Louisville football saw some very concerning regression in year two under Scott Satterfield. But, fear not, I have a nine-step plan.
Picture a world where you’re (Michael) Scott Satterfield and you have to address the company shareholders (Louisville football fans and boosters) following a rough quarter (season).
A once-promising company (football program) has fallen on hard times, and even though there is promise, the leader has to speak for what’s happened.
You know that in the worst way you need to win back your shareholders (loyal supporters) despite the struggles. In order to send a loud message of unity, you bring all of your staff and top-performing internal staff members to sit on stage with you. However, you also realize you need someone who can connect with the angry people in the seats.
So what do you do? You bring a fan and that fan just so happens to be me – a former season ticket holder, website owner, podcaster, and Louisville football fan.
You send a town car to pick up my three friends and I (you sent a limo? WOW, you really must care).
We drive all the way to a hotel and you invite us up to your suite. That is where I get to meet you (Scott Satterfield), Vince Tyra, along with all of the football staff.
Even though I am instructed otherwise, I sense in that short meeting that I may need to do more than just stand up and wave when you introduce me to my fellow fans in the crowd. Maybe a twirl? Some finger guns? They need me to lead the way. To send the message to fans loud and clear that 2021 is OUR YEAR.
Finally, you (Coach Satt) introduce everyone, including me, whom you call “Louisville football’s smartest fan.” I stand, I wave, and I twirl.
As you begin to address the fans, things are not going well. Your explanations for why the team underperformed are falling on deaf ears. These fans and supporters take time out of their weeks to support the team. They skip vacations and other important events to see your team play instead. They want answers, damn it!
“You haven’t said anything meaningful and we’re approaching Ron Cooper Territory,” proclaims a fan.
“BOO this man,” shouts another. Some of the crowd members erupt into boos. The staff quickly begins to leave the stage.
“Now is my moment,” I think as I am filing off stage. So, I grab the mic, and I try to help.
“That’s not gonna happen,” chimes in Louisville’s smartest fan (me). “We’ll be back with some answers. I know that you’re mad at me and you’re mad at all of them.”
“HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FIX THE TEAM?” yells an incensed crowd member.
“We’re going to have a plan,” I shout back. “It’s a 45-day plan. 45 days to get us back on track. 45 points. It’s a 45 day, 45 points, one point per day, we get 45 points and we’re back in business.”
The crowd goes wild. Finally someone has a plan. I begin to walk off stage, but I can’t help but play to the crowd. I grab the mic once more.
“And you can take that to the bank,” I shout. “And Flyville 2022 is going to be loaded with 4 and 5 stars!”
At this point, you’ve either realized that this is a scene from The Office or you have no idea what I’m talking about.
The whole point of this article is to walk you through what the offseason is going to look like for Louisville football.
I’ll do so in a 3 article, 9 point plan.
We will start with point no. 9 and work backwards.
Here’s how I am going to fix Louisville football.
Point 1: Take the next step in offensive line play
As the offensive line coach at North Carolina State, year three is when things changed in a major way.
In his three years prior to joining Satterfield at Louisville – Ledford turned his linemen into what could only be classified as juggernauts.
NC State’s sacks allowed rating during Ledford’s time:
- 2015 – 111th (Pre-Ledford)
- 2016- 19th
- 2017 – 5th
- 2018 – 3rd (Last season)
Louisville’s sacks allowed during Ledford’s time:
- 2018 – 127th (Pre-Ledford)
- 2019 – 117th
- 2020 – 97th
- 2021 – ?
Taking over the 127th best unit in pass protection, Ledford’s coaching moved Louisville to 117th in 2019 and all the way up to 97th in 2020. As you can see in 2018, as the OL coach at NC State, Ledford helped his group finish 3rd nationally in sacks allowed.
Should Ledford keep on the type of pace he’s on now, Louisville would likely end up in the 70-80 range. However, considering how much returns and what is awaiting in the depths, there is a belief this group could take an even bigger jump.
Once again Louisville will lose key pieces, at least so we think.
Though Robbie Bell has decided to return for the extra “free” year, it appears that both starting center Cole Bentley and swing guard/tackle, Cam DeGeorge will not. That leaves offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford with two spots to fill right off the bat.
Then there is taking the returning starters in Adonis Boone, Renato Brown, and Caleb Chandler and building upon what we saw in 2020. Though they took a step back in run blocking, the pass protection did get better.
Louisville football gave up a lot of pressure this past season and it led to struggles in the run game and inefficiencies passing. Still, even without their star tackles Mekhi Becton & Tyler Haycraft, they improved. 39 sacks were given up in 2019, compared to the 30 allowed in 2020 with two new young starters.
With a strong foundation set, 2021 should be the year where the offensive line takes a massive step forward. But who takes the two available spots?
At center, you’re likely to see either redshirt freshman Jackson Gregory for the first time or maybe even new transfer, Bryan Hudson. Bentley has been a mainstay at Louisville for three years, and replacing his production will be tough.
At guard, there will be plenty of options. Whether it be Hudson, Austin Collins, Kobe Baynes, Luke Kandra, Michael Gonzalez, or even Bell (assuming he’s able to get healthy), Ledford finally has the depth to build the way he envisioned.
Assuming it is allowed, spring practice will be crucial to Ledford. The competition up front should finally be at the level he expects, which means the product on the field is bound to improve.
Getting improvement out of Cunningham at quarterback, especially with deciding when to throw the ball away, should help improve the sack numbers. However, where they will really need improvement is run blocking.
Point 2: Develop playmakers in the secondary
Looking at the other side of the ball, filling in the gaps in the secondary will be a huge priority this offseason.
For the first time at Louisville, Satterfield will lose the majority of his starting secondary. This will be a big blow to the Cards defense as a whole, considering the secondary was responsible for the biggest defensive growth.
Jumping from 96th in total pass defense to 20th this past season, Bryan Brown’s group finally began to show real potential. Over the course of the season, the defense (and secondry) did everything they could to put the team in a position to win. More times than not, the offense squandered that opoortunity.
The addition of Kei’Trel Clark changed the Louisville defense, as he was the perfect complement to Chandler Jones and Marlon Character, as well as Russ Yeast. They became faster and more aggressive making far more plays than they did in ’19, although it didn’t lead to as many forced turnovers.
Unfortunately, Brown will lose three starters, including both of his safeties, as well as arguably his second-best corner. That’s why there will be a premium on developing the young talent who sat in the wings for most of the season.
Related: Why the return of CJ Avery is massive for Louisville football
Brown will have options to fill the immediate void left behind by Isaiah Hayes, Marlon Character, and Russ Yeast. Freshmen, Lovie Jenkins, and Josh Minkins will return for another season, as will former walk-on Jack Fagot at safety. At corner, Jones and Clark are set to return, as are young players like Jamel Starks, Greedy Vance, and Marqui Lowery, who will compete to see the field behind them.
While high-profile and versatile signees Ben Perry, Kani Walker, Derrick Edwards, Rance Conner, Bralyn Oliver, and others are set to trickle in starting in January. Their addition will not only provide solid depth but will also help with creating competition.
The safety group will be extremely young, which makes you wonder if Satterfield doesn’t try and bring in a graduate transfer or two this offseason. However, overall their potential impact is through the roof. Having a returning All-ACC player in Clark on one side, along with the veteran Jones on the other, there will be no time to waste. Louisville’s defense must begin to force turnovers if they want to take the next step in their progression, and even with young guys, that has to start happening soon.
Thankfully, between the returning young players and incoming freshmen – Louisville finds themselves in a damn good spot.
Point 3: Create competition at the quarterback position
Entering the 2021 football season, I feel comfortable proclaiming Malik Cunningham as THE guy at quarterback. Though 2020 wasn’t his best, we saw enough flashes to believe that he could could back to 2019 production (and winning).
However, as Michael Scott and Jim Halpert can operate as co-managers, I believe both believing Malik is the guy & proclaiming another quarterback is needed, can co-exist.
As the turnovers began to pile up last year, especially from Cunningham, many wondered if a change at quarterback was needed. Whether it was handing over the ball to Jawon Pass or Evan Conley, even I believed someone needed to get reps so Cunningham could sit. It was pretty obvious that Cunningham was the only man for the job as the Cards struggled to get back to their 2019 offensive explosion.
Despite his 12 interceptions and multiple fumbles, Satterfield stuck with Cunningham, something I can now appreciate. It allowed for Cunningham to play his best football down the stretch of the season. It wasn’t always pretty, but thanks to his ability to equally hurt defenses with his legs and arm, Cunningham deserved to play his way out of the mistakes.
There were opportunities in non-blow out games to turn to backups to try and find other ways to get the offense going, but it never happened. I’m not saying that Louisville football didn’t have good backups or a solid QB room in 2020, but there needs to always be competition.
With Pass and former three-star Tee Webb transferring, it opens up the door to bringing in new players who can actively compete for the starting position. Or, at least push Cunningham further along.
Whether that comes from a graduate transfer, a sit-out transfer, or either Evan Conley or inTJ Lewis. Malik needs to feel heat.
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