Louisville football: 5 defensive players with the most to prove in 2019
By Jacob Lane
Louisville football’s defense has been atrocious in the last two seasons under two different coordinators. These five players have the most to prove in order to get things turned around under Bryan Brown and Cort Dennison.
On Saturday, November 24th as the Louisville football players walked off the field with their heads hung low at arguably the lowest point in their young careers at Cardinal Stadium, with nearly every pink seat exposed, they knew a change was coming – it was only a matter of time.
On that particular day against arch-rival Kentucky, the defense surrendered 56 points to a team headed for a New Year’s Day bowl – a day that typically Louisville fans looked forward to every year. Before that 56 point debacle came 52, 54, 77, 56, and 66 points allowed. At this point, they were just numbers. The defense, which once had promise, had become the joke of the ACC and the UofL players knew it and there wasn’t much they wanted to do about it. Who could blame them?
Louisville football’s defense has been one of the worst statistically in the entire country over the last two seasons thanks to the ineptitude of former head coach Bobby Petrino and the two coaches he brought in-in Peter Sirmon and Brian VanGorder.
But in the words of Louisville basketball coach Chris Mack, “The darkest clouds elicit the brightest lightning bolts, and that lightning bolt is coming.”
That lighting bolt came in the form of rising defensive coordinator Bryan Brown and the return of recruiting guru and linebacker coach, Cort Dennison.
Now under Scott Satterfield, as co-defensive coordinator’s, the Louisville defense could be the bright spot for the first time in a long time.
There will be a lot of unproven commodities, and players who will be playing in new roles that better suit their skills, and many breakout players will emerge for the Cards.
Earlier this week we counted down the five offensive players with the most to prove in 2019 for the Cardinals and now we’ll do the same for the defense.
So without further ado, the five defensive players with the most to prove this season for Scott Satterfield and the Lousiville football program.