Louisville football has gotten to 5-1 on the season largely on the back of its defense. How Ron English and co. are getting it done.
IF YOU TRAVELED TO THIS MOMENT IN TIME from November 2023, you might grab the nearest blunt object and smash me in the head for saying it.
But Louisville football defensive coordinator Ron English deserves a raise.
Or, that is to say, that Louisville should do what is needed to keep English around.
Yes, Louisville football fans have had a tenuous relationship with English — A coach in his second stint in the 502, and his fifth overall alongside Cardinals head coach Jeff Brohm. Yes, English’s defenses have struggled at times. They’ve been inconsistent, and often forced Brohm’s hand toward a more aggressive offensive approach.
But 2025 has seen a turning over of a new leaf for Louisville’s embattled defensive leader.
ENGLISH LEFT LOUISVILE the first time after the 2008 season. His tenure as the head coach of Eastern Michigan was much like the experience his defenses have provided Cardinals fans.
At his best, he won MAC Coach of the Year after leading the Eagles to their winningest season in 17 years.
At his lowest point, English was let go in the middle of the following season for making off color comments in the locker room.
Following his abrupt departure at EMU, English left coaching for 2+ seasons before working his way up the ladder once again.
A turn around in Louisville
ENGLISH INHERITED A LOADED DEFENSIVE ROSTER when he found himself in Louisville once again as one of many Purdue coaching staff transplants.
The Cards hit the ground running with high-level performances in victories over top-10 Notre Dame and at NC State. Later, UofL allowed 3 total points in back-to-back blowouts of Duke and Virginia Tech.
However, it was English that came under fire during an inexplicable unraveling down the stretch. Louisville fell to Kentucky, allowing 38 points in the ’23 finale, and was torched by USC in the Holiday Bowl.
LOUISVILLE ENTERED 2024 with even higher expectations, and Louisville football assembled a roster with an excellent balance of talent and experienced depth.
The defensive play from the Cardinals, however, was rife with inconsistencies. While the roster was stacked with future pros and preseason all-conference level talent, poor execution, communication issues, and inexcusable penalties really hurt English’s faze of the game.
Different pieces were shuffled in and out; English and his coordinators tried to adjust, but fan consensus was that Louisville wasted a lot of potential with the likes of Ashton Gillotte, Quincy Riley, Corey Thornton, and Tamarion McDonald in the fold.
2025 WAS SLATED AS A “SHOW ME” YEAR for the defense, but Louisville football really lacked returning star power and brought in some less flashy portal transfers.
In years’ past, Brohm and co. brought in players like McDonald (Tennessee), Jurriente Davis (Texas A&M), Taz Nicholson (Illinois), Gilbert Frierson (Miami), Stephen Herron (Stanford), and Marcus Washington (Georgia).
That’s some high-level talent from elite name schools.
This years’ approach was quite different, however, as the staff aimed to identify less recruited talent that made higher level impacts at lower level schools.
Here’s where every 2025 Louisville defensive transfer played ball last year (in no particular order):
Western Kentucky, Rutgers, FIU, Abilene Christian, Southern, Jacksonville State, Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion, Louisiana, Baylor, Tennessee, New Mexico, and Western Michigan.
The approach of elevating already proven players from group of five and FCS programs is paying dividends.
As we wrote about earlier this week, Louisville has taken the approach of slowing down its offense, keeping the defense off the field more, and is 25th nationally in time of possession so far this season.
Keeping the defense off the field has allowed that side of the ball to stay rested up and play with a more aggressive mentality.
Louisville’s defense has given up just 16.3 points per game and 10 total touchdowns in regulation. It has given up 1.16 touchdowns per game when the opponent starts on its own side of the field.
This result isn’t because the Cards are a benefactor of an easier schedule, either.
Louisville has faced 3 teams currently ranked in the top 32 of the AP Poll: Miami (Now 9th), Virginia (16th), and James Madison (32nd).
Its five power five and group of five teams faced thus far are a combined 24-5 in games not against Louisville: JMU (6-0), BGSU (3-3), UVA (5-1), Pitt (5-1), Miami (5-0).
A rebuild well ahead of schedule
The greatest feat by English and his staff is how they accomplished this with absolutely unprecedented attrition to the defensive roster.
It’s not just that Louisville brought in a group of lower level players, but many of them have been highly successful as plug and play starters.
Take a look at how vastly different the Louisville roster is year over year, and how much talent the Cards lost.
Even with the turnover across this side of the ball, Louisville’s defense has been dominant at times.
The Cards boast one of the best pass defenses in the country and a run defense that just surrendered only 63 yards on the ground to Miami.
It’s been a truly remarkable feat in a season where most Louisville football fans expected shoot outs on a weekly basis.
KEEPING THE BALL rolling will require some luck with one thing that is largely out of English’s control: Health.
Poor luck already struck when star linebacker Stanquan Clark sustained a season-ending injury in game two against JMU.
Going forward, this is a defense that is highly dependent on its starting 11, particularly on the back end.
Starting defensive backs Tayon Holloway and Jabari Mack played every snap of the Miami win. A triumvirate of linebackers played every snap at MIKE and outside.
There is not much proven depth behind these guys.
The Cards’ schedule is manageable down the stretch, but the one thing that can derail the entire season is even a hint of an injury bug.
If Louisville football stays healthy, English should be a made man in this town.
