Scott Satterfield will return as Louisville’s head football coach

No more rumors, no more speculation: Scott Satterfield will be returning to Louisville for a fourth season as the Cardinals’ head football coach.

U of L athletic director Vince Tyra shared the news with WDRB’s Eric Crawford. Here’s what he had to say in support of his decision:

“We had a great meeting today,” Tyra told WDRB News. “Scott had a very detailed game plan, a very compelling game plan, ready for the meeting. It continues the development that he’s tried to do in the first three years. I think everyone feels we’re getting further away from where we were three years ago and continue to put ourselves in a good spot. I think we can see where the recruiting class is. And I think we’re supportive of other moves that he’ll talk soon to further enhance those efforts, and we’re ready to invest in those efforts.”

...

“The players believe in him,” Tyra said. “They like him. They like what they’re doing to develop the culture. It doesn’t happen overnight. They’re in a rhythm, and I think getting another year away from COVID is helpful for this type of culture where it’s a lot of team bonding and, you know, position group dinners in coaches’ houses and all those things are valuable when you run a program like Scott’s.”

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“When you have a program that it’s going to rely on developing, three years is a short window for a coach,” Tyra said. “And I know we’ve seen that sometimes at other schools. You can be opportunistic or strategic. We’re trying to be strategic about where he’s taking the program. He knows this is a year to really show more improvement than what we did this year. The ball didn’t go our away. You miss a field goal against Virginia. The Wake Forest game, there were a lot of issues and not being about to get it in the end zone against Clemson ... I would say it usually doesn’t always turn out that way. Usually, you win your share of those.”

Look, I can’t act like I’m not among those Cardinal fans who are at least a little bit disappointed right now, or that I have a great degree of belief that next season will be significantly better than the one that just wrapped ... but I hope it is. I hope for the sake of Louisville athletics and the direction of this football program that this decision was the right one and that Satterfield kills it in 2022. If he doesn’t, a very low collective mood gets dramatically lower.

Now, we wait and see what these “offseason moves” are going to be.