Louisville football: What we learned from the first ever Spring Showcase

The spring showcase was the first opportunity for fans to get a look at the Scott Satterfield led Louisville Cardinals. Why can we takeaway from the open practice?

Thursday night’s Spring Showcase was the first opportunity for media and fans to observe the new look Louisville football program after the hiring of Scott Satterfield from Appalachian State back in December of 2018.

Satterfield has brought a new a positive aura around the program that has been on full display via social media and during post-practice interviews with the local media during Spring Practice, and has even re-connected with a slew of former Louisville football stars.

Louisville’s new head coach has praised the effort and willingness of his team during their 15 practices together, while also acknowledging the amount of work that’s to be done to get things turned around after going 2-10 last season.

"“Just their eagerness and willingness just to listen and to be coached, that was very encouraging for myself and my staff,. Then we’ve got some talent out there. We’ve got a lot of work to do, we know that. But it’s going to be fun because these guys are hungry and willing to work, and when you’ve got that you’re going to continue to get better every, single day. Hopefully by the time the season starts we’ll have a good product to put on the field.”"

In Satterfield’s short time, he has laid out a new foundation for the Cardinals and the new aura was on full display for the first time to fans during the showcase.

Here are some takeaways from the Louisville’s spring showcase.

1. The defense dominated majority of the practice. Louisville’s defense was flying around and stifling the offense almost the entire night. Chandler Jones, Russ Yeast, and C.J. Avery forced interceptions for the defense, and making things extremely difficult for receivers to get any operation. Even with the talent at wide receiver, the offense rarely had any opportunity to produce yards after the catch. The defense was day and night compared to how they finished last year. There was an energy and speed that was non existent in comparison to last year. Defensive coordinator Bryan Brown has infused a mentality that will help lead this team.

2. The running back position is Loaded. Satterfield has an abundant of riches to choose from at running back. The star of the crop is Hassan Hall as he had a few long runs during the showcase. He’s a special talent and will be carrying this offense. Javian Hawkins is a burner and was a few missed tackles from breaking a long gain during the showcase. Dae Williams had few solid carries towards the end. In addition, his quarterbacks are equipped to carrying the ball. The run game will be vastly improved from the 101st ranked running game from the 2018 football season.

3. Offense has an entire new look in comparison to the previous regime, Louisville’s offense has a new physiological foundation. The majority of their offense was ran out of the pistol formation. Though it’s early and defenses are supposed to be ahead of the offense, it was still surprising to see Louisville struggle to get much going. There were a few missed opportunities in the passing game and the offensive line struggled to create consistent holes for runners.

"“We’re very basic right now, with what we’re doing (on offense),” Satterfield said. “Really just the meat and potatoes of the offense is in, with what we’re doing. There are so many things other than what we were doing tonight that we’ll show, obviously.”"

This is expected since there’s a new system being implemented and this is the learning phase of the offense. In conclusion, the offense has work to do.

4. Quarterback is still a major question as the quarterback position is still a work in progress. None of the quarterbacks had a standout performance. Redshirt junior Jawon Pass is the incumbent starter. Pass had positive moments throwing and running the ball as he scampered it for a long run. But he also threw two interceptions with one resulting in a pick-six. Redshirt sophomore Malik Cunningham is still a great athlete as he had dynamic runs but struggled with throwing the ball. True freshman Evan Conley had a few solid throws but threw an interception on his first drive. 

As Satterfield and company continue to say, there is a lot of work to be done before the Cardinals take the field for the first time under the new regime on September 1st at Cardinal Stadium against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.