Steve Ellis - Football Coach - University of Louisville Athletic

Steve Ellis

Title:
Cornerbacks
Email:
coachellis@GoCards.com

A veteran secondary coach, Steve Ellis was named cornerbacks coach at Louisville for the 2023 season.

In his first two seasons at Louisville, Ellis has brought experience and intensity to the cornerback position that has help produce a pair of NFL draft selections. Quincy Riley , who intercepted five passes over the past two seasons, was a fourth-round selection of the New Orleans Saints and Jarvis Brownlee was drafted in the 2024 draft by the Tennessee Titans.

Before coming to Louisville, Ellis helped East Carolina become one of the top ball-hawking units in the nation. Ellis’ group netted a combined total of 25 interceptions over a two-year span, representing ECU’s highest per-game clip (1.19) since the 2013 and 2014 campaigns when they averaged 1.23 interceptions per game.

Leading ECU to a bowl game for the first time since 2014, the 2021 Pirates stood 14th nationally and second in the AAC with 15 interceptions.
Under Ellis’ watchful eye, Ja’Quan McMillian captured the 2021 NCAA FBS Statistical Championship in passes defended (1.75), while standing fourth nationally in total interceptions, fifth in interceptions per game (0.42) and 22nd in fumbles recovered (0.67) to go along with his 56 tackles - which was second among all Pirate defenders. McMillian was a five-time 2021 Second-Team All-America selection (FWAA, Associated Press, The Sporting News, The Athletic and Phil Steele Magazine), a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and an All-AAC choice for the second-straight year.

In his initial season with the Pirates, Ellis provided an immediate impact to the Pirates’ secondary as his young position unit accounted for half of the team’s interception total with five.

Ellis spent 19 years coaching at the Division I level, which included a 2019 assignment as defensive backs coach at South Florida, 10 seasons at Middle Tennessee State and six campaigns at Nicholls (La.) State, his alma mater.

While working under former UofL head coach Charlie Strong at USF, Ellis played an integral role helping a Bulls’ unit that was in the Top 20 nationally in five statistical categories during the 2019 season.

As ten-year assistant at Middle Tennessee, Ellis was part of seven bowl appearances while serving as cornerbacks coach (2009-2018), defensive coordinator (2011-14) and recruiting coordinator (2015-2018).

As defensive coordinator at MTSU, Ellis orchestrated an impressive turnaround as the Raiders improved 48 spots in the national rankings in scoring defense, 29 in rush defense and 10 in total defense in 2012.

In his last four seasons with the Raiders, Ellis helped lead the squad to postseason showings at the Bahama Bowl (2015), Hawai’i Bowl (2016), Camellia Bowl (2017) and New Orleans Bowl (2018), the latter following a Conference USA East Division title and league championship game appearance.

Ellis began his coaching career in 2003 at Nicholls State, first working with the safeties before assuming duties as linebackers coach (2004-05) and defensive coordinator (2006-08).

After capturing the 2005 Southland Conference title at Nicholls State, the 2006 Colonels ranked 19th nationally in total defense and his 2007 unit topped the league in interceptions, total and pass defense.

During his six-year tenure at Nicholls State, he mentored three FCS All-America selections, seven first-team all-conference performers, a conference player-of-the-year a defensive player-of-the-year and two newcomer-of-the-year award winners.

As a player, Ellis was a three-year starter, a three-year all-conference standout and team captain as a defensive back at NSU, wrapping up a playing career in 2002 with over 200 tackles and five interceptions before earning a bachelor’s degree in education in 2003.