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Kenny Carter Position: Running Backs/Special Teams Experience: 3rd Season

Kenny Carter, who owns 19 years of collegiate coaching experience, begins his third season as running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Louisville.

Under Carter's direction, the running backs and special teams have made dramatic improvement in his first two seasons.

This past year, the Cardinals recorded two special teams touchdowns this season when Andrew Johnson returned a blocked field goal for a score in an upset win over nationally-ranked West Virginia, and Adrian Bushell returned a kick 100 yards for a touchdown in a win over Connecticut.

The Cardinals also led the nation in punt return defense, allowing seven yards for an average of 0.54 yards a return.

Carter split the production in the backfield this past season, as three running backs combined to rush for 1,406 yards and eight touchdowns. Victor Anderson led the Cardinals with 539 yards and was third on the team with 28 receptions out of the backfield.

Carter also tutored placekicker Chris Philpott this past year, who led the Cardinals in scoring and finished his career as one of the top placekickers in school history. Philpott was 12-of-18 this year and ended his career with 32 field goals.

Carter guided running back Bilal Powell in 2010 to earn first team All-BIG EAST Conference accolades. He also earned All-America recognition and was a fourth-round selection by the New York Jets.

In addition, Powell rushed for 1,405 yards, which was the second-best total in school history and registered consecutive 200-yard rushing games in 2010, becoming the first U of L player to accomplish such a feat. He tied the school record with seven 100-yard games in a season.

As a group, the running backs combined to run for 2,100 yards and 15 scores in 2010.

Louisville's special teams also made drastic improvements in the return game in 2010, finishing 10th nationally in kickoff returns and 18th in punt returns. The Cardinals also had two players in the top 10 in kickoff returns in Jeremy Wright, who was fifth in the country and Victor Anderson, who was sixth. Doug Beaumont was eighth in the nation in punt return average. The Cardinals also ranked in the top 10 in punt return yardage allowed.

Carter, who owns 19 years of coaching experience came to Louisville after spending two seasons at the University of Florida, where he helped guide the Gators to the 2008 BCS National Championship.

In his first season with the Gators in 2008, Carter guided a running backs group that amassed over 1,800 yards on the ground with 16 touchdowns. With Carter at the helm of the running backs, Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey combined to rush for over 1,200 yards in their respective freshman campaigns. Florida led the SEC in rushing offense in 2008 when they won the national championship, averaging 231.1 yards per game.

The average was the highest in school history since 1989, when the Gators averaged 244.8 yards per game. The Gators also posted a school-record 42 rushing touchdowns in 2008. Both Demps and Rainey were named Freshmen All-SEC.

In 2006, Carter mentored tailbacks Cassen Jackson-Garrison and Jared Hawkins, a duo which combined for more than 900 rushing yards and eight touchdowns from the Commodores' one-back set. Jackson-Garrison, who was a senior in 2007, went on to finish in a tie as the eighth-leading rusher in Vanderbilt history with 1,814 career yards. His 2007 running back corps of Jackson-Garrison, Hawkins and Jeff Jennings combined for 1,207 yards.

Carter, who served as an assistant at Furman when Bobby Johnson accepted the Paladins' head coaching job, worked on coaching staffs at the University of Pittsburgh, LSU, The Citadel and Penn State prior to joining Vanderbilt.

At Penn State, Carter guided receivers under Joe Paterno. He was instrumental in the development of Bryant Johnson, a first-team All-Big Ten pick in 2002 and first-round 2003 NFL draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals. Johnson ranks among the all-time Penn State leaders with 110 career receptions and 2,008 career receiving yards.

Carter guided running backs at Pittsburgh under former Head Coach Walt Harris, mentoring Kevan Barlow, Nick Goings and Lousaka Polite, who is the fullback for the New England Patriots. While Barlow became a 1,000-yard rusher at Pittsburgh, Barlow (San Francisco, N.Y. Jets, Pittsburgh), Goings (Carolina) and Polite (Dallas, Chicago) have gone on to enjoy solid NFL careers. Carter worked at LSU in 1999, coaching outside linebackers. One pupil, Norman Lejeune, was named Freshman All-SEC.

A native of Camden, S.C., Carter served as a tight ends' assistant at Furman in 1993. From 1994 through 1998 he held multiple positions at his alma mater, The Citadel. Carter and his wife Bonnie are the parents of two children: Brey and Kennedy.