Louisville football is dealing with an exodus of players under first year coach Scott Satterfield. Why fans shouldn’t be concerned with player departures.
A coaching change for Louisville football has been met with equal parts optimism and skepticism from the Cardinals fan base.
After head coach Bobby Petrino was fired mid-season in 2018, speculation began about native son Jeff Brohm returning home to lead his former team to the promised land. However, Brohm spurned the Cards, and fans were left to “settle” with Satterfield, previously the Appalachian State head man.
Louisville could have hired a proven championship-caliber power 5 coach, and much of the fan base would have been skeptics. So now that Satterfield and his staff are starting to make real changes to the program, panic is already beginning to set in.
The most recent cause for concern around Louisville is the somewhat alarming number of players jumping into the transfer portal after the conclusion of spring practices.
Before he could ever suit up for Satterfield’s squad, former captain Jon Greenard entered his name into the portal, eventually transferring to play his final season under former defensive coordinator Todd Grantham at Florida. Former quarterback of the future Jordan Travis is taking his talents to Florida State after being unhappy with coaching and playing time.
Then, post spring ball, plenty of once promising names began to roll in. The Cards’s underclassmen wide receivers Corey Reed, Marcus Riley, and Jatavious Harris all entered their names into the portal. Running backs Colin Wilson, Malik Staples, and Trey Smith will all consider other options. And defensive linemen Allen Love and Michael Boykin will likely play next season elsewhere. Of recent, linebackers Kam Jones and Robert Hicks have entered the portal as well, along with corner Jairus Brents.
All in all, at least 12 players will more likely than not be continuing the college football careers somewhere other than Louisville. That’s a lot. And though the 20 + players rumored to be transferring mid-season under Petrino never came to fruition, it is clear that a lot of players aren’t going to last under Satterfield and co.
But don’t panic if you’re a Louisville football fan. There are ways to explain why such a high number of players will be leaving the program.
This is not uncommon
To start, it isn’t uncommon for players to transfer away from a program under a new regime. The same sort of thing happened under new basketball coach Chris Mack this season. As soon as the year ended all three of the Cards’s walk-ons announced their intention to transfer, and Mack has eluded to more roster turnover than many know about.
The same can be said in football. In this day and age, most kids want to play and they want to be in a place that works for them. There are three players currently on Louisville’s roster that signed up to play for this coaching staff: true freshmen Evan Conley, Aiden Robbins, and Zach Williamson. That’s it. The rest of the 100+ players for the Cards were recruited by, established relationships with, and wanted to play for the former staff. You can’t fault anyone for wanting to move on if the experience wasn’t what they were expecting.
This type of turnover is common in today’s game. Since the rules of the transfer portal began, every program began having trouble keeping all of their plays. And that is fine. In an age where student athletes are allowed to have more freedom in their decision-making, if a guy decides his school isn’t what he expected, he should be allowed to court other schools.
Power 5 schools like Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Miami, and USC all have a half dozen or more players who have transferred or have their names in the transfer portal.
The current roster made no sense
Next, it should be mentioned that the roster Satterfield inherited was an absolute mess. Yes, there was talent on Petrino’s team, but it was completely unbalanced. The roster had 15+ wide receivers, an overabundance of defensive linemen, one tight end, 5 scholarship running backs, 8 offensive linemen (Satterfield is adamant about getting that number to 15), and 2 scholarship quarterbacks.
What does that mean? It was time to give the roster more balance. And there’s two ways of making that happen: position changes or player transfers. Of course it isn’t that simple. If a player has been a wide receiver his entire life and the coaching staff asks him to play tight end, you can imagine that said player may not embrace learning how to put his hand in the ground and block with open arms.
But the Louisville staff had to make due with what they were left.
Many players didn’t fit
And this the subsequent exodus of players who just simply don’t fit on Louisville’s team anymore. One could imagine that team chemistry was strong in some areas under Petrino and his staff, and the same unit may not mesh as well with the Cards’s new coaches.
Colin Wilson is a prototypical Bobby Petrino back: hits holes with tenacity, and has elite speed to turn a first down into a long gain. However, Colin Wilson lacks the burners that a Scott Satterfield wants and backs like Hassan Hall and Javian Hawkins possess.
What about Robert Hicks? A starting linebacker for Louisville in 2018, he was an extremely promising talent expected to return for his sophomore campaign. However, after being asked to switch to defensive end, Hicks decided to explore other options.
You can’t blame players for wanting what’s best for themselves, but you can’t blame Louisville’s coaching staff for making due with what they were left.
Trusting the process
Louisville supporters just have to trust in the coaching staff going forward. It’s unlikely that the Cards will have a stellar season by any measurement in 2019, but it will take time and patience to turn around a team that wasn’t built for future success.
Having more than a dozen players enter their names into the transfer portal is simply part of the process of getting the Louisville football program back on track. And for that reason, Cards fans should be hopeful for the future, but also proceed by setting their expectations realistically.
Louisville football is in good hands, but fixing a train wreck takes time.