Scott Satterfield will reportedly make another impressive hire when NFL veteran and former NC State offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford joins the Louisville staff.
Dwayne Ledford, one of the best offensive line coaches in the country, is set to join the Louisville football staff according to Jody Demling of 247Sports.com.
Ledford will be Louisville’s third major hire, after Satterfield opted to bring on offensive coordinator Frank Ponce, and defensive coordinator Bryan Brown from his previous staff.
Expect Ledford to join the Louisville staff as the offensive line coach, and likely co-offensive coordinator.
Like we have been hearing at Cardinal Authority - N.C. State O-Line coach Dwayne Ledford likely headed to Louisville. A massive pickup for Scott Satterfield. https://t.co/RTj7KpCtt6
— Jody Demling (@jdemling) December 10, 2018
It can’t be understated how great of a hire Ledford is for the Cards. Over the course of the last three years, Ledford’s NC State squad has allowed less sacks than Louisville did just this year alone. It is safe to say that keeping the quarterback upright will be a strongsuit of this coaching staff. Appalachian State ranked 25th in the country in 2018 in sacks allowed, while NC State ranked 3rd. For comparison’s sake, Louisville ranked 128th.
If history is any indicator, Ledford could come in and make a major impact right away.
To tag onto this stat NC State allowed 39 sacks in 2015. They allowed 39 from 2016-2018.
— Keith Wynne (@Keith_Wynne) December 10, 2018
In his first year, Ledford's line improved their sacks allowed total by 22. https://t.co/9jzVv2jIEu
Prior to taking over as the NC State offensive line coach in 2016, Ledford was a well-traveled offensive lineman in the NFL. At the college level, he was the offensive line coach at East Carolina, Tennessee State, Gardner Webb, and Appalachian State, before becoming the OL coach and co-offensive coordinator at App State from 2013-2015.
Louisville fans can attest to how stingy his offensive lines were, as the Cards had some serious trouble getting into the Wolfpack backfield for the last three years.
As always, if you want to gauge how solid of a coaching hire your team is making, you can see what the fan bases of the teams he previously coached for have to say.
For instance:
Or this…
Lonnie Galloway was a scandalous disaster of an assistant for Louisville. Drops never went away, WRs as a group perpetually underachieved, and he wasn’t a factor in recruiting. https://t.co/A0noQ7LX3u
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) December 8, 2018
Fans and local media will give you their honest opinion when an assistant leaves for another position. So it is really encouraging when you see stuff like this:
— Big Red Louie (@TheBigRedLouie) December 10, 2018
or this…
Over the last three years, @Coach_Ledford has helped develop:
— Pack Pride (@PackPride) December 10, 2018
-- Garrett Bradbury, Rimington Trophy winner, Walter Camp All-American
-- Tyler Jones, 1st Team All-ACC
-- Terronne Prescod, PFF All-American
-- Will Richardson, 2nd Team All-ACC
-- Tony Adams, 2nd Team All-ACC
This too!
If Louisville hires Dwayne Ledford as reported by @jdemling and @FootballScoop then count me as a guy who believes Tyra made a great hire in Scott Satterfield.
— Dave Lackford, Esq. (@DaveLackfordESQ) December 10, 2018
By all accounts, Ledford is an outstanding hire. He checks all of the boxes, including on the recruiting side of things. Ledford finds the guys he wants, and molds them into great linemen. If you take a look at players who committed to him from his time at NC State, you’ll notice that he was landing some top-notch in-state talent. Ledford may have to go out of state to beef up Louisville’s offensive front this season, but going forward, it is awesome to see another guy who locks down recruits in his area.
It appears the Cards have made a tremendous hire once again. Now Scott Satterfield will look to piece together the rest of Louisville’s staff and continue to get recruiting momentum rolling in the right direction.