into the 2025 season, the secondary will be comprised mostly of fresh faces. Louisville is bringing in a pair of high school defensive back, and, so far, five via the transfer portal. Plus, the Cardinals are expected to potentially add more defensive back help in the portal when the spring window officiallu opens up.

It's early in spring ball, but based on what they have experienced in practice so far, the newcomers have liked what they have seen out of the secondary and defense overall.

"I love the defense," FIU transfer safety JoJo Evans said. "Everybody took me in with open arms, and Coach English is kind of molding us. Last year, there were kind of like groups within the defense. Now, we're all kind of like a big family. Communication is key now, and all the small things, he's harping on right now. We should be better than it was last year."

Not only has the offseason been a crucial time for the players, its also been the case for the coaching staff. Following a frustrating season when it came to pass coverage, especially when it came to communication, the staff, including defensive coordinator Ron English, took a step back to break down where things went wrong.

"It's been refreshing," English said. "I think us as coaches are better at what we're asking them to do. I think we learned a lesson a year ago. I think we were all frustrated, to be honest with you, and that was not how we wanted to play defense or expected to play defense. I think we've all learned. But I think these new faces, like I keep saying, I like these new faces. I like the way they're communicating. I like the way they're caring about the team."

As a result, English believes the secondary, and defense as a whole, is much farther along than they were this time last year.

"I think we've done a better job with our install, and not being over ambitious, and really taking our time and stuff like that," he said. "It's been two days, but really the stuff that we're running, these players have been working on for two weeks. They seem comfortable to an extent."

(Photo of Ron English: GABY VELASQUEZ / EL PASO TIMES / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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