Ron English begins his first season as the def ensive coordinator at the University of Louisville. English spent five seasons with the Wolverines and just concluded his second season as the school's defensive coordinator. English spent his first three seasons coaching the secondary. This season, English oversaw an aggressive Michigan defense that entered its bowl game against Florida with the nation's eighth-ranked pass defense and were 13th in pass efficiency defense. The Wolverines were also 22nd in scoring defense and 24th in total defense. English, 39, was named the Rivals.com National Defensive Coordinator of the Year during his initial season as the defensive signal caller at Michigan in 2006. The defense rated among the nation's best, finishing first against the run, fourth in sacks, seven in third down defense, 10 in total defense and 15th in scoring defense. The Wolverine defensive secondary collected 36 interceptions during his three seasons overseeing the entire corps and turned four of those picks into touchdowns. In addition, U-M yielded 37 TD passes by the opposition during that time, including an NCAA-leading nine in 2003. English became the first coach in NCAA history to have two defensive backs earn consensus All-America honors in the same season, since the organization began incorporating both an offensive and defensive team in 1965, as cornerback Marlin Jackson and safety Ernest Shazor earned the recognition following the 2004 season. English made an immediate impact on the Wolverine secondary during his first season. U-M tied for the national lead in fewest touchdown passes yielded with nine and finished ninth in pass efficiency defense. The secondary collected 13 interceptions and returned two for scores. A 15-year veteran of college coaching, English spent five seasons at Arizona State. He coached secondary all five years with the Sun Devils, the final two years with the cornerbacks and the previous three seasons mentoring the safeties. He helped ASU to three bowl appearances: the 1999 Aloha, 2000 Aloha and 2002 Holiday bowls. English also tutored the secondary for two seasons at San Diego State (1996-97) and served as the outside linebackers coach at Northern Arizona (1996). His first stint at ASU was as a graduate assistant coach handling the defensive line during the 1994-95 seasons. English began his collegiate coaching career as the defensive backs coach at Mt. San Antonio College (1993) in Walnut, Calif. He coached one season at Ganesha High School (1992), his alma mater, in Pomona, Calif. English was a four-year letterman (1987-90) and senior starter at safety for the California Golden Bears. He also started on special teams all four seasons at California. English finished his career with 134 tackles and seven sacks and participated in the 1990 Copper Bowl against Wyoming. His identical twin brother, Don, also played for the Golden Bears. English played one season of prep football at Ganesha High School before heading to California. A 1990 graduate of the University of California-Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in communications, English earned his master's degree in education administration from Arizona State in 1995. "I'm extremely excited that Ron English will be joining our football staff in the position of defensive coordinator," said Kragthorpe. "Ron brings an intense passion for the game of football and his enthusiasm is contagious. He did a tremendous job at the University of Michigan and was instrumental in their success." |
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