Excerpted from Chris Vannini at The Athletic:
Louisville needs a new head coach after Scott Satterfield accepted the Cincinnati head coaching job on Monday.
The move caps a dramatic few months for Louisville. After a 2-3 start to this season, Satterfield appeared to be on the verge of getting fired. But the Cardinals rallied to win five of their next six and reach the Top 25 before a loss to Kentucky ended their regular season at 7-5. Now, Satterfield’s out on his own terms. Coincidentally, Louisville and Cincinnati will play each other in the Fenway Bowl on Dec. 17.
Satterfield went 25-24 in four seasons at Louisville. The Cards were 8-5 in his first season, followed by two losing seasons and this 7-5 record.
After his second season, Satterfield interviewed for the South Carolina job. When the news got out, Satterfield apologized to fans and said he would work to gain back their trust. It never really happened. A strong recruiting effort leading into the 2022 season appeared to give him some stability, until the 2-3 start. Though he wasn’t fired, he would’ve gone into 2023 on the hot seat.
So how good is the Louisville job? What names could get in the mix? Here are some factors to keep in mind.
The program has been wildly inconsistent recently, but potential is there
From the end of the second Bobby Petrino era to the beginning of Satterfield, Louisville went from 8-5 to 2-10 to 8-5 to 4-7. The highs can be high: a 23-3 record from 2012 to 2013 and Lamar Jackson winning the Heisman Trophy in 2016. And the lows can be very low: an 0-8 ACC record in 2018.
In an ACC lacking great teams, there’s no reason Louisville shouldn’t regularly be in the upper half of the league. The program has a good eye for quarterbacks, from Teddy Bridgewater to Jackson to Malik Cunningham.
From 1998 to 2017, the Cards reached 17 bowl games in 20 years and won at least nine games 10 times. This is a winning program with the ability to get near the upper tier. But Satterfield had only one winning season in conference play over four years.
There is a lot of investment in the program, from facilities to recruiting to NIL
This may be a basketball school to some people, but Louisville has put money into football. Cardinal Stadium opened in 1998 and has had a few renovations, including an overhaul to the Howard Schnellenberger Football Complex in 2018. That upgrade featured an additional 100,000 square feet, doubling the size of the weight room and conditioning center, plus more amenities.
Under Satterfield, Louisville’s recruiting investment and attraction work improved, as The Athletic’s Ari Wasserman noted in June, and it paid off. A class that ranked in the top 10 before the season was still in the top 20 before Satterfield’s departure. Five-star running back Rueben Owens, who committed in June, would be the program’s highest-rated signee since Michael Bush in 2003 — if the next coach can hold onto him.
The 502 Circle collective launched in June for boosters and fans to help the program, and the school created an NIL marketplace in early September as well. Technically speaking, NIL cannot be used for recruiting, but Louisville’s recruiting improvement coming alongside NIL investment is likely not a coincidence. From top to bottom, this program has a good amount of financial support.
Is Power 5 experience a requirement?
Satterfield had never coached at the Power 5 level before Louisville, and nearly all of his career had been at an Appalachian State program that has won for a long time. Head coaching experience is one thing, but experience at big programs with big boosters and high-level recruiting is another.
After the frustrating run with Satterfield, who was hired by Vince Tyra, does current athletic director Josh Heird want someone with top-level experience? Looking at Louisville’s recent basketball search, Heird went with Kenny Payne, who was an NBA assistant with more than a decade of experience at Kentucky with John Calipari.
Whether it’s the head coach or an assistant, the next staff should have connections in Florida, where Louisville has recruited well over the years.
Does Louisville want another offensive head coach?
Over the past 20 years, Louisville has almost exclusively had offensive-minded head coaches: Bobby Petrino, Steve Kragthorpe, Petrino again and Scott Satterfield. Charlie Strong is the only exception. It’s a program often synonymous with offense and those aforementioned quarterbacks.
So what names could get in the mix?
This list has to start with Jeff Brohm. The Louisville native and former UL player and assistant coach turned down this job the last time it opened in 2018 and received a big contract from Purdue. But things may have changed since then. Most notably, comments from Brohm while in town at a high school alumni event in the spring, telling the group, “To be quite honest, through my schooling and how I was raised, I believe in at least trying to do the right thing and having morals and values. It just was too early to leave (Purdue). It just wasn’t right. … But, obviously, now we’re on year six. I love this town, this area. I’m an alumnus of Louisville. So anything can happen in the future.”
Was that just playing to the crowd or a real desire to come home? Brohm is 36-34 at Purdue, and he just won the school’s first Big Ten West division title. Under Brohm, the Boilers have had some surprising losses but also have two top-five wins. Brohm has a good track record with quarterbacks and offense, and there are a lot of people at Louisville who want to bring him back. It’s also worth noting that one month before those comments about Louisville, Brohm signed a two-year extension through 2027, a move pushed by Brohm and his agent. He makes more than $5 million annually, and it would likely cost a few million to get out of the deal. Given the growing resources in the Big Ten, would Brohm be willing to leave that to go home?
7 names behind paywall:
Liam Coen
Brad White
Matt House
Bryan Brown
Bill O'Brien
Dave Ragone
Jesse Minter
Louisville needs a new head coach after Scott Satterfield accepted the Cincinnati head coaching job on Monday.
The move caps a dramatic few months for Louisville. After a 2-3 start to this season, Satterfield appeared to be on the verge of getting fired. But the Cardinals rallied to win five of their next six and reach the Top 25 before a loss to Kentucky ended their regular season at 7-5. Now, Satterfield’s out on his own terms. Coincidentally, Louisville and Cincinnati will play each other in the Fenway Bowl on Dec. 17.
Satterfield went 25-24 in four seasons at Louisville. The Cards were 8-5 in his first season, followed by two losing seasons and this 7-5 record.
After his second season, Satterfield interviewed for the South Carolina job. When the news got out, Satterfield apologized to fans and said he would work to gain back their trust. It never really happened. A strong recruiting effort leading into the 2022 season appeared to give him some stability, until the 2-3 start. Though he wasn’t fired, he would’ve gone into 2023 on the hot seat.
So how good is the Louisville job? What names could get in the mix? Here are some factors to keep in mind.
The program has been wildly inconsistent recently, but potential is there
From the end of the second Bobby Petrino era to the beginning of Satterfield, Louisville went from 8-5 to 2-10 to 8-5 to 4-7. The highs can be high: a 23-3 record from 2012 to 2013 and Lamar Jackson winning the Heisman Trophy in 2016. And the lows can be very low: an 0-8 ACC record in 2018.
In an ACC lacking great teams, there’s no reason Louisville shouldn’t regularly be in the upper half of the league. The program has a good eye for quarterbacks, from Teddy Bridgewater to Jackson to Malik Cunningham.
From 1998 to 2017, the Cards reached 17 bowl games in 20 years and won at least nine games 10 times. This is a winning program with the ability to get near the upper tier. But Satterfield had only one winning season in conference play over four years.
There is a lot of investment in the program, from facilities to recruiting to NIL
This may be a basketball school to some people, but Louisville has put money into football. Cardinal Stadium opened in 1998 and has had a few renovations, including an overhaul to the Howard Schnellenberger Football Complex in 2018. That upgrade featured an additional 100,000 square feet, doubling the size of the weight room and conditioning center, plus more amenities.
Under Satterfield, Louisville’s recruiting investment and attraction work improved, as The Athletic’s Ari Wasserman noted in June, and it paid off. A class that ranked in the top 10 before the season was still in the top 20 before Satterfield’s departure. Five-star running back Rueben Owens, who committed in June, would be the program’s highest-rated signee since Michael Bush in 2003 — if the next coach can hold onto him.
The 502 Circle collective launched in June for boosters and fans to help the program, and the school created an NIL marketplace in early September as well. Technically speaking, NIL cannot be used for recruiting, but Louisville’s recruiting improvement coming alongside NIL investment is likely not a coincidence. From top to bottom, this program has a good amount of financial support.
Is Power 5 experience a requirement?
Satterfield had never coached at the Power 5 level before Louisville, and nearly all of his career had been at an Appalachian State program that has won for a long time. Head coaching experience is one thing, but experience at big programs with big boosters and high-level recruiting is another.
After the frustrating run with Satterfield, who was hired by Vince Tyra, does current athletic director Josh Heird want someone with top-level experience? Looking at Louisville’s recent basketball search, Heird went with Kenny Payne, who was an NBA assistant with more than a decade of experience at Kentucky with John Calipari.
Whether it’s the head coach or an assistant, the next staff should have connections in Florida, where Louisville has recruited well over the years.
Does Louisville want another offensive head coach?
Over the past 20 years, Louisville has almost exclusively had offensive-minded head coaches: Bobby Petrino, Steve Kragthorpe, Petrino again and Scott Satterfield. Charlie Strong is the only exception. It’s a program often synonymous with offense and those aforementioned quarterbacks.
So what names could get in the mix?
This list has to start with Jeff Brohm. The Louisville native and former UL player and assistant coach turned down this job the last time it opened in 2018 and received a big contract from Purdue. But things may have changed since then. Most notably, comments from Brohm while in town at a high school alumni event in the spring, telling the group, “To be quite honest, through my schooling and how I was raised, I believe in at least trying to do the right thing and having morals and values. It just was too early to leave (Purdue). It just wasn’t right. … But, obviously, now we’re on year six. I love this town, this area. I’m an alumnus of Louisville. So anything can happen in the future.”
Was that just playing to the crowd or a real desire to come home? Brohm is 36-34 at Purdue, and he just won the school’s first Big Ten West division title. Under Brohm, the Boilers have had some surprising losses but also have two top-five wins. Brohm has a good track record with quarterbacks and offense, and there are a lot of people at Louisville who want to bring him back. It’s also worth noting that one month before those comments about Louisville, Brohm signed a two-year extension through 2027, a move pushed by Brohm and his agent. He makes more than $5 million annually, and it would likely cost a few million to get out of the deal. Given the growing resources in the Big Ten, would Brohm be willing to leave that to go home?
7 names behind paywall:
Liam Coen
Brad White
Matt House
Bryan Brown
Bill O'Brien
Dave Ragone
Jesse Minter
Louisville job profile after Satterfield: Pluses, minuses, candidates
The program has been wildly inconsistent, but potential is there for the coach who comes in after Satterfield's surprising jump to Cincy.
theathletic.com
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