Cincinnati hires Louisville coach Scott Satterfield to guide transition to Big 12

There were rumors going into Louisville’s Oct. 8 game at Virginia that a Cardinals loss could mean the end for coach Scott Satterfield.

Louisville won that one, 34-17, rallying from an early 10-0 deficit, went on to win five of its next six, finished 7-5, and Satterfield, today, is writing his own ticket out of the Bluegrass State.

Cincinnati announced Monday that it had hired Satterfield, who has a 76-48 record in 10 seasons at Louisville and Appalachian State, to replace Luke Fickell, who left last week to take the job at Wisconsin.

Satterfield had directed Louisville back from the dumpster fire of Bobby Petrino, whose last season in his second stint at the school, 2018, ended with a 2-10 record.

Satterfield, who had compiled a 51-24 record in six seasons at App State, winning 10 or more games in three of his last four seasons, had Louisville back in a bowl in 2019 with an 8-5 record, before putting up a 4-7 season in 2020 and a 6-7 mark in 2021.

The appeal to Cincinnati AD John Cunningham is that Satterfield has led two rebuilding efforts, including the one at App State that included that program making the jump from FCS to FBS.

Cincinnati will be making something of a similar jump next year, moving from the AAC to the Big 12.

“He’s been through it all. He’s also taken a school from the FCS to the FBS, which is a really tough transition. There’s time with us going to the Big 12. That’s important. He has that calm way about him during these types of moments,” Cunningham said.