Reports: Louisville Hires ECU's Steve Ellis as Next Cornerbacks Coach

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Another assistant has joined Jeff Brohm's first staff as the head coach of the Louisville football program.

Louisville has hired East Carolina cornerbacks coach Steve Ellis to the same position with the Cardinals, according to reports from On3's Matt Zenitz and 247Sports' Brandon Marcello.

During his three seasons at East Carolina, the 42-year-old Ellis developed several standout cornerbacks, most notably Malik Fleming and Ja'Quan McMillan. Fleming earned Second-Team All-AAC honors in 2022 after logging 41 tackles (27 solo and 2.5 for loss), three interceptions and six pass defenses, and McMillan was named to the Second-Team in 2020 and 2021.

McMillan was also tabbed as a Second-Team All-American in 2021 after tallying 56 tackles (38 solo and 4.0 for loss), five interceptions and 16 pass defenses, leading all of FBS in the latter category.

Prior to that, he spent the 2019 season at USF under then-head coach Charlie Strong, as well as a 10-year stint in various roles at Middle Tennessee. He spent his entire tenure there as their cornerbacks coach, was the Blue Raiders' defensive coordinator from 2011 to 2014, as well as their recruiting coordinator from 2015 to 2018. During his decade at MTSU, five cornerbacks earned All-Conference honors.

With Ellis' reported hiring, Louisville has filled nine of their ten allotted assistant coaching positions, with six of them having been officially announced by the university.

Wide receivers coach Garrick McGee, running backs coach Chris Barclay and tight ends coach Ryan Wallace all opted to follow Brohm to the Cardinals and were officially hired to their respective position. Co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Ron English has also been officially announced, but his exact title at UofL has yet to be determined.

Boilermakers offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Brohm and co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Mark Hagen have also been reported to be making the transition to Louisville, but have yet to be officially announced.

Georgia Southern offensive line coach Richard Owens was also officially hired to the same position with the Cardinals, and defensive line coach Mark Ivey was retained from the previous UofL staff by Brohm in a to-be-determined role.

Louisville finished the 2022 season with an overall mark of 8-5 (4-4 in ACC), including a 24-7 win in the Fenway Bowl over Cincinnati.

(Photo of Steve Ellis: Stephen Igoe - 247Sports)

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