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Louisville Football’s Current Coaching Conundrum

By Cameron Franck

LOUISVILLE, KY - SEPTEMBER 24: Head coach Scott Satterfield of the Louisville Cardinals is seen during the game against the South Florida Bulls at Cardinal Stadium on September 24, 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - SEPTEMBER 24: Head coach Scott Satterfield of the Louisville Cardinals is seen during the game against the South Florida Bulls at Cardinal Stadium on September 24, 2022 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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At the helm of the Louisville Football program stands Scott Satterfield. The former coach of the Appalachian State Mountaineers led the program as it transitioned from Division II FCS football to Division I FBS football and had nothing but success. The Mountaineers have quietly become one of those schools that you cannot quickly write off as an easy win.

He led Appalachian State to 47 wins to just 16 losses in his time there from 2013 to 2018. Meanwhile, Bobby Petrino was leading the Cards of Louisville for his second stint with the team.

Petrino took over in 2014 and coached almost all the way through the 2018 season but could not make it to the end after he was fired mid-season going 2-8. This was the first season post-Lamar Jackson and after losing a Heisman-winning quarterback it would take some time for a respected program such as Louisville to recover. But the University of Louisville Athletic Administration did not see Bobby Petrino as their guy for the future.

So, they cut ties with him and hired Satterfield in 2019. One of the reasons Satterfield was hired was due to the financial situation. Because Petrino did not finish out his contract before he got fired, Louisville had to buy him out. They owed him over 14 million dollars that was to be paid out until 2022. Meanwhile, the University of Louisville bought out the former Athletic Director Tom Jurich of his contract and he is set to be paid through 2026.

Satterfield’s contract is currently structured to run through 2026 with an annual salary of $3.25 million dollars. If he is fired before season’s end then he will still be owed 4.875 million dollars. So under the current financial situation, the question becomes: is it worth current AD Josh Heird to fire him and be under more financial restrictions while they finish paying out Jurich’s contract?

On top of Jurich’s buyout, the University of Louisville is also paying out the rest of former Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Mack. He was fired before the completion of his contract and he is still set to be owed an additional 1.6 million dollars through 2024. 

The current state of Louisville football is hanging in the balance. With the amount of money Louisville owes former coaches, the current product on the field, and the highly touted incoming recruiting class, the amount of questions for Louisville football fans continues to grow. Upon this research, Louisville seems to be in a place where Satterfield will be under contract at least through the end of this season and the likelihood of the Top-20 2023 recruiting class still coming in is looking promising.

If Louisville holds on to Satterfield through the end of the year, potentially makes some different staff decisions and brings in this incoming recruiting class, then the program could be on its way up. Promising stars like Pierce Clarkson, Rueben Owens, DeAndre Moore, Madden Sanker, among others currently committed to Louisville could make a serious impact on the program for years to come.

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