Louisville Football & Their Growing Georgia Pipeline
During Charlie Strong's tenure as the head coach of the University of Louisville football program, one thing he was noted for was his prowess for recruiting the state of Florida.
Over his four-year stint from 2010-13, he helped land top tier Sunshine State talents such as Teddy Bridgewater, Gerod Holliman, Calvin Pryor, Eli Rogers and several others.
While Strong is no longer with the program, Louisville's current coaching staff is in the process of creating a pipeline to another talent-rich state in the region.
Scott Satterfield is entering his second season as the head coach of the Cardinals, and he & his staff have completely rejuvenated the recruiting trail. While Florida still gets plenty of attention, a bulk of their success comes from their efforts recruiting the state of Georgia.
Out of the 44 prospects so far that have given verbal commits to Louisville between the Classes of 2020 & 2021, 13 of them have come from the Peach State. In 2020 alone, 8 of the 24 signees came from Georgia, equalling to a third of the class.
“Georgia is one of the top states in my opinion to recruit. I may be biased because I’m from there, but a ton of great players come from that state," running backs coach Norval McKenzie told Louisville Report. McKenzie is a native of Powder Springs, which is roughly half an hour west of Downtown Atlanta.
"There is an awesome combination of talent and great coaching which proves to be beneficial for those young men as they make the transition from high school to college," he continued.
McKenzie is not the only one within the program who feels that way. Pete Nochta, a former tight end for the Cardinals who is in his second year as the program's recruiting coordinator, also has high regards for Georgia's high school football coaching acumen.
"The thing you know about recruiting the state of Georgia; you know you are going to get a well coached player," Nochta told Louisville Report. "Part of what makes recruiting in Georgia so exciting is you know not only do they have great athletes, but great HS coaching. You have to have knowledge of the game to go along with ability to be successful on the field. When you can play fast and be fast at the same time, you get a great player."
"We love when a player enters our program with a high football IQ. You spend less time teaching the basics and gives the player a chance to step on the field quicker."
So far out of Louisville's eighteen verbal commitments in the Class of 2021, four of them hail from Georgia high schools: defensive end Victoine Brown, cornerback Kani Walker, safety TJ Quinn, outside linebacker Jackson Hamilton, and inside linebacker Jaylin Alderman. They're part of a class that currently ranks as high as No. 13 in the nation according to Rivals.
“Louisville will have the best class IN AMERICA and in the ACC!" Walker told Louisville Report, with Brown also noting: "GA2KY".
With there still being seven scholarship spots left in the class, the pipeline has a chance to grow even further between now and December's Early Signing Period. The two most notable Peach State products to keep an eye on are quarterback TJ Lewis and inside linebacker Christopher Paul Jr. Lewis included the Cards in his top ten earlier this month, and Paul says Louisville is "high" on his list of schools after decommitting from Nebraska.
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