LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It was an arranged marriage from the start, and if the parties liked each other well enough, it nonetheless never was true love. Scott Satterfield was the safety coach, Door No. 2 (at best), the back-up plan after Jeff Brohm passed on coming home to Louisville four years ago.
He never seemed quite at home, nor did Louisville ever seem quite at home with him. On Monday, Satterfield announced a move to the University of Cincinnati, where he likely will feel no more at home but will have a spacious six-year contract, as opposed to the two remaining years he had on a deal with Louisville, which seemed reluctant to extend the terms further.
"We're grateful to Scott for his dedication to our program and wish him well," Louisville athletics director Josh Heird said in a written statement Monday morning. "We are always prepared to conduct head coaching searches, and we will begin a national search immediately to identify our next head coach. We will be looking for a tremendous leader who recognizes both the history and potential of Louisville Football and is committed long-term to helping the program reach new heights."
Now, if someone could get Brohm on Line 1 for the man.
Satterfield finished his Louisville tenure with a record of 25-24. He went 0-3 against Kentucky and never came within single digits. He went 0-2 against Clemson.
He did well to revive a program that crashed and burned in a 2-10 season that saw the dismissal of veteran coach Bobby Petrino, who checked out well before season's end. But in the end, Satterfield's accomplishments did little to excite a fan base that had been close to the mountaintop after watching a Heisman Trophy winner in Lamar Jackson and victories in the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl.
Satterfied rankled many Louisville fans in late-2000 when he spoke with South Carolina about its open coaching position after the season. Burned by coaches looking elsewhere so many times in the past, it was the wrong time to look at a lateral move.
Still, Satterfield's teams at Louisville played hard and remained engaged, even amid adversity. And Satterfield was an even presence. He endured the 2021 loss to Kentucky just hours after learning of the death of his father. He said nothing to anyone, not even in his postgame news conference.
But the talent level required to lift Louisville into the upper levels of the ACC just wasn't present, and his recruiting classes did little to change that.
Louisville had become a place that routinely sent quality prospects into the NFL Draft and in big numbers. But that pipeline dried up in recent years. Louisville sent Jaire Alexander and Jackson into the draft in 2018, and Petrino recruits Mekhi Becton, Tutu Atwell and Dez Fitzpatrick were taken in the past two drafts, but Satterfield's additions have yet to make their mark.
Satterfield also failed to recruit Louisville's quarterback of tomorrow, despite spending four years on campus.
He does have a verbal commitment from Pierce Clarkson out of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. He's the centerpiece of what could be the highest-rated recruiting class Louisville has ever landed, if it were to stay intact. The class, which includes Ruben Owens, one of the nation's top prep running backs out of Texas, is ranked No. 19 in the composite by 247Sports.
Reaction from players, former and current, was curious.
Xavier Abdullah, the father of All-ACC linebacker Yasir Abdullah, Tweeted, "Don't even have the guts to meet with the players in person. Zoom call?!"
Others reacted with surprise to the news, which broke out of Cincinnati just after 8 a.m. Monday.
"Oh wow," tight end Isaac Martin Tweeted, followed by a face-palm emoji. Current running back Jawhar Jordan echoed, "Wow."
Former players had thoughts.
James Quick Tweeted, simply, "Sheesh."
Another former wideout, Dez Fitzpatrick, now with the Tennessee Titans, was more outspoken. To a Tweet announcing the news, he replied, "Thank God." In a later post, he said, "When the South Carolina job rumors were floating around, he MADE US tweet about how well he was treating us good, but wouldn't tell his players that he was leaving in person! He was NEVER honest with us!"
There are bound to be hard feelings after any coaching departure, and in today's media environment, there is seldom an elegant way to exit. Some of Satterfield's own assistants reportedly were surprised when they got word about the impending move.
I believe Satterfield is a good man and a good coach. He also wasn't completely embraced here for reasons not entirely of his making. But in the end, this is a program that has experienced more and expected more than the best moments he was able to achieve, even after breathing life back into a roster that had been beaten down by the program's toughest season in a couple of decades.
He leaves, in many ways, the way he came in, with the eyes and heart of the Louisville fan base set on someone else.
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He never seemed quite at home, nor did Louisville ever seem quite at home with him. On Monday, Satterfield announced a move to the University of Cincinnati, where he likely will feel no more at home but will have a spacious six-year contract, as opposed to the two remaining years he had on a deal with Louisville, which seemed reluctant to extend the terms further.
"We're grateful to Scott for his dedication to our program and wish him well," Louisville athletics director Josh Heird said in a written statement Monday morning. "We are always prepared to conduct head coaching searches, and we will begin a national search immediately to identify our next head coach. We will be looking for a tremendous leader who recognizes both the history and potential of Louisville Football and is committed long-term to helping the program reach new heights."
Now, if someone could get Brohm on Line 1 for the man.
Satterfield finished his Louisville tenure with a record of 25-24. He went 0-3 against Kentucky and never came within single digits. He went 0-2 against Clemson.
He did well to revive a program that crashed and burned in a 2-10 season that saw the dismissal of veteran coach Bobby Petrino, who checked out well before season's end. But in the end, Satterfield's accomplishments did little to excite a fan base that had been close to the mountaintop after watching a Heisman Trophy winner in Lamar Jackson and victories in the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl.
Satterfied rankled many Louisville fans in late-2000 when he spoke with South Carolina about its open coaching position after the season. Burned by coaches looking elsewhere so many times in the past, it was the wrong time to look at a lateral move.
Still, Satterfield's teams at Louisville played hard and remained engaged, even amid adversity. And Satterfield was an even presence. He endured the 2021 loss to Kentucky just hours after learning of the death of his father. He said nothing to anyone, not even in his postgame news conference.
But the talent level required to lift Louisville into the upper levels of the ACC just wasn't present, and his recruiting classes did little to change that.
Louisville had become a place that routinely sent quality prospects into the NFL Draft and in big numbers. But that pipeline dried up in recent years. Louisville sent Jaire Alexander and Jackson into the draft in 2018, and Petrino recruits Mekhi Becton, Tutu Atwell and Dez Fitzpatrick were taken in the past two drafts, but Satterfield's additions have yet to make their mark.
Satterfield also failed to recruit Louisville's quarterback of tomorrow, despite spending four years on campus.
He does have a verbal commitment from Pierce Clarkson out of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. He's the centerpiece of what could be the highest-rated recruiting class Louisville has ever landed, if it were to stay intact. The class, which includes Ruben Owens, one of the nation's top prep running backs out of Texas, is ranked No. 19 in the composite by 247Sports.
Reaction from players, former and current, was curious.
Xavier Abdullah, the father of All-ACC linebacker Yasir Abdullah, Tweeted, "Don't even have the guts to meet with the players in person. Zoom call?!"
Others reacted with surprise to the news, which broke out of Cincinnati just after 8 a.m. Monday.
"Oh wow," tight end Isaac Martin Tweeted, followed by a face-palm emoji. Current running back Jawhar Jordan echoed, "Wow."
Former players had thoughts.
James Quick Tweeted, simply, "Sheesh."
Another former wideout, Dez Fitzpatrick, now with the Tennessee Titans, was more outspoken. To a Tweet announcing the news, he replied, "Thank God." In a later post, he said, "When the South Carolina job rumors were floating around, he MADE US tweet about how well he was treating us good, but wouldn't tell his players that he was leaving in person! He was NEVER honest with us!"
There are bound to be hard feelings after any coaching departure, and in today's media environment, there is seldom an elegant way to exit. Some of Satterfield's own assistants reportedly were surprised when they got word about the impending move.
I believe Satterfield is a good man and a good coach. He also wasn't completely embraced here for reasons not entirely of his making. But in the end, this is a program that has experienced more and expected more than the best moments he was able to achieve, even after breathing life back into a roster that had been beaten down by the program's toughest season in a couple of decades.
He leaves, in many ways, the way he came in, with the eyes and heart of the Louisville fan base set on someone else.
CRAWFORD | The arranged marriage between Satterfield and Louisville ends the way it began
It was an arranged marriage from the start.
