From the University of Los Angeles:
University of Louisville Football Assistant Coach Mark Ivey and Steve Ellis Named co-defensive coordinator, head coach Jeff Brohm Announce.
Ivey and Ellis will share defensive coordinator duties, with Ivey leading the defensive line and Ellis handling the secondary. Ivey has been the Cardinals linebackers coach since Brohm was hired before the 2023 season.
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The duo played a key role in Louisville’s defensive success in 2025, helping the Cardinals rank 16th nationally in total defense.
Ivey, entering his eighth season at Louisville and fourth under Brohm, will return to coaching the defensive line, which he led for four previous seasons.
In three seasons as linebackers coach, Ivey oversaw the development of linebackers TJ Quinnwho became the first player since Louisville to lead the team in tackles for three consecutive seasons. Mark Sander (1988-90). Quinn leads the Cardinals with 95 tackles and was named to the ACC Third Team in 2025.
In 2024, Ivey coached Quinn and Stanquin Clarkhe led the team in tackles by recording 82 and 76 respectively. Quinn leads the Cardinals in tackles for the second straight season, while Clark ranks second in his first full season.
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In 2023, Ivey’s first season coaching the linebackers, Quinn led the team with 92 tackles in his first year as a starter and had 10 or more tackles in four games and earned all-league honors.
Ivey coached Louisville’s defensive line from 2019-22 before moving to linebacker, guiding Ashton Gillotte to All-Conference honorable mention in 2022. In 2019, the Cardinals’ sack total increased to 27 from 11 last season, with GG Robinson leading the team with 4.0 sacks.
Prior to joining Louisville, Ivey spent seven seasons at Appalachian State where he coached the outside linebackers and defensive line. He was promoted to interim head coach following the departure of Scott Satterfield, leading the Mountaineers to a 45-13 victory over Middle Tennessee in the 2018 R+L Operators New Orleans Bowl.
Ivey helped lead Appalachian State to the program’s inaugural Sun Belt Championship Game and a bowl victory while working with a defensive line that included first-team All-Sun Belt selection MyQuon Stout. His coaching helped three bench players develop into regular contributors in a nine-man rotation.
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Prior to the 2018 season, Ivey was promoted to assistant head coach while remaining as defensive line coach. In 2017, Appalachian State’s defense ranked 17th nationally in sacks (38). In his first three seasons, his defensive linemen totaled 52.5 sacks and 109 tackles for loss, solidifying the league’s defensive totals and leading the defense in scoring for two straight seasons. In 2016, Appalachian State allowed the fewest points in conference play among all FBS teams and ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense.
Ivey also served as special teams coordinator from 2012-14, overseeing a unit that led the Southern Conference in net punt average. Bentlee Critcher was an FCS All-American in 2014, while Sam Martin helped the Mountaineers rank second nationally in net punts during the 2012 season.
Ellis is a veteran secondary coach who joins Brohm’s staff in 2023, bringing experience and intensity to the Cardinals’ defensive backs.
In his first three seasons at Louisville, Ellis helped develop a secondary that produced NFL Draft picks Quincy Riley and Jarvis Brownlee. Riley intercepted five passes over his final two seasons and was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL draft, while Brownlee was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in 2024.
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Before heading to Louisville, Ellis helped East Carolina become one of the nation’s top football teams, with the Buccaneers recording 25 interceptions in two seasons, their highest average per game since the 2013-14 season. In 2021, ECU ranked 14th nationally with 15 interceptions, ranked second in the AAC and reached a bowl game for the first time since 2014.
Under Ellis’ guidance, Ja’Quan McMillian captured the 2021 NCAA FBS statistical title with passes defensed (1.75) and was a five-time second-team All-American while also being a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.
Ellis has 19 years of Division I coaching experience, including stints at South Florida, Middle Tennessee State University and his alma mater, Nicholls State University. While at MTSU, Ellis served as cornerbacks coach, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator, helping the Blue Raiders reach seven bowl games.
As Middle Tennessee’s defensive coordinator, Ellis staged a dramatic turnaround in 2012, improving national scoring defense by 48 spots, rushing defense by 29 spots and total defense by 10 spots.
Ellis began his coaching career at Nicholls State in 2003, working with the safeties before becoming linebackers coach and defensive coordinator.