Louisville Preparing for Transition to Next Phase of Offseason
To say that it had been an abnormal offseason would be a gross understatement. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the precautions taken both locally & nationally, a majority of the organized efforts up to this point across college football have been strictly voluntary.
But soon, the Louisville Football program is about to have a modicum of normalcy restored.
In accordance to the six-week preseason plan proposed by the D1 Football Oversight Committee and later passed by the D1 Council, the Cards will transition into the "Summer Access with Walk-Throughs and Meetings" portion of the offseason calendar on Tuesday, July 21. Louisville is making this transition three days early due to the date of their season opener vs. NC State.
During this phase, the student-athletes will be able to participate in:
- Up to eight hours per week for weight training and conditioning.
- Up to six hours per week for walk-throughs, which may include the use of a football.
- Up to six hours per week for meetings, which may include film review, team meetings, position meetings, one-on-one meetings, etc.
"I'm really looking forward to being out with our guys," head coach Scott Satterfield said to reporters in a teleconference Monday. "We're so looking forward to it. To get out there on the field, talk some football, see the guys move around and hopefully continue to grow and to build throughout this.
Satterfield says on each day during this roughly two-week phase of the offseason calendar, he and his staff will meet with the players positionally for 30 minutes then conduct a 45-50 minute walk-through out on the field.
During this time, it will be mainly be an "install phase" where the staff implements the offense, defense & special teams. However due to the program retaining so many veteran players as well as being able to get in seven practices in the spring, Satterfield is really only worried about the summer additions getting familiar with the playbook.
"Offense and defense we've got a lot of guys back that are very familiar with our terminology and what we're trying to do, so I think we can escalate some of the install," he said. "But then as you look to guys that are newcomers, you really gotta be careful."
Despite that, Satterfield feels that the program is in a much better position than they were a year ago. In fact, he thinks if needed to that the program could be ready to play in just a couple weeks.
"I feel like if you said we're gonna play in a couple weeks that we could put a great product on the field. I feel that good about it."
Louisville's first practice will be held on Tuesday, August 4, when they transition into the "Preseason" portion of the offseason calendar. They will kick off the 2020 season at Cardinal Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 2 against the NC State Wolfpack.
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