Louisville football: Scott Satterfield confident in June recruiting

Louisville football welcomed visitors back to campus in flocks this June. Will it lead to a strong finish in 2022?

June was a month that every college football coach had circled as it was the official end to the nearly two-year-long dead period. Much like every other industry across the US, sports recruiting was impacted like never before due to the COVID pandemic. Louisville football, along with all other CFB programs, recruited “blindly” in 2021. No in-person evaluations, face-to-face meetings, camps, or visits. The most *certain* industry was all of a sudden so uncertain.

While still not being 100% back to “normal,” the new recruiting period represented the closest thing to normalcy since 2019. Recruiting visits could continue. Camps could once again be hosted. Recruits could spend time one-on-one with coaches, players, and really get a feel for a program that wasn’t possible during COVID.

Knowing what June would bring, Louisville football made multiple big changes to prepare. Those included hiring new recruiting personnel such as David Cooper, a rising figure out of the University of Florida as well as Carolina McMurray from Oklahoma. Cooper would serve as the Recruiting Coordinator while McMurry’s role dedicated 100% to on-campus recruiting.

Within days of the calendar flipping to June, Louisville was hosting 100’s of players for visits, camps, events, and much more. The recruiting future looked bright, as multiple four-star players scheduled official visits (a big deal considering the number allowed) for the class of 2022 and countless other highly-rated players in the classes of 2023 and 2024 scheduled camp stays and unofficial.

It was the official visits though when announced by players and outlets covering Louisville, that really pushed optimism of the recruiting future to a new level. Thanks to the recruiting connections of Cooper, four-star, top 200-300 players like Christen Miller (DT), Trey Donaldson, Stone Blanton (LB), and countless other big-name prospects scheduled their visits. Things looked prime for Louisville football.

June’s big set back

Let’s be honest, recruiting has always been and always will be a major debate when it comes to Scott Satterfield. But the fervor in which fans talked about recruiting picked up when things quickly starting going south for Louisville.

That started with the news of David Cooper taking a job at Georgia after just four months as a Cardinal. As the new Recruiting Coordinator, ‘Coach Coop’ brought a newfound swagger and excitement to Louisville. Whether it was generating interest in Louisville football among multiple high-level four-star players, interacting with 5-star players on Twitter, or just getting the fan base hyped about recruiting – Coop seemed right at home.

His exit on the first major weekend of the live period called for major red flags. The same fans who praised the hiring of Cooper and mentioned his potential as a huge deal for the Cards were the same ones saying it didn’t matter. In reality, it did matter. It mattered a lot. No matter the details of what enticed Cooper to leave (increased salary, closer to home, much bigger program) the news of it was a massive blow to the momentum of Louisville.

It’s hard to really get your footing in a role in only four months but we saw the impact of Cooper leaving almost instantly. Top 200 defensive tackle Christen Miller, a Georgia native, canceled his previous visit and essentially eliminated Louisville. Trey Donaldson, a four-star point guard, and four-star safety did the same. Recruiting schedules change all the time, so missing out on getting both on campus was totally abnormal. However, the direct correlation to Cooper, now no longer at Louisville, all but eliminated Satterfield and company.

The thuds hurt, but the month went on.

Louisville or App State?

Much like we’ve seen in each of the last two summers, the commitments started to come in quickly. After months of just two recruits, Louisville quickly got to six.

The debate continued to rage on as Louisville picked up commitments from multiple unranked and unheralded recruits. Some were excited about the potential and understood the circumstances. Others, including myself, questioned the talent level of the players being recruited to some degree.

Satterfield’s recruiting has always centered on finding the “right fit” and “right guy” for his schemes, sometimes overlooking rankings. We’ve seen the staff take chances on numerous players already whose offer sheets don’t quite stack up to what you’d expect from an ACC school standpoint. Stars have always been significant, but more than ever they’ve caused debate.

We saw that in full form when unranked offensive lineman Max Cabana, a Canada native, committed to the Cards. After not having a season in 2020, Cabana’s offer sheet wasn’t what you’d normally see for Louisville, and many debated whether he was worth the scholarship. That continued for the recruitments of JUCO transfers of Brock Domann & Trey Franklin (2021) and all the way through the end of the month, as the Cards landed players with offers like Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Brown, Central Michigan, and other less prominent schools.

Louisville was able to land commitments from three stars, Zavion Thomas and Izaiah Reed, while also picking up a verbal from unranked but highly sought-after receiver Chance Morrow who held offers from Oklahoma, Miami, Notre Dame, and others. All three were exciting additions for numerous reasons and helped the class take a step up.

Outside of the 2022 class, Louisville football began to evaluate who they planned to pursue in the class of 2022 and 2023. Hundreds of players from all over the country were on campus for several on-field camps and training sessions as well as unofficial visits. They hosted multiple high-level players, including four-star QB’s Pierce Clarkson and Marcel Reed, and had countless other three and four-star attend camps. This has Louisville headed in the right direction, but all will come down to whether Louisville can keep the bigger fish away over the next year.

All in all, the month of June ended with multiple commitments and got Satterfield one step closer to completing the class. Is it what fans expected? That question gets a different answer depending on who you talk to. They landed players who the staff deemed as good fits, with high talent, and the ability to contribute in some type of way. But they also *may* have reached on a few players as well.

Just as important they invested in future classes by hosting camps and getting to know the players & their families. It may not feel like a big deal now, but if the cards are played right, it will pay dividends.

June “was outstanding”

With June now in the rearview mirror, Scott Satterfield was asked how things went. Despite the bad news of Cooper leaving and a few big-name recruits choosing other schools, things were very positive for Louisville football. Satterfield told the media:

The month of June was outstanding for us. We hosted a lot of great recruits and a lot of great families. It was the most busiest June I’ve ever been a part of. I think probably too far, the fact that nobody has been on campus for a year and a half, and everybody’s anxious to get on campus, and to be able to see them. Once you open the doors, they were all there. Then the fact that potential camps is a chance for official visits, all those things, I think it was a great June for us and hopefully we’ll finish off with the great end of July, and then obviously head into the season.

I honestly don’t think I’ve heard Satterfield ever say anything negative about being the coach at Louisville, so I didn’t expect him to start here. June saw multiple highs and multiple lows, but all-in-all it appears the staff is happy.

Holding six commitments, Louisville will most likely only end up taking six to seven more players – not all of whom will come from the high school ranks. Missing out on players like White, Justin Williams, Felix Hixon, Clipper, and others hurts but there’s more than enough time to rebound. Having six recruits in the fold (which would be like having 12-15 in a normal class) is huge. The rankings may not be there (yet) but the base is strong with key players like Popeye Williams, Khalib Johnson, and Thomas.

The Cards have a very young roster, most of which is unproven, so recruiting is set to be very fluid this season; maybe even more than usual. As Satterfield and co. get more comfortable with their team on the field and see where their needs are things will change. The best thing moving forward will be for the team to win. The more they win the better they’ll recruit.

Until then, fans will fan over recruiting and argue senselessly.