Blake Ruffin ready for a more vocal and active role with Louisville football
Louisville football’s safety room entered the spring as one of the more intriguing groups to keep an eye on in spring practice.
The Cards don’t return many faces in the secondary and also recycle voices on the coaching staff; it’s obvious why graduate safety Blake Ruffin has easily found a role on the first-team defense.
After all, Ruffin is one of the few remaining in the position room from last fall. And his on-field leadership has already stood out through Louisville’s open spring practices.
Ruffin is one of the several Cardinals standing out ahead of the spring game next Friday. He’s been dealing with a position change as well, primarily manning the LB/S hybrid role as Antonio Watts still recovers from injury. His versatility has been a valuable asset during his time in the red and black, as many of his snaps last season came on special teams, but it’s likely not as valuable as the knowledge and experience he’s bringing in his sixth year of college football.
“Just wanna be in a more vocal role,” said Ruffin. “I knew coming in this year I knew the playbook pretty well and this could be my chance to step up. So, I just want to be more vocal with both my play and just the communication in the locker room.”
The safeties are now coached by former Cardinal defensive back Brandon Sharpe, who has been on the staff for the last three seasons under Jeff Brohm. Sharpe’s voice isn’t exactly new to a player like Ruffin, but it’s now the overbearing one. Longtime assistant of Brohm and Louisville defensive coordinator Ron English had primarily worked with the safeties and left the program in the winter.
Under English, Louisville’s secondary had just capped off a season where the group was one of the most productive in the ACC. D’Angelo Hutchinson and Jojo Evans were two experienced and high-IQ players on the backend. And while Ruffin spent the majority of his snaps on special teams, he spent a lot of time making plays on the practice field and developing the trust of Louisville’s staff, which has known Ruffin for almost 10 years.
The Trinity High School product missed the entirety of the 2024 season, his first at the U of L, due to an injury, and then played at safety in four games this past fall, recording a fumble recovery at Pittsburgh and eight total tackles.
Ruffin actually spent the first three years of his college football career at Eastern Illinois, where he was a first-team all-conference safety at the FCS level, but it wasn’t until 2025 that he finally started finding his stride at the power level.
“Blake Ruffin is a guy that really has stood out,” Sharpe told the media this spring. “He hasn’t had many opportunities to touch the field, but he’s had a great and awesome spring so far.”
“He’s a veteran, he’s played a lot of ball, he’s been at school a long time…he’s always been a smart guy and understood football. I think things have slowed a lot for him, just being in this system for so long.”
This spring, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound defensive back has looked as active with his play as he’s sounded with his voice.
One play during an 11-on-11 segment, Ruffin quickly identified a speed option to the short side of the field and met Keyjuan Brown in the backfield for what would have been a three or four-yard loss. A couple of plays later, he tracked a ball down in the back of the end zone and batted it away in coverage.
There’s a clear confidence in Ruffin on the field as well. The Louisville native is playing like he belongs as a rotational piece in the defense.
“Blake, he’s an incredibly smart football player,” Iowa transfer Koen Entringer added. “He’s very instinctual, he knows where everybody has gotta be, and I think the fact he’s been in this program before…and has a great idea of the coverages, he does a really good job of helping and explaining it.”
“He plays with a lot of juice, and he plays with energy you need to feed off.”
