Louisville HC Scott Satterfield Adjusts Coaching Responsibilities
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program is not exactly in the best spot right now.
Following an offseason where head coach Scott Satterfield made key moves at the coordinator positions and worked the transfer portal to address several roster deficiencies, many expected the Cardinals to be somewhat competitive in year four of his tenure. They might not have been expected to challenge Clemson for the top of the Atlantic Division, but there were expectations that Louisville would look much better than they had over the past two seasons.
Instead, the opposite has played out over the first five games of the 2022 season. Louisville currently sits at 2-3 overall and 0-3 in the ACC, and are coming off of a stunning loss at Boston College where they were two-touchdown favorites. It has reached a point where many outside the program aren't asking if Satterfield will be oustered as the head coach of the Cardinals, but when it will happen if they continue to trend in the wrong direction.
Ahead of the Louisville's upcoming matchup this weekend at Virginia, Satterfield announced an adjustment in the coaching responsibilities for both sides of the ball that will go into effect for the remainder of the season.
The fourth-year head coach said that he will get much more involved with defensive coordinator Bryan Brown and the game plan on defense. As a result, offensive coordinator Lance Taylor will be handed more responsibilities on that side of the ball, as well as have a say in play calling - something that Satterfield has exclusively been since he arrived at Louisville.
"I think, for me, in running this program, I think there's some things certainly that need to be different," he said. "I think I've got to spend more time helping all the facets of the game, particularly defensively and on special teams. So, this week, that's what I'm doing.
"I'm spending more time on that side of the ball, starting as soon as we got back (from Boston College). It'll be that way all the rest of this time. ... Coach Taylor and the offensive staff have done a great job. They'll be a lot more involved in play calling, and running the offensive side of the ball."
Louisville's defensive struggles were on full display this past weekend against Boston College, a team many considered to be one of the worst in the Power Five. Heading into the matchup, the Eagles' offense had only been averaging 283.2 total yards of offense and 59.8 rushing yards per game, both of which ranked outside the top-120 in FBS. Boston College proceeded to put up 449 total yards and 145 rushing yards, both of which were season highs for a team that had already faced Rutgers, Main and Virginia Tech.
That being said, the offense wasn't perfect, either, partly because of play calling. The Cardinals' 352 total yards of offense and 147 rushing yards were both the second-worst marks on the year, both barely edging out their inept performance at Syracuse.
The day after the stunning loss, Satterfield met with both Brown and Taylor regarding the shift in responsibilities moving forward. When asked Tuesday what prompted him to make this change, Satterfield bluntly stated that is was due to "losing games."
"It's really about us putting together a great game plan," he said. "About our guys going out and executing, making plays, and about us coaches putting our guys in position to make plays and not asking them to do things that they struggle doing. That’s poor coaching when we do that, so we got to do a better job in that aspect as coaches.”
Brown, who has worked under Satterfield since 2012 when both were at Appalachian State, doesn't take Satterfield wanting to be more hands on with the defense as a criticism of his performance. Not only does he welcome a "perspective from an offensive standpoint," but says Satterfield's new role is not all that different from the working relationship the two already had.
"What he's done the last couple of days is bring some ideas to the table of what gives them problems, and things that he sees," Brown said. "'Okay, if I was you guys, I would want to do it this way as opposed to that way, just because of what I think offensively.' It's helped tremendously, and we welcome it. We're trying to win football games."
As for Taylor, he believes he is more than ready to take on a share of the play calling, and have more responsibilities on his plate when it comes to the offensive game plan. While it has yet to be determined how many plays he will get to call, or in what situations he will be asked to call a play, he says that the way that he always tries to prepare is "like I'm going to call the game."
Satterfield even mentioned in his weekly presser that there have been some moments this season where Taylor has called plays, although he didn't specify when, and didn't specify how much say Taylor will have in play calling moving forward. Regardless, Taylor is confident that his increased responsibilities won't be that much different than it was before due to the chemistry that the offensive staff has.
"Offensively, we put it together the same way that we always do," he said. "We get together, we watch formation cut ups, we have ideas and we bring them to the table. We will narrow those ideas down, put the plan together, and then we go forward moving into the week of practice and prep."
Louisville will get their first chance to put their new approach on coaching responsibilities to the test this weekend when they travel to Virginia. Kickoff against the Cavaliers is set for Saturday, Oct. 8 at 12:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Scott Satterfield: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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