LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Scott Satterfield was not an awful coach during his four-season run at the University of Louisville.
But he wasn’t a great one.
Satterfield didn’t have a string of embarrassing losses with the Cardinals. But it was embarrassing that he never grasped the importance of beating Kentucky.
Satterfield wasn’t as difficult, paranoid or controlling as several U of L football coaches who preceded him. But he was ham-handed in the way he pursued other coaching opportunities.
But after four seasons Satterfield demonstrated enough self-awareness to make the move many Cardinals’ fans hoped he would make — leaving for another job, clearing an opening for Jeff Brohm to return home from Purdue. Cha-ching! The U of L athletic department pocketed buyout money from the Bearcats for bonus points in the transaction.
In an age when many schools write massive checks to guys not to coach (See Petrino, Bobby; Allen, Tom; Fisher, Jimbo), Louisville making money on a deal to get the coach the program actually wanted was the most celebrated coaching transaction of the decade.
Today, as Brohm nears the start of his second season at U of L with the home opener Saturday against Austin Peay, Satterfield is also primed to begin Year Two in Cincinnati.
And, there is a gap in the questions surrounding Brohm (Can the Cards win 10 games again?) and the questions in Cincinnati (Is Scott Satterfield on the hot seat?)
The Future of Satterfield percolated into the national discussion this week following a pair of stories at The Athletic.
The first was the website’s College Football Hope-O-Meter. Consider it an unscientific reader survey in which more than 4,100 people were asked to identify their favorite teams and then vote if they were Optimistic or Pessimistic about the future of that program. (Story link, subscription required.)
Seven schools registered perfect 100% customer satisfaction scores (although The Athletic did not share how many fans voted for individual schools.
Several programs were predictable — Tennessee, Kansas and Ole Miss. Kansas State fans have reason to be happy, too. I was a bit surprised by the appearance of Oklahoma State and North Carolina State.
And Louisville posted the seventh 100% score.
Searching for local names, I found Indiana fans at 88% optimistic and Kentucky at 73%.
Then at the bottom of the 70 'power' conference schools I saw this:
Cincinnati — 27% optimistic, 73% pessimistic, just ahead of Pitt (28%); Purdue (37%) and Vanderbilt (38%).
The Bearcats and Satterfield earned the skepticism by delivering a last-place finish in the Big 12 last season, winning one of nine conference games.
Losing a non-conference game to Miami (Ohio) in Week Three started the slide. Twenty-point losses to Iowa State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Kansas accelerated it.
Satterfield responded by making two moves that nearly every coach makes when a program slides from 9-4 (under departed coach Luke Fickell) to 3-9.
He changed defensive coordinators. Bryan Brown, the guy many Louisville fans wanted gone on multiple occasions, now works for Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, not at Nippert Stadium.
Satterfield hired Tyson Veidt, promoting him from linebackers coach at Iowa State, in hopes the Bearcats can do better than allowing 403 yards rushing and 30 points per game.
The second biggest fix Satterfield made was a new quarterback. The Bearcats fetched Brendan Sorsby out of the portal from Indiana, seemingly seconds after the IU team bus returned from West Lafayette with a 35-31 loss to Purdue that sealed an uninspiring 3-9 season that cost IU $15 million to get rid of coach Allen.
Sorsby ranked eighth in the Big Ten in passing last season, completing 57% of his throws. He began the season as the starting quarterback, lost the job to Tayven Jackson and then eventually took control again because running for your life was the most important qualification to survive behind the Hoosiers’ offensive line.
Around Bloomington, there was talk of a big NIL package — and then new IU coach Curt Cignetti quickly moved forward and recruited a more acclaimed quarterback in Kurtis Rourke, the Mid-American Conference 2022 offensive player of the year from Ohio University.
Can Sorsby lead the Bearcats to finish better than 14th in the 16-team league, which is where Satterfield’s team was slotted at Big 12 Media Days?
The word is Sorsby has improved his training and strength (happens every August) and improved his ability to throw deep passes (stay tuned).
ESPN’s Football Power Index will need more evidence. It pegs the Bearcats at roughly 5 wins. The computer power formula at ProFootballFocus has Satterfield’s team at 5.2 wins, ranked 81st in the nation.
Last week, USA Today listed Satterfield No. 8 on its list of 10 coaches who will start this season on the hot seat, noting this:
“This conference is ripe for the picking, but it is tough to win when you aren't good in any aspect of the game. Then again, the school could be patient and wait until Jan. 1, 2026, to fire Satterfield so that the buyout wouldn't be as bad.”
Satterfield, for the record, appears to be unflappable. The Bearcats are finishing construction of a $134 million indoor practice and performance facility.
The schedule is dotted with winnable games, like Saturday’s opener against Towson State. The Bearcats do not have to play Utah, Oklahoma State or Arizona, three of the league’s five best teams.
“We’re building something, laying the foundation,” Satterfield told Justin Williams of The Athletic. “You’re going to see a big difference this year.”
We’ll be watching. Everybody will.
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