Louisville football will get the final chance to sway one elite four-star recruit

With just a few weeks before the Early Signing Period is set to begin, the Louisville football program will host its biggest official visitor yet.

Unless you coach at a football powerhouse like Ohio State, Alabama, or Clemson, recruiting your program out of the bottom of a power five conference takes time, time, and more time. Except if you’re Scott Satterfield and the Louisville football coaching staff.

In less than 12 months, Satterfield has worked miracles in Louisville when it comes to not only winning football games on the field but building a program for long-term success in recruiting. Heading into May of 2019, Louisville had just three players committed and it looked like it was going to be a long recruiting season as well as a long season on the field.

Here we are on December 4, 2019, and Satterfield and his staff have managed to land the services of 23 prospects (whom should all sign with Louisville), including four-star quarterback Chubba Purdy, giving them a top 30 recruiting class nationally while winning seven games and finishing second in ACC play.

And they aren’t done yet.

With five to six spots left in the class of 2020, the Louisville football program will now look to close out the recruiting cycle with a bang. Guys like Yaya Diaby, Maureese Wren, Greedy Vance, Josh Griffis, and others all have big decisions to make about where they want to spend their next 3-4 years playing football and the Cards look like legitimate options for each player. However, those guys don’t carry anywhere near the magnitude (or weight – literally) of one upcoming visitor.

Louisville’s staff has done a tremendous job all throughout the recruiting cycle identifying talent that fits their scheme and their biggest needs, regardless of star ranking. From there they’ve won by building relationships with not only the player but with his family, ensuring them that they’ll be able to reach their fullest potential under their watch.

The same “family” oriented pitch has worked for a ton of players and now the Cards are hoping it will work for a player who knows all about the Lousiville family, Marcus Dumervil.

By now you’re probably pretty familar with the four-star offensive tackle and his family history. At 6’5, 305 pounds playing for St. Thomas Aquinas, Dumervil has become one of the most dominant and sought-after offensive line prospects in the country, holding offers from just about every power five school you can think of. One of those schools just so happens to be Louisville.

Since the hiring of Dwayne Ledford as the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator, Louisville has put themselves in a great spot for Dumervil. Despite not having the “rich football tradition” and “championship pedigree” that teams like Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Florida and Georgia have, the Cards have used their advantage of being the home of Marcus’ uncle, Elvis Dumervil, and parlayed it into a strong relationship with a player they may normally have no shot at landing.

With his commitment date set for December 18th, Louisville has parlayed their strong relationship and need for game-changing offensive linemen into an official visit from Dumervil. That visit, which will take place this weekend, will also be his last one before making his final decision.

To say that Dumervil making his final visit to Louisville is a game-changer would be an understatement. Even with multiple offensive linemen already in the fold, including Trevor Reid, Tim Lawson, and Kobe Baynes, Dumervil would take Louisville’s class from good to great. Though LSU and Oklahoma are seen to be the heavy front-runners at this point (with most signs pointing to LSU), Scott Satterfield and his staff will have every chance to sway the opinion of Dumervil.

When talking about his college decision and what he’s looking for, Dumervil told 247 Sports’ Steve Wiltfong he’s looking for a few things in particular, saying:

"“A family environment, player development and trying to get on the field as soon as possible and winning games and competing for championships.”"

Louisville’s new staff have built their program on this very foundation – family first. Every recruit who has walked through the door of the Schnellenberger complex has heard the same, consistent message – it’s all about family and football.

For a player who has family ties to the program, who wants to compete for playing time right away, and play in one of the best conferences – Louisville has all of that and more to offer.

The question remains, will it be enough?

Louisville has not had great success with beating out the nation’s top teams in recruiting battles.  But with Scott Satterfield and one of the best all-around staff’s across the country, a commitment from an elite four-star offensive lineman may not be out of the question whatsoever.