Louisville football: Live National Signing Day Tracker

National Signing Day is finally here and Louisville football will look to to close out the 2019 recruiting cycle on a high note.

It’s been quite a ride for Louisville football over the last 12 months, since the last National Signing Day has come and gone. There’s a new coach in Scott Satterfield, who left Appalachian State as one of the programs most successful coaches in history to take over a Louisville team that had been desolated by the cancer that was Bobby Petrino.

After putting together an average class at best before his firing, the new coaching staff came into Louisville with just two commits ready to sign in the early signing period and only about two weeks to begin targeting new players.

Here we are two months later and today should be a turning point for the Scott Satterfield era. With four three star players signed, three of which are already on campus, two graduate transfers in the fold – who should provide immediate help at positions of need, six committed players ready to sign today and plenty more with the potential to choose the Cards, today should be interesting to say the least.

As we’ve done for the Early Signing Period in football and basketball, we will provide LIVE updates and analysis throughout the day on news as it breaks for Louisville football. It’s already been a busy morning, so let’s get started.

7:20 AM – Three star linebacker Allen Smith has officially signed his letter of intent and will be a Cardinal this fall. Smith was the first player to commit after the Early Signing Period and his official visit to campus.

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Smith joins Dorian Jones as linebackers to sign with Louisville and is a guy who could have a solid impact right away for Bryan Brown & Cort Dennison’s defense. According to 247 Sports, Smith is ranked as the 1059th best player in the country and the 73rd best outside linebacker.

7:25 – BOOOOM! We have our first commitment of the day as composite four star defensive end Ja’Darien Boykin has committed and signed to the Cards, and Scott Satterfield officially has his headliner in the class of 2019.

We’ve been expecting a commitment from Boykin now for about two weeks as he’s been forecasted 100% to Louisville since his official visit in late January. Boykin is the best player to commit to the Cards up until this point and is a guy who without question will have a chance for immediate playing time on the defensive line as an edge rusher.

Boykin is rated by 247 Sports as the 318th best player in the country and the 19th best defensive end. As the Card Chronicle’s Keith Wynne pointed out on Twitter this morning, it took Bobby Petrino two recruiting cycles to land his first composite four star player. To say this is a big win is an understatement.

7:45: The third signee of the day is in as 3 star OT/DT Joshua Black out of Stone Mountain, Georgia has put pen to paper this morning.

Black had been committed to play for Georgia Tech right up until his commitment to the Cards two weeks ago after his official visit. Black is an extremely versatile player who has the potential to play on either the offensive or defensive line. Rivals has his him listed as a DT, while 247 Sports lists him as an OT.

I would imagine it’s likely that Black will play on the offensive line, but I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a guess. As mentioned, Black was originally committed to play for Paul Johnson in the triple option scheme as an offensive lineman, which means to me that he is an extremely quick lineman who has the ability to pull and get up field to the second level of blocks.

With Satterfield bringing a run heavy offense to the Ville, landing a lineman like Black is crucial. Another big get for the Cards.

8:00: Louisville has officially signed their fourth player of the day as Westlake, Ohio center Jackson Gregory has gotten his Letter of Intent into the team.

Gregory literally came out of nowhere just a few weeks back, literally not even having a recruiting profile until he made his commitment to the Ville. While that might worry some fans who caught up in numbers and rankings, don’t let it. As we’ve talked about for weeks Louisville had to target very specific players for this class due to the low number of scholarships. For the Cards to bring in a kid like Gregory with that in mind, should show you that he was vastly underrated.

After committing to Louisville, Gregory jumped up the ratings officially becoming a three star player. He is a big physical and athletic mauler who will be the perfect fit at center for Scott Satterfield and new offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford. With the addition of TJ McCoy, a graduate transfer from Florida, it’s likely that Gregory takes a redshirt his freshman year barring injury.

That is yet to be determined and we probably won’t know until the season.

Gregory is Louisville’s third offensive lineman in the class of 2019, joining TJ McCoy and early signee Zach Williamson.

8:15 – Louisville has picked up another big commitment this morning from running back Jalen Mitchell out of Rockledge, Georgia. The Cards previous staff had been working on Jalen Mitchell early in the 2019 class but really fell off after the commitment of Aidan Robbins.

Satterfield and his staff had also been recruiting Mitchell at Appalachian State and rekindled the relationship with Mitchell and had him in for a visit this past week and it was enough to get the speedy back to commit and sign with the Cards.

Mitchell is a 5’11, 200 home run hitter with offers from Central Florida, Colorado State, Toledo, Kentucky, Purdue, Virginia Tech amongst others. I didn’t expect Louisville to take another running back in the class with Aidan Robbins already signing and with Hassan Hall, Colin Wilson, Tobias Little, Javian Hawkins, Dae Williams, and Tobias Little already on campus.

But Satterfield loves to have a plethora of running backs who bring speed and power to the table, and that’s exactly what Mitchell will bring. He is rated by 247 Sports as the 1,071st best player in the class and the 73rd best running back in the country.

9:15 AM – Louisville got a jump start on National Signing Day yesterday, picking up a commitment from athletic playmaker Dez Melton out of Glendale, AZ. Melton was a guy that the staff jumped on late after originally targeting Brett Seither and Tyler Devera to fill the void at the tight end position, but ultimately I believe the Cards got the perfect guy.

Melton is 6’5, 205 pound athlete who played running back and a little wide receiver at the high school level but will play tight end for Scott Satterfield and Louisville.

Melton is the second tight end of the 2019 class, joining Vanderbilt graduate transfer Ean Pfeifer, who will be eligible to play right away. Melton is listed as the 147th best “athlete” in the country by 247 Sports and the 33rd best player out of the state of Arizona.

9:20 – Louisville looked to be in a good position to land dynamic four star running back, Jamious Griffin, who announced he would be committing and signing these morning – choosing between Georgia Tech, Auburn, NC State, and Louisville.

After Jalen Mitchell announced his decision to sign with Louisville this morning, you knew it might Jamious Griffin was no longer an option for the Ville.

Now we know Griffin has signed with Georgia Tech to play for new head coach Geoff Collins. This is a huge get for the Yellow Jackets.

9:25 – The Cards got another official signee in this morning as Vanderbilt graduate transfer Ean Pfeifer signed his LOI.

Pfeifer has an interesting story and will be a fun player to watch this season. After originally playing offensive guard/tackle at Vanderbilt, Pfeifer chose to sit out this past season with the intent to graduate, transfer, and move positions. The 6’4, 285 pound transfer will play tight end for Scott  Satterfield and Stu Holt this upcoming season in his one and only year eligible for the Cards.

The former three star recruit is now the second tight end of the day to sign with Louisville, joining Dez Melton, and will join RS senior Jordan Davis on the depth chart.

10:15– Louisville officially lands their 2nd graduate transfer piece in stud center TJ McCoy from Florida. The former Gator was a beast as the anchor up front this past season.

McCoy began his career at NC State in 2015 before joining the Gators in the summer of that season. As a redshirt freshman in 2016, he got the opportunity to play with 4 games remaining, and he never relinquished his duties at center until a season-ending injury put him out in Florida’s 9th game of his sophomore season.

After a redshirt junior year battling injuries, McCoy made the decision to transfer for his final year. He will join his former coach at NC State, Dwayne Ledford. He figures to be close to a lock to start this season for the Cards. Huge pick up!

10:30– Keep adding that beef to the offensive line trenches. The Cards have now signed Renato Brown, a 6’3,” 310 pound offensive guard from West Palm Beach, Florida.

Dwayne Ledford speaks about how he wants guys who are super physical in the trenches and aren’t afraid to “finish” plays.

Brown brings exactly what Ledford and company are looking for. He may not be an instant impact guy, but he is certainly going to help the new staff build the foundation of the program.

11:30– The Cards have signed two more guys that project to play on the defensive side of the ball.

Monty Montgomery is an undersized JUCO linebacker, but he is an absolute dog. He is a do-it-all type of player who may be able to help the Cards right away. He is in a similar mold to a Yasir Abdullah in that he is lightning quick, but can lay the wood. He is rated as the number 12 JUCO linebacker in the country, but Louisville’s staff sees him as a future stud for the Cards.

“Monty Mongomery is a PLAY. MAKER.”

Jamel Starks is a versatile athlete who is projected to play in the secondary for the Cards.

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Starks, a solid 3 star out of Georgia, spurned offers from Nebraska and NC State among others to sign with the Vile. Bryan Brown recruited him hard at Appalachian State, but Starks is the perfect example of a guy that may be a little too highly rated to play for the Mountaineers, but is a perfect fit at Louisville.

3:50 PM – The Cards saved arguably one of their biggest signee for last as Zach Edwards, a 3 star defensive end out of Starkville, MS announced his commitment to the Cards and made it official by signing his letter of intent.

Funny enough – Edwards commitment graphic was featured on a slideshow that was displayed at the Louisville football signing day party before he announced his decision, thus spilling the beans.

Louisville is getting a real deal playmaker who has offers from several big time SEC program including Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and the school he was formerly committed to, LSU.

Edwards, much like Ja’Darien Boykin, should be able to come in and compete for snaps at the defensive end/outside linebacker spot for Bryan Brown & Cort Dennison. The kid has major speed of the edge and plays with a fierceness that reminds me a lot of Jonathan Greenard.

Zach Edwards is listed as the 659th best player in the country by 247 Sports and the 31st best linebacker in the country.

Stay tuned throughout the day for updates and analysis on all things Louisville football recruiting.