Yahoo Sports Sources: Appalachian State's Scott Satterfield remains top target for Louisville
Appalachian State coach Scott Satterfield remains the top target for the vacant University of Louisville head coaching job, according to multiple sources.
Satterfield led Appalachian State to the Sun Belt title on Saturday with a 30-19 victory of Louisiana to finish the season 10-2. Satterfield has not formally interviewed for the job, but he’s expected to meet with Louisville officials in the upcoming days. Sources indicate he remains the heavy favorite for the job.
Louisville’s initial target for the job, Purdue coach Jeff Brohm, turned down the job last week after meeting with Louisville athletic director Vince Tyra. From that point, Tyra has spent a lot of time traveling to high schools and meeting with recruits in order to secure Louisville’s recruiting class.
Satterfield, 45, is considered one of the bright young coaches in college football. The victory on Saturday marked the school’s third consecutive league title, and Satterfield won the conference’s Coach of the Year award this year as well.
If he gets the job, he’d inherit a job that’s a mess on and off the field in the wake of the firing of Bobby Petrino. Louisville has lost nine straight games and went 2-10 this season with no victories over Power Five programs. Off the field, there are significant discipline issues to address as Petrino and his staff administered little discipline in the program this season as the losses piled up and the staff took on an air of inevitability. Petrino and the three relatives he had on the staff were all let go on Nov. 11.
Satterfield has extensive experience in a winning culture. He oversaw a seamless transition of Appalachian State from FCS power to one of the top Group of Five programs in the country. He’s gone 40-11 the past four seasons, averaging 10 wins per season and establishing Appalachian State as a persistently difficult opponent. The Mountaineers took Penn State to overtime in State College earlier this year and have played Wake Forest and Tennessee to one-possession games.
For Louisville fans accustomed to wide-open offenses under Petrino, Satterfield brings an impressive offensive background. Appalachian State led the Sun Belt in scoring this year and finished No. 17 nationally in total offense with 37.3 points per game. That included scoring 38 in the overtime loss at Penn State.
Satterfield comes from a strong offensive background, as he was a successful quarterback at Appalachian State and began his career there coaching wide receivers (1998), running backs (1999-2002) and quarterbacks (2003-2008). He coached former star quarterback Armanti Edwards in a 2007 upset of Michigan that resonates as one of the greatest upsets in the history of college football.
Satterfield has also worked as an assistant at Toledo and FIU. The main question he’ll need to answer to the Louisville brass will be how he handles his experience coaching in the Power Five.
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