If you needed a reminder, Louisville football is still a stepping stone program.
The turbulent offseason for Louisville football and Scott Satterfield got a little bit bumpier on Friday. There’s never a “convenient” time for coaching turnover, but I’d imagine less than 90 days from the season qualifies as bad timing. Especially when the coach leaving your program may be one of the most important people on that particular weekend.
A lot has been made of the recruiting efforts of Louisville in recent weeks. The Cards already have two solid commitments in the fold and have made the cut for numerous top-level prospects. Many of those recruits were set to be on campus this weekend, for what was considered one of the most important recruiting weekends in years. While still new to the staff, newly-hired Recruiting Coordinator David Cooper played a huge role in making it happen.
Coming over from Florida, Cooper instantly brought new life to the recruiting efforts of Louisville.
However, as quickly as he made waves in Louisville, he was out the door and headed back to the SEC East; This time accepting the same position at Georgia.
You don’t typically see a ton of staff movement this close to the season in college football.
Now, the Louisville football staff will have to scramble to fill the void of Cooper while simultaneously maintaining solid relationships with recruits he was after.
I am not too thrilled about how this unfolded. Here’s why.
Loyalty? We talkin about loyalty?
Although the response to losing Cooper on social media was mostly tame, others somehow tried to steer the narrative in a different direction.
To add insult to injury, most of the Louisville football coaching staff publicly congratulated Cooper for… taking the same position. Somewhere else. On literally the biggest weekend of the year.
Imagine being prepped for a life-changing surgery only to have the your primary doctor bail 48 hours before. “Hello, I’m Dr. Satterfield. I know we have only spoken briefly, but Dr. Cooper is no longer a part of our team. Sorry you traveled halfway across the country, but this decision will only effect the next 3-5 years. If you want to see Dr. Cooper, I am sure he will be reaching out from his new position at Athens General.”
To call out the loyalty of this fanbase seems a bit tone deaf to me.
I know you can’t possibly be calling out the loyalty of a group of fans that sat through 1 and 2-win seasons in the metal bleachers of a semi-pro baseball stadium. It couldn’t possibly be the group that buys 30, and sometimes upwards of 40,000 season tickets each year. Not the group that has necessitated three stadium expansions in two decades. Couldn’t possibly be that group.
Loyalty? How about the people who spend hours of their time and hard-earned money supporting the program. That includes support through the Kragthorpe era, the Cooper era, Petrino leaving town in the middle of the night, Petrino melting in his second tenure, Charlie Strong flirtation one, Charlie Strong flirtation 2, Wakey Leaks, Satterfield flirtation, and more. Not the same fan base that has already sold more season tickets for the 2021 season than in 2019 on the heels of a 4-7 finish. Loyalty? You’re kidding me, right? Not the best college athletics TV market in the country. It couldn’t be that fan base.
If we want the program to grow, I’d say the loyalty of the recruits’ primary contact would supersede the loyalty of complete stranger @BigCardsGuy82. But what do I know?
Related: How losing Luke McCaffrey impacts Louisville football
Losing coach Coop is a big deal, unless…
Let’s get to the real crux of the situation though. Losing Cooper is a big deal, regardless of what people will tell you.
Throw out the circumstances of offseason coaching turnover, the departure of 17 transfers (6th-most among Power 5 teams), and the aforementioned Satt Daddy dalliance. Forget the leaving on an important weekend (LOVE the families!).
Coach Coop was brought in to do a job that he is one of the best at. He took an already stellar Florida recruiting department and turned it into one of the best in the SEC. He had high four-star and five-star players interacting with him on social media on a daily basis. Coop is what Louisville football has needed for years. He was savvy, relatable, and made relationships and connections that would have brought in high-level talent.
Before Coop, Louisville was filling out 70 percent of its recruiting classes with guys who were considering App State, Boston College, and Tulsa. During Coops brief stint, the Cardinals were gaining traction with some elite P5-level players.
Losing Cooper is a big deal unless the staff can go out and find someone equally as talented.
However, we are in the heart of recruiting season. We are in the middle of camp season. This is when the Louisville football staff should be reeling in some commitments that will effect the future of the program. Instead, one of the employees tasked with doing so is out the door for greener pastures.
I’ll remain loyal. But it doesn’t mean I am going to be happy about it.
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