Louisville football: Cort Dennison says “everyone’s bought in”
Scott Satterfield and his staff have spent all spring and summer working to change the culture of Louisville football. Now co-defensive coordinator Cort Dennison says “everyone here has bought in.”
Culture changes are never easy. Especially when a new coaching staff is taking over a 2-10 program that had numerous issues on the field and off the field. That’s exactly what new Louisville football head coach Scott Satterfield and his staff have been dealing with in 2019.
We can dive into all the things that the previous coaching staff did wrong but what good would that do for anyone involved?
Since taking over back in December, the new staff’s influence has helped turn the Louisville program make a complete 180.
Yesterday, co-defensive coordinator Cort Dennison joined Mark Ennis of 93.9 The Ville and talked about the state of the program. When asked about which players have risen to the top as far as buying in and taking the next step to becoming leaders and faces of the program, Dennison said.
"“The whole team (has bought in). It’s night and day. The kids who all here, every single kid, is all bought in and they all want to do whatever it takes to win. Are there people stepping up as leaders, whether they are seniors or whether they’ve played, and becoming more vocal? Yes. Just from January to now, seeing the drastic change within our culture is night and day.”"
Dennison was an assistant under former head coach Bobby Petrino before leaving for a year to work for Mario Cristobal at Oregon.
A good amount of players on Louisville’s current roster were recruited by Dennison, and the 2017 class played for him for a season. Dennison had the chance to be around the Louisville program under some strong years with Petrino Heisman-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson but also got a chance to see things unfold behind the scenes before the program’s much more public collapse during his absence in 2018.
After a year in Oregon where the Ducks, amidst a cultural shift, went 9-4 and brought in the No. 7 overall recruiting class in the 2019 247Sports recruiting rankings, Dennison believes that Louisville’s environment now is among the most special he’s been a part of.
"“There’s no egos, there’s no entitlement, everyone gets along. We mesh extremely well… The staff is unbelievable, we do everything together, families are always around. That’s why these kids hear the words culture, but they want to see it to from a reflection from us. When they see our families around all the time, when they see how bought it in is a staff, that’s huge for them too. We aren’t just saying one thing, we’re doing it, we’re living, which is huge for our culture.”"
Maybe even the more telling statement from Dennison, a coach who’s been at a school like Oregon that has everything you’d ever need to win and recruit, as well as at Louisville during it’s run with Lamar Jackson, was when he said – “This is the best environment I’ve ever been apart of.”
For a roster the size of Louisville’s it really can be difficult to believe that all the players have bought into the new style of play and new way of doing things, but I believe that is what we’re seeing here. The players are singing the praises of their coaching staff, coaches are applauding the player’s effort left and right, there’s player only led practices taking place during the off months, all of which is showing that guys are picking up what’s been put down from the staff.
It makes sense that the coaching staff wouldn’t go out of their way just yet to begin praising individual players, but to me, hearing Cort Dennison praise the entire team speaks volumes to the turnaround we’ve seen in just a few months.
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Until we see the team go out on the field this fall and show that they aren’t the same group of players who quit last season, albeit under completely different circumstances, reserving judgment is par for the course. But we can all but guarantee that come this fall, Louisville football will play dedicated football the way this coaching staff has asked.