Louisville Football Head Coach Scott Satterfield
December 5, 2018
(On what he did today)
“Another busy day today. I think seven radio shows today… got into the office and started to look at the roster, started looking at the recruiting board, trying to figure out what our needs are and what direction we need to go into also had discussions about staffing. The biggest thing we have to do right now is obviously recruiting and filling out a staff. The filling out a staff part can happen probably in the next couple of weeks and recruiting-wise, we really have probably a couple of weeks before the first signing period, but then obviously there’s the second signing period so we don’t have to fill out the class in this first signing period. We will sign some players in this first one. I think we’ll get some staff in here, hopefully maybe in the middle of next week and let them hit the ground running.”
(On whether he got any sleep last night and updates on who the defensive coordinator will be)
“For the first part of that question, I did get a little bit of sleep last night, not as much as I’d like but I did get a little bit, so that’s good to lay down. I think main thing with us defensively is we want to continue what we’ve been doing defensively the last six years. It’s been very effective. Looking at the stats over particularly the last four seasons. A top-25 defense in the country every year, one that will create turnovers. I think we were maybe one, two or three in interceptions in the last four seasons combined, and we obviously want to continue to do that. We‘re trying to win the turnover battle. I think for us the last three years, we’ve been one, two or three in the turnover margin. I think that gives you a great chance to win. Defensively, we’re probably doing the very same thing and we’ll fill out that staff. Hopefully middle of next week we’ll fill out that staff.
(How much game video will you look at to determine what you’ve got with this current Louisville group?)
“What I’ll probably do is just look at some cutups, meaning we’ll take some certain clips of guys and kind of see that. I don’t need to look at game video, per say. The games we can’t get back. Really to find out personnel, we can just look at individual tapes of those guys. Good, bad plays and kind of see their skill sets and kind of get a gauge on where we might want to put guys. Defensively, they’re a four-down defense, we’re going to the odd front so we have to find guys that can be edge pass rushers. Some guys that had their hand down, may have their hand up now. That’s just an example. Where guys may have been playing safety, they may come down and play nickel, those kinds of things right there. I think for us… we want to utilize a tight end. I think that’s going to be a big need in recruiting, to go out and find some tight ends after looking at the board. I think quarterback, tight end, both of those positions are a need. I think offensive line will be another need for us, and then linebackers. Those four positions we want to continue to find players. And not just players, we’re trying to find the right players, and that’s going to be our task for our staff once they get here.”
(On bringing anybody in from his previous staff?)
“Yeah, I do. We’ve been very successful there in the last four years, winning 40 football games. If you can coach football, you can coach football. I’m a firm believer in that. There’s probably some of your best coaches in the country right now at all levels, that are coaching high school ball. We’ll get some of those guys that are on our staff back at App and we’ll also go outside and get some guys that are doing some amazing things right now across the country. Hopefully, in the next week, week and a half, we’ll have most of the staff filled out and maybe a couple spots that will not be. But, most of them will be in the next few weeks.”
(On keeping any of the staff here at Louisville.)
“Right now, the staff here at Louisville, we’re looking at probably bringing most of the guys in from outside. I’ve talked to a few guys today that we’re talking to too see if there’s a need, if there’s a spot then we may keep some guys. Particularly in the off-the-field roles right now that are around the building. I think it’s good to have a few guys that understand what it was before and where we are going with it as we move forward. Just from the standpoint that they know personalities, they know abilities, and those kinds of things I can bounce ideas off of those guys that were here. Predominately we are going to be going from the outside.
(On the importance of the strength staff and if he is looking for someone who has more local connections)
“The strength staff is very important. They’re probably one of the more important hires I think you can make on a football team, because they’re with the players more than anybody. They’re seeing them every day when they come in the weight room whether it be either the training – where they’re coming in to heal their bodies, rolling them out, stretching and all that, so that’s going to be very important. And what we surround the guys with in the weight room. We want to have guys that fit our culture - what we’re trying to do here. Guys that will hold them accountable. So obviously there’s got to be some guys in there that we trust and that understand what we want.”
(On the current roster)
“I think we’ve got some good skill players. You look at wide receiver, there’s some guys out there that can make some things happen at wide receiver. I think we have a couple of good running backs that could certainly make some things happen. And I think in the secondary there are some good players. I haven’t really jumped into the full roster, watching film and all that as much as I would like and I will do as we move forward, but there’s certainly some guys that will be able to make plays for us. We have to find what’s the best position for them. Where can they really help, where can they excel at their abilities and their talents in order to make plays. So we may end up looking at guys at different positions and we’ll see that more so probably when we get them, working them out and we’re able to see them face-to-face.”
(On how he and his family were involved in the community at Appalachian State)
“Where I’m coming from is a pretty small community. We had probably 30,000 total people there. Really just hanging out. There’s not really a whole lot to do in Boone, actually. Particularly as I look around this town, there’s a lot to do here. Really there, the big thing to do is outdoors – go hiking and looking at nature and that kind of thing. We had some golf courses, we played some golf, but hanging out at church and the people there. Really it’s more just hanging out and eating dinner and talking I guess. There’s really not a whole lot to do there. What this city has to offer is incredible. The amount of things that you can go out and do and see and I think the people that come here… we’re looking forward to doing that and really immersing ourselves in this city and experience all that Louisville has to offer.”
(On whether the Louisville staff has been helping him)
“There’s Pete (Nochta) that’s been helping recruiting- he’s helped me today, just kind of going through the board and looking at what they’ve been doing recruiting wise and looking at their current roster, just kind of going over that. So really, I’m looking forward to getting some more help with the guys on the staff that we’re going to get in here next week. And we’ll start watching all those films of the players here and really try to get a good feel for what we have now.”
