Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm, with his background as a quarterback and his apprenticeship as an assistant under offensive-minded head coaches, has never led a team considered defensive.
Until now.
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Let’s run down the numbers.
The Cardinals rank No. 1 in the ACC in total defense, allowing 274 yards per game (13th nationally). If this holds up, it will mark the first time in Brohm’s 12 seasons as a head coach that his defense held opponents to fewer than 300 yards per game.
It would also be the first time since former coach Charlie Strong’s last season in 2013, when the defense allowed 251.5 yards per game.
That’s something new for Brohm and for U of L as a program.
The Cards this century haven’t really been defined by their defense, either. Their pattern of head coaches primarily had offensive backgrounds — from the creativity of John L. Smith to the irresistible force of Bobby Petrino. Only Strong, a former defensive coordinator, broke the mold.
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The pattern usually followed more like last season’s team, where the offense had to score big totals to win because the defense was prone to giving up scores.
Louisville’s defense, which allowed 5.4 yards per play last season, could be directly blamed for several of the losses including giving up 52 points to Miami at home and squandering a fourth-quarter lead at Stanford.
It was fair to question if defensive coordinator Ron English would be around for this season, but Brohm stuck with him and the result of the changes they made has been beneficial this season.
“Our plan is better; I think we understand it in more detail,” Brohm said. “The communication and being on the right page when the ball (is) snapped has been more efficient — that all pays off.”
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Oh, it’s paying big dividends.
The Cards are No. 1 in the ACC in pass defense, allowing 170.5 yards per game (20th nationally). After picking off Miami’s Carson Beck four times, they’re No. 1 in interceptions in the league and are tied for fifth nationally.
The Cards would rank higher in scoring defense, where they’re sixth in the ACC at 21 points per game, if the metric truly measured how many points were scored on the defense alone.
But the three pick sixes thrown by Miller Moss against Eastern Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Virginia and one fumble returned for a touchdown — also Virginia — all count against U of L even though those points were allowed by offensive blunders.
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It has been the most consistent unit for Louisville this season, and because of that, it allows Brohm to stay aggressive on offense.
During the Cards’ first drive in the win over Miami on Friday, Brohm might have taken the points instead of calling a fake field goal. He’s developed a lot of trust in this defense.
That hasn’t always been the case.
In Brohm’s first season as a head coach at Western Kentucky, the Hilltoppers’ defense ranked last in Conference USA, giving up 509 yards per game.
Between his stops at WKU and Purdue, he’s never had a defense that allowed fewer than 300 yards per game. His best unit with the Boilermakers allowed 368.1 yards per game in 2021 — eighth among Big Ten teams.
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His best defense at WKU came in his final season in 2016, and it gave up 376.6 yards per game.
His three seasons at U of L, even last season’s much-maligned defense, have been better yardage-wise than his best defenses at those two stops. Last season’s unit allowed 368.7 yards per game, and his first season at U of L in 2023, they allowed 317.1 yards per game.
Louisville’s defense was probably the biggest question in preseason, with all the talent it lost from last season. Now, the defense is their best answer for any predicament they find themselves facing.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football gets defensive under coach Jeff Brohm
