De'Rail Sims, Pete Thomas Excited For New Opportunities on Louisville Coaching Staff
(Photo of Cardinal Stadium: Matt McGavic)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With spring football just around the corner, Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield had to act fast. With roughly three weeks until the official start of spring practice, the Cardinals were left with three openings on their coaching staff.
Offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford left for the Atlanta Falcons, quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce went back to Appalachian State to be their new offensive coordinator, and running backs coach Norval McKenzie took the same position at his alma mater of Vanderbilt.
Related: Report: Satterfield Focusing on Three Candidates for OL Coach
While Satterfield is still looking for a successor to Ledford, the now third-year head coach quickly filled the latter two spots, as the program announced Monday the addition of East Carolina running backs coach De'Rail Sims and promotion of quality control coach Pete Thomas to quarterbacks coach.
"From the time Coach McKenzie left going into that next week, I was contacted about having an opportunity to talk about the job, and I jumped full steam ahead," Sims said in his first media availability as a Cardinals coach. As for Thomas, that process was even faster, as Satterfield had approached him regarding the position just "a couple days" before the announcement was made.
For Sims, a native of Union, S.C., it was always a goal of his to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Though his playing career and his first go at coaching came at Pikeville, roughly three and half hours east of Louisville, he calls the opportunity to join the Cardinals, an ACC school, as a coach, a "dream come true".
"I wasn't blessed enough to be able to (play in the ACC), so then as I got older, it was opportunity," he said. "Playing in one of the most competitive conferences in the country, that stood out to me. I just got a lot of respect for every team in this league, and I'm looking forward to being able to get out there and compete on Saturdays."
At his previous stop of East Carolina, where he served as the running backs coach there for two seasons, Sims had a profound impact on the Pirates' newcomers. mentored AAC Rookie of the Year Rahjai Harris, who rushed for 628 yards, and ECU record for a true freshman, and in 2019 helped guide the running backs to their highest rushing total since 2014.
"From the time we hit the building, we got to be locked in and we got to be loaded and ready to go," Sims said. The number one deal is, our brand, in terms of how we operate in the running backs room, is we want to be the hardest-working, most competitive family in the country."
While Thomas had already been on Satterfield's staff as an offensive quality control coach, he was just as excited for his new opportunity as Sims was.
"I'm fired up about it," he said after Sims. "I'm really excited, it's obviously a dream come true, and I'm ready for the challenge."
Assisting then-offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford on the offensive line, he played an integral role in the offense's resurgence under coach Satterfield. In 2019, he was tabbed a 30-under-30 honoree by 247Sports, as one of the top up-and-coming young coaches in college football.
"I went from doing that, to obviously having my own room and being the quarterback coach," he said. "Obviously, recruiting as a big step, so that's a bit of a change as well. But I believe I'm ready for it. You just, obviously, have a lot more responsibility running your own room, rather than being the QC.
Thomas believes that his prior experience with the Cardinals over the past two years, as well as his previous tenure as a graduate assistant and then quality control coach at Appalachian State, has him ready for his next challenge.
"The last four years have been very beneficial," he said. "But I've been preparing for this opportunity, really, since I was a player in college. I knew whenever I was done playing that I wanted to coach."
Louisville ended the 2020 season at 4-7 overall and 3-7 in the ACC. Spring practice is scheduled to begin on February 8.
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