Louisville Set to Name Norvall McKenzie Running Backs Coach

Louisville looks to finally have their guy at running back coach with Norvall McKenzie. McKenzie has been the running backs coach at Arkansas State for the past three years. Before that, he held the same position at Furman as well as being the recruiting coordinator. McKenzie is a young coach and hasn’t held any big jobs yet, so there’s not a whole lot to know about him. He does have a few impressive things in his bio, however.

McKenzie holds three degrees from Vanderbilt as well as a masters degree. He was a productive running back there about 15 years ago leading the team in rushing both of his last two years. He was also a standout player at McEachern High School in Georgia. That Georgia connection is an important aspect of the hire. Louisville is looking to recruit Georgia heavily and this will allow them to do that.

From a coaching standpoint, the running backs at ASU have improved each of the last two years after a big nosedive in McKenzie’s first year. I won’t pretend to know what happened in that first year, but in 2018 the top two running backs both averaged over five yards per carry while splitting carries. At Furman, his running backs garnered post season accolades each year and put their names in the school record books. Again, not a lot to know about McKenzie but there are some positives in his short career.

Scott Satterfield didn’t get his first choice for this spot with Chad Scott leaving for a coordinator position last year. I still think that he got a good coach, though. McKenzie is obviously a very bright young coach and he fits as a recruiter. McKenzie was also a Broyles nominee this year, which shows that he’s respected in the coaching field and his results are resonating.