LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A year ago, the University of Louisville football team, like everyone else, opened football practice in a lonely place. The team was brought back to campus in stages. No fans were allowed for even a single session. Uncertainty abounded. They wore medical masks under their facemasks, and many players hadn't seen each other since leaving practice after COVID-19 pulled the plug on spring football.
So it was, in a way, something of a victory just to step back onto the field for the first day of fall camp on Sunday, with fans lining much of one side of the program's outdoor training complex.
Third-year coach Scott Satterfield didn't take it for granted.
"It was awesome to be able to see people at the practice there," he said. "It felt normal. It felt like before the pandemic, it really did, out there on the field. Our guys have been putting in a lot of great work really since we got back in January, and to be back here in practice, what a great feeling. I love this sport of football, started when I was 7 years old, and to be able to come out here in the fall and start camp and practice, it's awesome."
This was my 20th year of covering the start of Louisville football camp, and the biggest lesson I've learned is this: You don't learn much on Day 1.
Don't believe anything you see until the pads go on. The best thing you can do is judge demeanor. Malik Cunningham moving around the field like he owns the place is a good sign.
"I thought he looked like he had a lot of confidence out there," Satterfield said. "He felt very comfortable in what he was trying to do, distributing the football. I thought he made great decisions today. Maybe one or two times where I though on an RPO (run-pass option) he could've thrown the ball but he didn't. But shoot, one of our early drills he takes it 60 for a touchdown and said, 'Man I haven't run that far in a long time.' He's got that skill set to be able to score. It's fun to see him out there. And he's running the show. And that leadership part for him has really, really gained throughout the last six months."
The practice was the first of the fall for four new coaches, and more than 40 newcomers to the program overall. Both are career-highs for Satterfield. But he said the infusion of new staffers has helped bring energy to coaching meetings, not to mention new ideas.
And newcomers are a fact of life in college football, even if there usually aren't quite this many.
"A lot of guys," he said. "To me, that's one of the things that stood out. We've got 116 guys that participated today in camp. That's a lot of bodies, a lot of newcomers being out here at practice for the first time. So it's a lot of new faces for us to learn. But it was fun, and again, we have a long way to go, but after the first day I'm very encouraged by what we saw. We've got a young football team this year. I looked at the roster, with some guys getting that year back and so on and so forth, we have I think 80 freshmen as you think about it -- 116 (players) and 80 freshmen, walk-on and scholarship. So if you look at it that way, it's the most freshmen I've ever had on a team. But I do feel like we've got a lot of experienced players, though. There's a lot of guys that have played a lot of football. So that part, you know, is kind of a little bit different."
I'm not sure about Satterfield's math, but he does have a lot of new blood to work in. But he also has an advantage he didn't have a year ago. His team has been able to stay together, to work out in small groups, to be in the weight room together, and to build the kind of chemistry Satterfield hopes will pay off in close games and when adversity strikes.
"I just think we're a tighter bunch," he said. "I think the guys, so many things throughout this spring and summer that brought them together. Accountability. I mentioned this. We love a player-led team. But the accountability they have to each other is different. And that's a different feeling. We felt it when we first got back in January, and that's carried on throughout this whole semester, and we've got to continue it on throughout camp. And I think where that comes into play is when you face adversity, I think you're able to get through it because your guys care about each other and are going to help bring each other through that."
Expectations outside the program aren't high. The team was picked to finish sixth in the ACC's Atlantic Division. Satterfield said he's not concerned about that.
"I don't pay attention to it," he said. "You're picked wherever you're picked. I've been on teams picked first and teams that were picked last. Our first year we were picked last. So, it really doesn't matter. Where you pick teams is where they were the year before. If you won a bunch of games, you're going to be picked high. If you didn't win many games, you're going to be picked low. It's just the way it works. You want to be there at the end. How much work we put into it today and tomorrow and so on. It's all about the preparation, when we get to the game on that Monday night in Atlanta, we'll know how much preparation we put in and how well we were prepared to go into that game. So, I don't worry about preseason stuff."
Especially not after Practice No. 1.
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