By As Scott Satterfield enters the fourth season of his tenure at Louisville, he’s sitting on the proverbial hot seat. He’s taken the Cardinals to a pair of bowl games, but he’s compiled a pedestrian 18-19 overall record and a 12-13 mark in ACC games.
In addition to those mediocre numbers, there’s a hometown hero (Jeff Brohm) that’s thriving elsewhere (Purdue), one who left the door wide open for a potential return to his alma mater when speaking at a local function last month.
In other words, there’s a high probability that Satterfield needs a big season (at least eight regular-season wins?) to survive and prevent Louisville from making another run at its former quarterback and offensive coordinator.
We’ll see what happens with the wins and losses this fall but, if Satterfield’s recent work on the recruiting trail is any indicator, he’s planning to stick around The ‘Ville indefinitely.
On Monday night, Louisville added to its 2023 recruiting class with a commitment from Rueben Owens, a five-star running back out of El Campo, TX.
Since these type of things have been tracked over the last two decades, Owens is only the second five-star player in program history. 2003 RB Michael Bush is the only player with a higher recruiting ranking that’s pledged to the Cardinals.
Owens, who is the country’s top-ranked RB, elevates Louisville’s class to No. 11 nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite. The Cardinals have already secured commitments from 10 total players, including a quartet of four-star prospects.
As if Louisville’s outstanding work on the recruiting trail wasn’t surprising enough, consider that nine of the 10 pledges are out-of-state players, including five from California. The Cardinals have landed the No. 6, No. 10, No. 13, No. 30 and No. 31-ranked players from The Golden State.
Only Clemson — fifth nationally with one five-star and nine four-star commitments — is ahead of Louisville among ACC schools in the 2023 class.
As always, these are verbal commitments that mean nothing until pen meets paper on National Signing Day. Whether these players make it to Kentucky and whether Satterfield sees Year 4 of his tenure at U of L, remains to be seen.
Whatever the case, it’s great news for Satterfield and the Cardinals in the short run. The long run is still to be determined.
