The Cardinal Countdown: 70 Days Until Kickoff

#70 Emmanual Sowders

Class: Sophomore

Ht/Wt: 6-4/272

Position: Offensive Line

Hometown: Louisville, KY (Product of Jeffersontown High School)

Twitter: @EmmanualSowders

Thoughts: Sowders is a local young man from J-Town who played in the trenches on both sides of the ball in high school. Sowders was a first team All-State Selection during his tenure and got to represent the state in a few all-star contests after he had completed his high school career. Sowders decided to forgo some other options and walk-on at Louisville last January.

He has some good size to him and like I touched on a few days ago Ledford and Satterfield are looking to get 15-17 guys in this group and I think they intended to play more than just five or six of them, looking for a strong 2 deep in all five spots. One would expect Sowders to still be somewhat limited in his production after taking a redshirt last year but just like Marshon Ford, everyone gets a new start and Emmanuel has a chance to show what he can do.

Sweet Tweet:

Hide you’re grandma. Cards are swooping in to get those digits.

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Season 1, Episode 3 of “Hi, My Name is…”

Hi, My Name Is: Dwayne Ledford

I grew up in: Marion, NC

I played football at: East Carolina (Offensive Line/Defensive Line)

I previously coached at: North Carolina State (Offensive Line/Assoc Head Coach)

I am now the: Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line

I’ve been a coach for: 15 seasons at the collegiate level

I am: Married, with two kids

Fun Fact: Ledford took over an offensive line at NC State that allowed 39 sacks in 2015. His coaching/recruiting helped dropped that number every single season including last year (2018) when NC State finished 6th in the country only allowing 11 total sacks.

CardinalStrong says: Ledford was a big name locally for many fans because his reputation in the ACC had made him a well known commodity the last few years. The move from App State to NC State made sense geographically back in 2015 as the 3 hour drive was minimal when it came to recruiting the same areas but was big in regards to getting that Power 5 “boost” in terms of attention and opportunity. Getting Ledford to move within the ACC is a big get in my mind as it shows the relationship he built with Satterfield really meant something to him. He could have easily kept the momentum moving in Raleigh and likely worked his way into a bigger OC role if he desired to do so, but instead he came to Louisville to rebuild a line that has some talent but without question needs some help.

My affinity for the O-line is certainly not normal when comparing myself to the average fan. I am by no means an expert but I probably watch them more during the game than any other group each week. The thing I like about Ledford is that he brings his own NFL experience to the table when talking about technique and drills, but also brings the knowledge of the coaches he worked under such as longtime NFL O-line coach Patrick Morris and current Jags Head Coach Doug Marrone. I saw a few clips from his time at NC State and I love the way he teaches his guys to take advantage of the defensive linemen tendencies to create leverage and gain position. If he has the little things covered it appears the bigger things are well under control too. Everywhere he’s been he has called his group the ‘Band Of Brothers’ putting emphasis on everyone going into battle daily for the man on their left and right, and while he may not have created the “O-Line Credo” a quick Google search for it points back to both NC State and App State, which is good enough for the Junior Detective in me to at least give him credit for promoting it. You can read the full thing in the image below but the gist is what I’ve been preaching for years now…the success of your offense almost universally depends upon the cohesiveness and play of your offensive line. A bad line can kill a season, and a good line can save a bad one. Satterfield running an offense that leans more towards the run game means that he needs a good really coach in this position. I think he got one.