One played in the NFL, the other did not.

Still, speaking of UL Ragin’ Cajuns head coach Mark Hudspeth, new UL defensive coordinator James Willis can’t help but sense some similarities between the two.

"We share the same passion, the same desire, the same will," said Willis, who was officially named to the post on Thursday.

All that, however, is not the only thing Willis — former Green Bay Packer, Philadelphia Eagle and Seattle Seahawk linebacker — and Hudspeth have in common.

They also seem to be like-minded when it comes to defensive philosophy.

Willis said he was "multiple" at Texas Tech, where he was defensive coordinator in 2010, using various looks dependant largely on what opponents were doing.

And that’s right up Hudspeth’s alley.

"Our philosophy, our concepts, are kind of unique," Willis said. "We do the same thing coverage-wise, same thing philosophy wise, but just changing the fronts every once in a while.

"Same coverages — but just changing the fronts, changing the looks, always being not-too-predictable. Very sound, very simple, but aggressive."

UL ran a 3-4 defense under Hudspeth and defensive coordinator Greg Stewart in 2011, and started 2012 the same way.

The Cajuns finished both seasons 9-4 with wins, over San Diego State and then East Carolina, in the New Orleans Bowl.

But Stewart’s defense yielded 524 yards in a 2012 mid-season loss to North Texas, followed one week later by a loss to eventual Sun Belt Conference-champion Arkansas State in which the Cajuns yielded 526 yards — both games on ESPN2 national cable television.

In all, UL allowed opponents 427.3 yards and 28.1 points per game last season — and the Cajun secondary, even with three senior starters in Melvin White, Jemarlous Moten and Rodney Gillis, ranked 112th and among 120 FBS teams in pass defense.

Hudspeth called the defense "absolutely inept" in the second half of the North Texas game.

He sounded off as well after the Arkansas State loss, saying "I didn’t think we particularly put our guys in great positions to be successful," and blasting Stewart for making "some poor adjustments after, to me, I over and over expressed that we had to do a better job setting the edge."

Hudspeth vowed then that "I’m gonna personally make those adjustments," and it wasn’t longer after that the Cajuns were running primarily a 4-3 defense.

Willis did run a lot of 3-4 during an 8-5 2010 season at Texas Tech.

But the Red Raiders yielded 456.3 yards and 30.9 points per game that season, and he’s not married to the scheme.

Hudspeth said late in the season that UL would install a 4-3 this spring — four down defensive linemen and three linebackers, as opposed to vice versa.

But what’s most important to him it that his defense is flexible enough to have multiple looks, with adjustments made both week-to-week and in-game.

"We will utilize a four-man front, and that was part of the conversation (with Willis)," Hudspeth said. "But we’re gonna be multiple. The thing we want to be is multiple. We don’t want to be a stagnant defense."

It’s with that in mind that Hudspeth hired Willis, who — among other stops — also coached linebackers at Auburn from 2006-08 and outside linebackers on Alabama’s undefeated 2009 national-championship team.

"We want to be very multiple," Hudspeth said, "and be able to use different personnel groupings, and also be multiple enough to where we have some players that are interchangeable on the field and not have to change personnel sometimes too."

Willis first interviewed with Hudspeth during an early January coaches convention at Nashville, even before Stewart’s firing became public.

He interviewed again later in Lafayette.

"I got even more excited when I got to campus and started to look at the players they have," Willis said. "I mean, I was amazed. Pleasantly amazed. I apologized to some of the players — but I didn’t believe, I couldn’t believe, that they had that good-looking of a team.

"Being around some programs before, a lot of these guys — just by the eyeball test — should be playing in the NFL.

"So it’s very impressive," he added, "to see you’ve got some guys to play with, some guys with good skills, speed. "» With the players they have on campus, and the signees they just got (last Wednesday was National Signing Day), they have players who really can play in the SEC right now."

But it’s not UL players Willis is buying into.

He’s already latched onto some of Hudspeth’s favorite catchphrases, too.

"I watched them play (on film) with a lot of fire, a lot of intensity, on defense," he said.

"They’ve already got things going the right way. I mean, they play hard, they play fast. They never let go of the rope."