LAFAYETTE, La. ( KLFY ) — There’s a new man at the helm of the Louisiana defense and his name is Jim Salgado .
Salgado enters his first season as defensive coordinator for the Cajuns in 2024, looking to help Louisiana turn their defensive struggles around. Salgado knows having a number of returning starters in his group will help in his first year with the program.
“No matter what the defense is scheming, they got game experience, they got scars, they got a lot of positives that have come out in games that they’ve played,” he said.
“They know the league. They know who we’re playing. The league’s new to me, even though I’ve been studying it since I got here, but that’s big,” he continued.
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As Salgado said at Cajun Media Day, having returning starters is big for him. For the players, having Coach Salgado to learn from has been just as important.
Salgado has experience coaching on the college and NFL levels at a high caliber. During his run as nickelback coach of the Buffalo Bills , he helped Micah Hyde, Tre ‘Davious White, and Jordan Poyer reach the Pro Bowl which included the Bill generating 15 interceptions during the 2020 season.
Defensive Lineman Joran Lawson spoke on Salgado’s experience being passed along to the Cajuns.
Ragin’ Cajun athletics host fall Fan Day “Well, of course, as you know, since he’s coming from the next level, there’s a higher level of professionalism around. It’s a lot more production-based, you know, if you do the right thing, you get rewarded,” Lawson said.
Keyon Martin also sees a lot of positives from Salgado’s coaching resume.
“I mean, it helps a lot because he’s done it for a while at the next level. He just got to the next level to stay there for a year or two and then come back. He’s been in the NFL level for a while, so him being knowledgeable of the game and how advanced he is, it helps the defense because basically he’s just giving us the tips and basically the cheat codes to be able to do at the next level,” Martin said.
At the end of the day, Salgado wants his team to live by the mantra, “Black, white, and no grey.”
“We don’t want any player on our defense out there…Well it’s…Because then what happens? It slows you down and you can’t play what? A question you asked me. Can’t play fast, right? If you can’t play fast, you can’t play physical. Right. So that’s where the black, white, and no grey we’re trying to get to. And we’ve come a long way,” he said.
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