The Cardinal Countdown: 90 Days Until Kickoff

#90 Jared Goldwire

Class: Junior

Ht/Wt: 6-6/295

Position: Defensive Line

Hometown: Tacoma, WA

Twitter: N/A

Thoughts: Goldwire came to the Cards via the JUCO route and was projected to be a solid piece of the line for a couple seasons as long as he could remain healthy. We’re only ten days in and I feel a bit repetitive already, but my major concern with Goldwire is that he appeared to have the talent and skill to be an impact player last season, yet only saw the field in nine games and had a limited role in some of those due to health issues. If he played at the level many projected, in my mind he was a sure fire starter or at minimum in heavy rotation up front. The early season synopsis seemed to agree with me as Jared played as well as anyone against Bama and had a career game against WKU with 5 tackles, an assist on a sack, a couple QB hurries, and a huge blocked field goal in the second half with Louisville already trailing by 8.

Goldwire is a big dude and has battled through an ACL tear, a separate ACL issue, and a shoulder surgery last year prior to the season starting. That’s not to mention the dents and dings he picked up in 2018. If he can remain healthy I think Goldwire can be a nice addition to the line this year but the challenge in the new 3-4 scheme will be getting him on the field for a significant amount of time. In the Spring they had Goldwire and GG rotating at NT, and while I like him in the role, if GG is out there killing it can we really afford to keep 6-6/295 on the bench for long stretches?

When Spring ball started the Cards had 14 players identified as defensive lineman, which is a few too many in my opinion for a team running a 3-4. Ideally I’d like to see that number around 10-11 in that scheme and I think the staff was I agreement (glad we’re on the same page Coach Brown). The Cards had a couple players enter the transfer portal (Boykins, Hicks) but picked up a talented four star end in the 2019 class. If my math is correct that leaves the Cards with 13 guys classified as linemen and only three spots on the field. Space will be tight, PT will be tough, but I think this new approach will help get some of the better players on the field at a position where the Cards have some talent (LB).

Sweet Tweet: No twitter for Goldwire so here we go….I’ve made you wait long enough…Season 1, Episode 1 of “Hi, My Name Is…”

Hi, My Name Is: Scott Satterfield

I grew up in: Hillsborough, NC

I played football at: Appalachian State (Quarterback)

I previously coached at: Appalachian State (Head Coach)

I am now the: Head Football Coach

I’ve been a coach for: 21 seasons at the collegiate level

I am: Married, with three kids

Fun Fact: I’ve got 40 wins under my belt since 2015, fifth most in the entire country. Only Saban, Dabo, Urban, and Paul Chryst have more in that same time frame.

CardinalStrong says: I really like this hire. I think Satterfield has the attitude, demeanor, and coaching style that this program really needed. The vibe around the program has almost done a complete 180 from what we saw the last couple seasons and frankly it was something that had been an unspoken issue among fans, coaches, and players because the wins kept coming. The toxic environment had to change and Satterfield has done a great job getting the team to buy in to the family atmosphere. I like his offensive approach and I think it will be fun to watch a team that puts a focus on running the football. I think he’s done a great job building his staff around him because, in my opinion, we have a few assistants that may not be around here very long as they are climbing the coaching ranks fast. He isn’t scared to do things his own way and has shown on multiple levels that he can have success. When the coaching search started he was in my Top 3 from Day 1. Excited about the future of the program and I think he’ll get us back into the discussion of ACC Championships in 3-4 years.

*I’ll touch on something briefly (as brief as I can be) here because I’m not sure where else it would come up. Here it goes. I’m perfectly okay with Louisville not getting Jeff Brohm. Full disclosure, for those loyal readers many of you know I am a Purdue alum but I do have the ability to remove any bias and have an intelligent discussion about this. Bringing home the local hero can only go three ways, and two of them are not great. 1. He wins lots of games, has great success and leads Louisville to new heights. 2. He comes in, does okay, UofL goes to a bowl every year but he never really makes a move on the national radar. 3. He stinks it up, only lasts a few seasons and the Cards have to make a move to get rid of him. There is a 66% chance that the hometown kid would leave fans feeling unsatisfied, and to put it bluntly, the expectations before he was even mentioned for the job were already creeping into an unrealistic territory. A 6-7 win season in 2019 may not have even been good enough for some, and that is just ridiculous. What this all reminded me of as a Chicago Cubs fan was watching Ryne Sandberg come up the coaching ranks and have a good amount of success in the minors. It just so happened that the Cubs job opened right around that time and most saw it as an amazing chance to bring back the Chicago legend. In this story Ryne seemed willing but the Cubs decided to pass. People were furious and couldn’t understand why you would not bring Ryne freakin’ Sandberg back into the organization. The Cubs spoke later about “fit” and “coaching approach” but candidly they discussed the concerns of tarnishing a legacy. Eventually the Phillies gave Sandberg a shot at being a manager and over those 3 years he finished 119-159 with no playoff appearances. He resigned in 2015 with his team sitting at 26-48, the worst record in all of baseball. The Cubs selection instead of Sandberg (Mike Quade) didn’t work out great, but eventually it lead to the hire of Joe Maddon who got the Cubs a World Series for the first time in over 100 years (I know Rutherford loves all this Cubs talk). Sandberg is now a part of the Cubs organization off the field and still loved by all.

The point in all of this is, if Brohm is supposed to be here at some point, he and Louisville will find a way to make it happen and I’d love that. Right now though, I think Louisville needed a new a name. A coach who the fans didn’t already intimately know, a coach who could win them back with his work ethic and success, a coach who wasn’t expected to perform miracles immediately. If you want to root against Brohm and act as if he’s turned his back to the University, you have the right to do so, but we’ve seen this same story of “betrayal” before and then we as fans welcomed that same coach back with open arms a few seasons later. I don’t think Brohm was who Louisville needed right now, and I’m glad Satterfield is the man in charge.

Sorry for derailing your special day Jared Goldwire. We’ll stop and get ice cream on the way home, buddy.