Ashton Gillotte wants to grow as leader for Louisville football. His family is here to help
Ashton Gillotte’s junior season will include plenty of changes from a year ago.
The Louisville defensive lineman will play in a new system under first-year head coach Jeff Brohm and co-defensive coordinators Mark Hagen and Ron English. It's a first in his time with the Cardinals, but it’s the same base defense he played in at Boca Raton High School in Florida, which makes for an easier transition.
And as one of the team's more experienced players, Gillotte, who was named to the Wuerffel Trophy Watch List last week, will also work to develop his leadership style in the absence of defensive lineman Yaya Diaby and linebacker Yasir Abdullah, both of whom are now in the NFL.
“I'm the same age as most of my teammates, so taking charge is definitely a new experience for me. But I think it's helped me grow a lot,” Gillotte said. “In terms of leadership, I'm going to get on you because I want you to be great. But at the end of the day, the people that you lead are what makes the leader, so I need to be able to make good men, great men, to perform and do what we need to do.”
For as much change as Gillotte will face this season, though, there’s still one constant: his mother’s support.
Podcast: The C.L. Brown Show: Louisville football's Jeff Brohm on his evolution as head coach, more
Two years ago, Veronica Gillotte moved to Louisville so she could be near Ashton throughout his college career. She works in Florida three days a week and spends the rest of her time in the commonwealth.
Veronica relocating to support her son isn’t anything out of the ordinary for the Gillottes. Sports have always been an integral part of their lives.
Ashton, Devin and Alexandra Gillotte didn’t watch television or play video games during weekdays growing up. Their priorities were God, family, school and sports. Alexandra played on a traveling soccer team, which meant Ashton and Devin spent countless hours watching her matches. When it was time for Devin, the oldest of the three, and Ashton to play football, the family was present for their games as well.
The Gillottes also fostered competition between one another with weekly Family Fun Days. Every Friday or Saturday, the Gillotte kids would choose a sport for the family to play. No matter what the game was, Ashton's competitive nature came out when he'd play against Devin, who was nearly 10 years older and played football at Stetson University.
“Even in wrestling,” he added. “There's obviously a big age gap, but a lot of what I learned about football, and any of the sports I played, was from my brother. He was a big inspiration for me (with) that kind of sibling rivalry. Even when he went to college and I was in high school, it made me want to push to new heights.”
Those heights led the youngest Gillotte to Louisville. Even though he has family in Ohio, his parents, now divorced, felt he needed at least one of them to be in the same state as him.
“One of us had to pay tribute. That was me,” Veronica Gillotte quipped.
Everything worked out to where Veronica, who had her own business in South Florida, got a job with Strategic Wealth Designers, an independent financial planning firm that has an office in Louisville and recently opened another in Miami. Her son is independent, she said, but they spend plenty of time together.
“There's times that he just comes over and he'll do his homework at my house,” Veronica said. "He's grown. He's starting to do a lot more things on his own, which is great, but I think that helps to transition. I know a lot of parents can't do that, but it does definitely help.”
Gillotte will have plenty of opportunities for growth this season as an expected starter and key contributor to the Cardinals’ defense, which has more depth and returning experience than any other position on the team.
“I think he can be an explosive force,” Brohm said. “He's got a sneaky combination of speed and athleticism but also strength and power that can be used. I think we have some good pieces around him and actually have some depth around him as well that if they do their part and let him get more isolations one on one, I think he can be disruptive and do a great job.”
Being the new guy: Here's what ACC football coaches are saying about Louisville's Jeff Brohm
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football: Ashton Gillotte enters third season as leader
