Major changes are reportedly coming to the defensive side of the ball for Jeff Brohm's program at Louisville.
ESPN shares today that co-defensive coordinators Ron English and Mark Hagen are both not expected to return in 2026.
Pete Thamel adds that English has informed Louisville he would like to step away for the year and watch his son's final season as a football player at Navy.
Both veteran coaches with decades of experience, Hagen worked with the Cardinals defensive line, while English mentored the team's secondary.
Both came with Brohm after working alongside each other at Purdue.
For English, he was in his second stint as the Cardinals defensive coordinator. He previously manned the post in 2008, after two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Michigan. After one season calling the defense for the Cardinals, he took the head coaching job at Eastern Michigan.
He stayed in that role from 2009-2013, going 11-46 overall before being dismissed nine games into the 2013 season after a 1-8 start. The 2011 season saw the Eagles go 6-6, but they failed to make a bowl game despite it being their best season in nearly two decades due to two of the wins coming against FCS opponents.
After EMU, the Cal grad and former safety for the Golden Bears spent a season at San Jose State as defensive coordinator before stops in the SEC at Mississippi State and Florida working with the safeties.
He joined Brohm's staff at Purdue in 2021 as co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.
Hagen has logged over 40 years in the coaching profession, and was also in his third season with the Louisville program after following Brohm from Purdue.
The veteran defensive line coach has worked with a number of NFL bound picks over the years, including first round picks like Ryan Kerrigan and Anthony Spencer at Purdue, as well as a host of second and third round picks as well.
Hagen has also worked with linebackers and special teams during his career, spent a season at Texas as an assistant in 2020, and also served as special teams coordinator at Texas A&M for a few seasons from 2013-15. He also spent three different stints as an assistant at Indiana, including as co-defensive coordinator at his alma mater where he starred at linebacker and was a two-time All Big Ten selection.
Since the two co-coordinators took over the Cardinals defense, the unit has ranked just inside the top 40 in scoring defense both in 2023 and 2025 at just over 21 points per game, and the unit ranked 10th nationally in rushing defense during the 2023 season, but then dipped to 40th in 2024 before clawing back within the top 25 this past season, allowing just over 114 yards per game.
Brohm will look to improve all around after his squad started off hot at 8-1 before dropping three of their last four games to end the year with those three losses coming to to Cal (in OT), Clemson, and SMU before throttling Kentucky in the season finale rivalry game. They would go on to outlast Toledo 27-22 in their bowl game to secure a 9-4 season.
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