Continuity & Depth Leading to Improved Secondary for Louisville

Between coaching continuity, talent acquisition and development of returning players, safeties coach ShaDon Brown has seen a noticeable improvement in Louisville's secondary during the preseason, and believes they will make a jump in 2020.

It's no surprise that the secondary for Louisville struggled at times during in 2019. After all, they were part of a defense that gave up 439.9 yards and 33.4 points - a pair of metrics that both rank just outside the top 100 in FBS.

That area of the field was one of the Cardinals' weak spots last season, but safeties coach ShaDon Brown has already noticed some improvement in the secondary during Louisville's fall camp.

"I complimented our guys the other day. We're doing a lot more disguises within our defense - not by call, but by them knowing where they're supposed to be," Brown said in a teleconference after Thursday's practice. "I think that's going to help us be better."

Brown believes that continuity on the sideline has helped both players and coaches alike. Heading into year two of the Scott Satterfield era, the program retained nearly all of their defensive coaches - including defensive coordinator Bryan Brown.

"Now the kids know what to expect," he said. "They know the schemes and they understand  kind of what Coach B's thinking when he calls a game as opposed to having a new coordinator and new coaches every year."

Another reason Brown believes the secondary will take a step forward is because of the depth they have developed over the offseason - both by acquisition of talent and experience gained by in-house players.

Louisville signed cornerbacks Greedy Vance & Marqui Lowery and safeties Josh Minkins & Lovie Jenkins as part of the Class of 2020. They later landed a commitment from Liberty transfer corner Kei'Trel Clark, who will be eligible to play in 2020.

"We're gonna be able to play more guys. I though last season we were limited in the number of guys that we played," Brown said. "We're still a year away from having the depth that we want and need, but we've added some pieces that I think can help us."

At the safety position specifically, the Cardinals have taken a tremendous step forward as it pertains to the progress made by returning players. Brown now feels comfortable rotating four guys between the two safety spots, starting with senior Russ Yeast who is now back to 100% following multiple surgeries.

“He is a really competitive player, he wants to be out there for every snap, but also know that we have to be careful to bring him along to get him ready for our first game,” Brown said. “He has come back really strong.”

Accompanying Yeast are redshirt senior Isaiah Hayes & redshirt junior Jack Fagot. Both are listed as 1 & 2 at free safety on the preseason depth chart, but Brown believes he can play either at free or strong safety to increase the depth in the safety room.

As for the fourth? That would be outside linebacker Trenell Troutman. The junior from Miami has been taking reps at the free safety position, and Brown equates his skill set to Khane Pass.

"Trenell's a physical guy and does a great job playing in the box," Brown said. "He'll be a scenario guy kinda like Khane Pass was."

All these factors combined, and Brown believes that the secondary will absolutely take a step forward in 2020.

"I'm not gonna put a number on it, but I will guarantee you'll see a jump in our secondary," he said.

Louisville will return to the practice fields on Friday at 4:00pm, and are set to kickoff the season against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday, Sept. 12 at Cardinal Stadium.

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