Jeff Brohm’s Louisville staff is starting to take shape
By Joshua Tipton
The Louisville Cardinals 2023 coaching staff is beginning to take shape. Yesterday, the University of Louisville announced two additional, yet expected Louisville staff hires, welcoming running backs coach Chris Barclay and wide receivers coach Garrick McGee officially to the program. Below is a list of confirmed coaches, their prospective roles on the staff, and a brief biography of each. Many of the coaches on Brohm’s Cardinal staff have strong ties to the University of Louisville and the state of Kentucky.
Louisville Staff Announced and Expected
Pete Nochta – Director of Recruiting
Pete Nochta is a fan favorite who played tight end for the Cardinals from 2006-10, recruited from Tates Creek High School in Lexington. Later after his playing career and coaching stops at Purdue and Western Kentucky, Pete became a graduate assistant for coach Bobby Petrino in 2014. He has been the director of recruiting for the University of Louisville since 2016.
Pete is a cancer survivor, overcoming Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2015. Nochta has deep Cardinal family ties, marring Alyssa, a former Cardinal cheerleader from 2009-12.
Mark Ivey – Defensive Line Coach
Ivey is one of the only coaches on Scott Satterfield’s Louisville staff anticipated to be retained by Brohm. Often noted for having a similar appearance to the WWE’s Triple H, Ivey is a fan favorite in Louisville. Ivey followed Satterfield to Louisville from his alma mater Appalachian State in 2019. Before transitioning to the college ranks, Ivey was a long-time High School coach in Florida.
Ivey’s defensive lines have been highly successful. In 2019, during Ivey’s first year as Louisville’s defensive line coach, the Cardinals increased their sack total from eleven in 2018 to twenty-seven. In 2022, the University of Louisville led all of college football with fifty sacks, five more than any other school. The Cardinals averaged nearly four sacks per game.
He has also served as interim coach for Appalachian State after Satterfield’s departure in 2018 and co-interim coach for Louisville’s bowl game this year, winning both contests. Expect to see Ivey as a defensive coordinator somewhere in years to come.
Deion Branch – Director of Player Development
Deion Branch may be the most recognizable name on Brohm’s Louisville staff. Branch, who played under John L. Smith at Louisville, won two Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and was named MVP of Super Bowl XXXIX, tying the Super Bowl record with eleven catches.
Branch served as the director of player development for Scott Satterfield and was co-Interim coach for the Cardinals in the 2022 Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
Greg Brohm – Director of Football Administration & Operations
The oldest Brohm brother played receiver for the Cardinals from 1989-92. Greg has yet to be officially named to Jeff Brohm’s staff but is expected to accept a similar role. He was the Director of Football Administration & Operations at Purdue, and is still operating under that role at Purdue currently, but should be officially announced to Jeff’s staff soon.
Chris Barclay – Running Backs Coach
Chris Barclay was on Brohm’s staff at Western Kentucky and Purdue. Barclay is a Louisville Male High School graduate who later would play college football for an ACC rival in Wake Forest University. He entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent and would play three years at that level. Under Barclay, the Purdue rushing offense finished 104 in 2022, totaling 3.72 per rushing attempt.
Ryan Wallace – Tight Ends Coach
Wallace is a former offensive tackle who played for the University of Kentucky. He was a graduate assistant for Brohm at Western Kentucky, coaching Tyler Higbee to first-team all-conference honors. Coach Wallace would later spend a single year in 2016 at Austin Peay before following Brohm to Purdue. While at Purdue, Wallace held various offensive positions, eventually settling into the tight ends coach role in 2022. He’s a welcome addition to the Louisville staff.
Garrick McGee – Wide Receivers Coach
McGee served in the same position for Brohm at Purdue in 2022. McGee is another assistant with strong Louisville ties. You’ll recognize the name. He’s a former Offensive Coordinator at the University of Louisville under Bobby Petrino from 2014-16. Additionally, McGee had previously worked with Petrino at the University of Arkansas.
His coaching career has spanned twenty-seven years, and he has held head coach, offensive coordinator, quarterback coach, and wide-receiver coach positions. McGee is unchallenged as the most experienced coach on Brohm’s staff.
Brian Brohm – Offensive Coordinator
Brian Brohm is the youngest Brohm coach on the Louisville staff. At thirty-seven years young, he’s off to an impressive start. In 2021, as co-offensive coordinator at Purdue, Brohm helped guide the Boilermakers to the 5th-ranked passing offense in the nation. Making the feat even more impressive, Purdue had three different starting quarterbacks in 2021–one who is now a Cardinal.
Brian played quarterback for Trinity High School in Louisville, leading the team to three consecutive state championships before committing to the University of Louisville.
While at Louisville, Brohm found similar success. Brohm took the 2006 Cardinals to a 12-1 record, eventually capping the season off with a 31-14 victory over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl. The 2006 team finished number six in the associated press final poll. The youngest Brohm would play eight seasons in the NFL before joining Jeff at Western Kentucky.
Ron English – Defensive Coordinator
English is another recognizable Cardinal coach on the Louisville staff. Ron was the defensive coordinator for Steve Kragthorpe in 2008. He’s second on the team in terms of experience to Garrick McGee, having coached nearly thirty years between college and high school. In 2006, Ron was awarded the defensive coordinator of the year at Michigan from Rivals.com.
While at Purdue, English served as co-Defensive Coordinator from 2021-22. And he has now been officially named to the staff as of yesterday.