Louisville football: Recapping every new coaching hire

Each day for seemingly the last couple of weeks has brought updated news as it relates to the Louisville football coaching staff. With departures and new additions joining the fold, it can all get pretty complicated to keep track of. But don’t worry; we’ve got you covered.

In an offseason without a head coaching change, the Cardinals had a unique amount of coaching turnover for a team that went 4-7 during the 2020 season.

The new staff is nearly complete with nine assistants out of 10 possible hires, we can safely track who the new faces are amongst the 2021 coaches.

Let’s take a look at the new faces on the coaching staff

Running backs coach

2020: Norval McKenzie

2021: De’Rail Sims

Sims has been coaching at East Carolina the past two seasons where he has built up his ties to recruiting in the Carolinas. He was with the Pirates program for two seasons as he led the program to their best rushing output in five seasons. He also coached up running back Rahjai Davis in 2020 who put up the most rushing yards ever by a true freshman in a season for East Carolina (624).  Davis won AAC rookie of the year for his performance.

Satterfield elected to hire another young running backs coach. Sims is just 35 years old and has had a ton of success wherever he has been. Many fans will not bat an eye at a young coach with no experience coaching at the power five level. But this is a hire that fans should be satisfied with who has strong connections to the Carolinas and Georgia.

Quarterbacks coach

2020: Frank Ponce

2021: Pete Thomas

Thomas might be a name that some Louisville fans may have already recognized from his time as a quality control coach for the team each of the past two seasons. He was named to the “30-under-30” coaches list that 247 Sports puts together annually highlighting some of the best up and coming football coaches coming through the pipeline.

In his past, Thomas was a successful Division I quarterback for Colorado State, NC State, and Louisiana Monroe where he threw for over 9,000 yards and 36 touchdowns in his career. The 29-year old is rising and now will get the opportunity to go on the road to recruit and help coach up veteran Malik Cunningham.

Offensive Line Coach

2020: Dwayne Ledford

2021: Jack Bicknell Jr.

This was a very solid hire for Scott Satterfield after losing a highly regarded offensive line guru in Ledford. Bicknell Jr. will bring a ton of experience to a nice mixture of young and experienced coaches on the staff. Bicknell Jr. was in the SEC in each of the past three seasons; he was most recently with Auburn. However, after a head coaching change this offseason, Bicknell was not retained on staff which made him a “free agent” by coaching standards.

He was a head coach at Louisiana Tech for eight seasons through the late 90s and early 2000s. After his stint there, he was in the NFL for seven seasons serving as an offensive line coach for multiple teams. He has a ton of experience in the coaching world (35 years) and this should be a very safe and sound hire for Satterfield.

Offensive Quality Control Coach

2020: Pete Thomas

2021: Cody Woodiel

This is Louisville’s latest hire. Woodiel is just 30 years old and will reportedly help coach the offensive line as a QC. He is a former offensive lineman himself that played for Troy in 2011 and 2012. The Cardinals needed a replacement QC after Thomas was promoted. Woodiel is a good, young option.

Another assistant coach coming soon?

According to math, the only vacated spot that has not been filled is 2020 safeties coach ShaDon Brown who left for a co-defensive coordinator opportunity with West Virginia just a few days ago. Scott Satterfield may look to fill this vacancy with another safeties coach or he could potentially elect to hire himself an offensive coordinator that is not hired within the staff.

Before Brown’s departure the other day, it seemed likely that Louisville receivers coach Gunter Brewer could have been a lead candidate to have the offensive coordinator tag placed on him. That still could happen, but now there is a potential for a shakeup in how Satterfield assembles his staff.

Satterfield may not have hit home runs with his hires. But they all seem extremely solid and have had success in almost every place they’ve been. Despite plenty of losses, Louisville is doing their best job to reload their new-look staff for 2021.