How Louisville football will win on the local recruiting trail

In 2021 and beyond, Louisville football could turn the tide of recruiting in the state of Kentucky- Here’s why.

Though a concerted effort has been made from the new Louisville football coaching staff, the Cards are still struggling to land big name in-state recruits.

After a 2019 class where Louisville’s highest ranked in-state recruit was No. 12 Aidan Robbins, the coaching staff continues to make recruiting locally a top priority.

Still, it appears that the staff will have to exercise patience and play the long game on the road to success in Kentucky. The Cards have missed on four of their last five local recruits. Offensive lineman John Young, receiver Izayah Cummings, and athlete Jordan Watkins- who all attend Louisville high schools- chose Kentucky over the Cards. Additionally, the Cats landed legacy recruit and Louisville native Andru Phillips earlier on in the class.

The highest rated player in the state that new head coach Scott Satterfield has landed is No. 11 Josh Minkins Jr., and the Cards and the Cats are both still in on Bowling Green safety Vito Tisdale– the state’s third-ranked player.

So, why is it that hometown kids are still going to places like Kentucky and Purdue instead of staying home? A lot of it starts with recent success.

Louisville football is still 2-10 until they aren’t.

The coaching staff can jump through as many hoops as they want and go above and beyond to wow local kids, but the Cards’s most recent season was a complete failure, and that resonates more than anything.

For a 16 or 17-year-old in a society where social media hot takes run rampant and speed is valued over quality, there is a much greater chance for recency bias. In the most recent of the hand full of seasons local recruits have cared about, the Cards lost their last nine games and were absolutely slaughtered by their biggest rival- a team that is vying for the very same recruits.

Additionally, the new coaching staff was behind in developing relationships with Kentucky high schoolers. While coaches like Jeff Brohm at Purdue, Ryan Day at Ohio State, and Mark Stoops at Kentucky have been in to see guys for a couple of years now, Satterfield and company have only been around for this calendar year, and have had to rebuild many broken relationships with local coaches before attempting to even recruit

Still, the Louisville staff is going to remain relentless on the recruiting trail, focusing on Kentucky and the surrounding states. They have already proven that the pipeline from Florida and Georgia is still strong and that they are serious in landing local players like Minkins Jr. and former Christian Academy of Louisville defensive end/offensive lineman Austin Collins.

Now, the 2021 class and beyond are likely to be local-centric.

The Kentucky dominance in-state could be short-lived, and if Satterfield and company have anything to say about it the tides could be turning soon.