UL brings in coaching "triage" to stop defensive bleeding

Without question, the University of Louisville football team exhibited a prolific attack last season, producing more than 35 points a game.

Unfortunately for the 6-6 Cardinals, all that offense was a little like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom. For almost every point Louisville scored, the defense gave one up.

OK, it wasn't quite that bad, but almost -- the opposition averaged 31.4 points. Steve Kragthorpe's team surrendered 38 points to lowly Syracuse, 44 to Utah, 38 to West Virginia and 55 to South Florida. The Cardinal 'D' coughed up 165 rushing yards and 251 passing yards per game, producing only 18 sacks and seven interceptions in a dozen games.

It made for exciting football, but it was much too exciting for Kragthorpe. So Ron English, Ted Roof and Ken Delgado were brought in as a sort of triage unit to stop the bleeding.

Only 39, English already has accumulated an impressive resume. As defensive coordinator at Michigan last season, he presided over a team that ranked eighth nationally in pass defense (as opposed to Louisville, which made Syracuse quarterback Andrew Robinson look like Tom Brady).

He also coached the secondary in Ann Arbor, a unit that led the nation in fewest touchdown passes allowed in 2003.

As a player, English started at safety for the University of California. He then coached at San Diego State and Arizona State before moving to Michigan. And as an added bonus, his academic major at Cal was communications.

Roof, while unsuccessful as a head coach at Duke, was a finalist for Assistant of the Year in 2000. His 2001 Duke squad led the ACC in rushing defense. As a defensive back for Georgia Tech, Roof finished seventh on the school's all-time list with 417 tackles.

Delgado, an import from Cal (recruited, no doubt, by English), will take over the defensive line duties from Mark Nelson, who now becomes the director of special teams.

Now, if the Cardinals can just find some more players ..