With Tyra having wrapped up a day of interviews on radio as well as a press conference this evening with the different TV stations, I wanted to drop by an update on where things stand, timelines that have been given, etc. all in one update as well as some interesting pieces of information I have heard.
1. Who is Tyra considering right now?
From his press conference this evening, Tyra said he is down to around 5 or 6 names on the coaching list. As I reported earlier, Neal Brown is out of consideration and I believe 1 or 2 of these names are newer developments. Of the others guys in consideration I think it is safe to say that Satterfield, Fickell, Norvell, and Day are in the mix. This morning Tyra mentioned he is leaning towards an offensive minded head coach so I believe that would put Fickell down toward the bottom of the list. As it currently stands I believe things are 1. Satterfield 2. Day 3. Norvell of the known names.
2. Timeframe and why that is a problem
Vince Tyra put it out there that he was hoping to wrap up the coaching search by sometime next week which really isn't that much longer. I think one of the major holdups is that the top 3 candidates I listed are all scheduled to play in games Saturday. With it being late on Monday and no news coming until Friday at the earliest, I just can't see an announcement being made the day before their game. That wouldn't be fair at all to whoever the interim coach is and puts the entire team in a bad position. The problem is that the early signing period starts December 19th and so the window to recruit kids to possibly sign then is closing rapidly. I spoke to one person who indicated that felt Louisville's current commitments as a whole were subpar and said whoever the new staff is would need as much time as possible to try to salvage this class. There is also an issue because there are several assistant coaches out there that have offers elsewhere who could potentially be excellent for the Louisville staff, but again, as the coaching search drags on the window is very rapidly closing. Ideally the announcement will need to come in the next few days for these reasons so time is very much of the essence.
3. What I've heard on Scott Satterfield
I don't have an agenda to pass along to promote one coach over another, I can promise you that. It's not my job to sell any of you on any particular candidate so I won't do that. Instead, I just wanted to pass along some things I heard on what could be Louisville's top coaching candidate, Appalachian State's Scott Satterfield. For one I have heard multiple reports of the quality of individual both on the field and off the field. I think with Chris Mack now as Louisville's basketball coach, someone who can show there is a human behind the football coach would not only be extremely refreshing, it is almost needed. Another theme that I've heard multiple times is how disciplined of a program Satterfield runs. In the post-Petrino era, this is an absolute MUST. I was told that Satterfield is by far Louisville's best option, that he is an amazing coach, and that the players will love him. Normally I wouldn't be too overly concerned with the players will love him part, but again, I think Petrino was so anti that sentiment that I think it is absolutely needed to get buy-in. What about a comparison? Well, I was told by someone who I greatly trust that Satterfield is the next Urban Meyer (obviously without the issues off the field). Again, I just wanted to pass these things along to you as we weed through the various candidates and work towards this football program taking a step in the right direction.
