UNC Football: Potential Defensive Coordinator Candidates To Replace Gene Chizik
By Jordan Falls
Ron English - Louisville Co-Defensive Coordinators and Defensive Backs Coach
This would be an in-conference hire and one that we haven't heard of his name being linked to North Carolina in any way. But English is a veteran guy who has been around coaching for a long time. He also runs the 4-2-5 defense, one that North Carolina has seemed fixated on sticking with through the entirety of the Mack Brown 2.0 Era.
English was a defensive coordinator for Michigan in 2006-2007, Louisville in 2008, San Jose State in 2016, co-defensive coordinator for Purdue in 2021-22, and again with the Cardinals in 2023. During a season in which Louisville made an appearance in the ACC Championship game, the Cardinals finished the season ranked 21st in total offense allowed with 317 yards per game.
English's defense also led the country in red zone scoring allowed and was top-15 in the country in third-down conversion rate. Bend, but don't break? Maybe. But getting crucial stops in the red zone and on third down has been one of the key breaking points for the UNC Football program for the last several years. English could be the guy to fix that.
He has experience on the defensive side of the ball in the Southeastern Conference at Mississippi State and Florida as a defensive backs coach and could bring valuable experience to a coaching staff that appears to be looking for that at the moment.