ACC Coaches Talk Anonymously About Louisville for 2021
(Photo of Scott Satterfield: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Everyone who's even remotely familiar with any aspect of sport is also probably well aware of the term "coach speak". Its unofficial definition is "the jargon or pep talks given by sports coaches", and it can be heard at almost every interview & press conference regarding practice, game day, and anywhere in between.
Very rarely do coaches freely speak their mind in the public eye, as they usually only divulge their true stances on the opposition among their inner circles or anonymously.
Well that's exactly what the folks over at Athlon Sports did, as they asked the coaching staffs at all 14 ACC programs their true opinions of their conference foes in 2021 under the guise of anonymity.
When it came to discussing Louisville, most of the usual talking points revolving around the Cardinals this offseason came up, primarily focused on their 2020 campaign. After going 8-5 and winning a bowl in 2019, Louisville went 4-7 and 3-6 in the ACC, accompanied by the second-worst turnover margin in FBS.
"It’s too early to throw up a red flag, but there are some alarming things you can see from the outside."
"They had a very interesting 2020. It seems like they’re losing more players and coaches than you’d expect. From a pure evaluation standpoint, they’ve lost a lot of their most talented guys and we haven’t seen or heard anything about them competing in recruiting in that state."
Comparatively speaking, Louisville did see an uptick in roster and coaching staff attrition. Four position coaches departed for new jobs, and 17 players entered the transfer portal. In a vacuum, sure, this is far from an ideal number. But three of the four the coaching moves can be easily explained due to a better job or prior connections, and just four of the 17 players who entered the portal landed at a Power Five school.
"The easy way to look at it is that they’re running the same offense and basically the same defense they had at App, but now they’re playing teams with equal or better talent, which almost never happened there. They’re not used to seeing a counter-punch, and it shows."
This is a fair criticism. One of the main complaints about the offense last season, other than turnovers, was their lack of expansion of the playbook and predictability. Not only did the play calling seem 'vanilla', but it seemed like it never deviated from the same few plays, regardless of situation. Last offseason, the coaching staff bragged about opening up the playbook, but this year, it needs to come to fruition.
"The biggest issues here seem off the field, I think they haven’t really established who they are as a culture with those players. I think they tried to bring Appalachian State to Louisville, and that hasn’t worked out. Scott [Satterfield] talking to South Carolina didn’t help, either. When this program is good it’s because they bring in a lot of raw talent and let them play. He’s trying to create something different.”
This I don't 100% agree with. As far as the culture goes, Satterfield and staff have long said they want to have a close-knit, family-heavy atmosphere where the players are all high character guys. Now, as for 'bringing App State to Louisville', this carries a tad more weight, as Satterfield's overall approach hasn't changed much since his days in Boone, N.C. They still recruit, and occasionally pull, the higher caliber players, but their recruiting philosophy also incorporates a fair share of diamonds in the rough or projects - some of whom have and have not panned out.
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