Louisville football: 3 ways Scott Satterfield & Chris Mack are similar

Making the most of star players from the previous regime

One similarity between both the tenures of Mack and Satterfield is their ability to take what the previous staff left them and turn it into something great.

In Mack’s case, his first win as head coach in Louisville was simply being able to retain the bulk of the roster from a holdover season with interim head coach David Padgett. Mack was able to motivate his players and turn a team that went to the NIT the season prior into one that had some big-time wins including over Michigan State and on the road at North Carolina.

Mack did inherit a great crop of talent, but it was a group of guys who were largely underused to that point. Particularly in the case of Jordan Nwora, who rode the bench much of his freshman year, but showed flashes of potential throughout his first season.

Nwora went from middle of the pack recruit, by Louisville’s standards, to a superstar. In Mack’s first year he was named the ACC’s Most Improved Player of the Year, and this season, he became Louisville’s 11th consensus All-American.

Satterfield’s situation was very similar. He walked into a complete mess of a program, but the one bright spot was a crop of virtually unused players who had great potential.

In his first season, Satterfield had two players break school records in Javian Hawkins and Tutu Atwell.

Hawkins went from the lowest-rated recruit in the 2018 class who only touched the ball four times, fumbled once, and redshirted the remainder of the season, to a certified ACC star. Hawkins rushed for over 1,500 yards, the highest mark in a single season of any running back in school history.

Atwell was utilized as a back-up during the 2018 season, but he was only recognized for his potential heading into last season. He finished the season with the most receiving yards from any Card in a single season.

Plenty of other unknowns surfaced as heroes last season. Micale Cunningham went from a running weapon with a questionable arm at QB to the de facto starter, and had the second-highest QB rating in the country. Marshon Ford was awarded a scholarship during fall camp and became the top tight end target in the league. Mekhi Becton became a first round pick. Little-known senior Tyler Haycraft became a critical piece on the offensive line. Russ Yeast and Rodjay Burns embraced position changes and had their best seasons yet.

That’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Both Mack and Satterfield embraced the challenge of having talented, but largely unproven players and making those guys fit their systems- A sign of two excellent coaches.