OT-ish: Cincinnati hires Scott Satterfield (Louisville HC) to replace Fickell
Sources: Louisville’s Scott Satterfield expected to become the next head coach at Cincinnati.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 5, 2022
Little bit of an interesting hire, but it looks like Cincinnati has grabbed Scott Satterfield to replace Fickell. Satterfield was 25-24 (15-18 ACC) at Louisville, but was going to bring in a top-25 class next year with 8 blue chip recruits. Have to imagine some of those guys will be following him to Cincinnati.
I also say OT-ish because there had been rumors that some Buckeye coaches were interested/interviewed in the job, but it looks like we'll have to hope Hartline gets a Coordinator promotion somewhere else.
This could also shake things up for Purdue and the West. Jeff Brohm is a Louisville native/alumni, and in 2018 Louisville made a real push to hire him, before he chose to stay at Purdue. Satterfield leaving voluntarily spares Louisville a possible firing buyout, and Brohm could think that back to back 6-3 B1G conference seasons is Purdue's ceiling, especially with Wisconsin/Nebraska upgrading their coaching staffs. There's no doubt it would be easier to coach/win in the ACC than the B1G.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:45 AM ^
As someone mentioned in another thread, the risk is OC Moore coached there previously.
December 5th, 2022 at 11:09 AM ^
Louisville feels like a pretty tough place to succeed. Why would Moore want that job?
December 5th, 2022 at 12:00 PM ^
There is a lot of funding coming into the program to boost NIL/recruiting already. Best guess would be they bring Brohm home, and the alumni infuse as much money as it takes to start winning again. Could end up with a TAMU scenario, but the money is definitely there to boost recruiting.
December 5th, 2022 at 1:31 PM ^
Also Louisville is kind of a cool little big southern city. Cool stadium located in downtown. If they can get a winning football team fans will come out.
December 5th, 2022 at 12:48 PM ^
Easy place to succeed, as they go. Tons of Adidas money that makes up for crappy conference money, weak conference but still P5, decent recruiting grounds especially if Cincinnati is in for a downcycle. Heck of a lot better than most of the HC gigs available for an OC who's not a Venables-level star. And if you win there, you'd be a candidate for a lot of B1G/SEC gigs as they come open.
December 5th, 2022 at 11:58 AM ^
I assume they go after Jeff Brohm first.
December 5th, 2022 at 1:41 PM ^
I know he's already turned them down once, but he has to see that his ceiling is about to get much lower at Purdue. Who between Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, UCLA, USC, and Wisconsin can he expect to regularly beat or outright avoid?
December 5th, 2022 at 9:46 AM ^
Also worth noting - Cincinnati and Louisville play each other in the Fenway Bowl in 2 weeks. Wonder if Satterfield will show up to the game for Cincinnati, or just stay away.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:47 AM ^
So what you're saying is his team can't lose.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:54 AM ^
All part of the long game...
December 5th, 2022 at 11:07 AM ^
Yeah I noticed that too. That might be a little awkward.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^
that's a weird one...louisville to cincinnati is the lateral-est of lateral moves.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:58 AM ^
Seriously, it's like going from Springfield to Shelbyville.
He must've wanted to be on the other side of the Ohio River.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:19 AM ^
Shut up and celebrate with a cool glass of turnip juice.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:01 AM ^
does seem odd..... He must like the thought of competing in the Big 12 more than the ACC.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:27 AM ^
Or he was very close to getting a firm handshake from Louisville and took the escape chute when it was offered to him. No clue why the Bearcats would be moving to the P5 and think it makes sense to go after a coach floundering as a P5 coach in basically the exact same region and recruiting footprint
December 5th, 2022 at 10:29 AM ^
That’s reasonable. FSU is going to be a monster again starting next year, and so there are some real limitations.
December 5th, 2022 at 11:10 AM ^
Have to disagree. Much easier to succeed at Cincinnati, and a program with a better reputation.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:48 AM ^
I was just formatting an entry on this exact topic. Yours is more informative so that is good for everyone. This means Minter is no longer being considered for the Cincinnati job and will likely stay put. Gotta love that. We also play Purdue next season and if Brohm is off to Louisville that is (likely) better for us. Thanks Cincinnati.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:59 AM ^
While I hope you are right, there is a big gap between “Cincy job filled” and “Minter likely staying put.” I’m guessing there might be another opportunity or two for the top DC in the country, but I love your optimism.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:15 AM ^
There is some wiggle room but it's hard to believe he is leaving Michigan for any other DC position unless Georgia is looking...
December 5th, 2022 at 10:18 AM ^
NFL is more likely
December 5th, 2022 at 11:16 AM ^
Are the ravens cutting Macdonald loose so soon?
December 5th, 2022 at 9:54 AM ^
Someone, somewhere suggested that Jesse Minter was under consideration. Don't know if that was serious or a joke, but either way, Cincy's loss is our gain.
December 5th, 2022 at 9:56 AM ^
That was a very serious consideration for them. Jessie‘s father is a coaching legend at Cincinnati.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:18 AM ^
“Jessie‘s father is a coaching legend at Cincinnati.”
Such a legend that Cincinnati fired him.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:30 AM ^
😂 legend may be an overstatement. But then again, woody was fired, tressel was fired, dirty urban was forced to resign… Ohio is a weird state.
December 5th, 2022 at 11:04 AM ^
Rick Minter's record in ten years at Cincinnati was 53-63-1 or an average of 5-6 per season. If Jesse Minter was considered, it was in spite of the history with Rick Minter.
December 5th, 2022 at 11:34 AM ^
Rick Minter is to Cincinnati what Wayne Fontes is to the Detroit Lions: he's got both the largest number of victories and the largest number of losses.
December 5th, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
Hayes was fired for his punch in the Gator Bowl (which was just the last in a long list of incidents of Hayes either physically assaulting people or abusing officials). Tressel and Meyer were fired for off-the-field stuff, not for their win-loss records.
Minter was definitely fired for his win-loss record:
https://www.upi.com/Cincinnati-fires-FB-coach-Rick-Minter/13151070317567/
December 5th, 2022 at 10:17 AM ^
Seems underwhelming, as Satterfield was .500 at Louisville, although he was very successful at App St.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:17 AM ^
Let me give you an absolutely insane scenario: We keep the same coordinators for two consecutive seasons!!!
December 5th, 2022 at 11:31 AM ^
I like your definition of insanity…
December 5th, 2022 at 11:41 AM ^
Hahaha wouldn’t that be something.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:19 AM ^
OP, It is rather unclear to me that Wicsonsin's new staff is a marked upgrade on Chryst.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:23 AM ^
Seems like Louisville is the likely winner of this. Louisville is rid of Satterfield and may get to upgrade to Brohm. Purdue might be back to hiring the sexy MAC coach du jour and there's no reason to think Satterfield will be successful at Cincinnati when he wasn't at similar job in a better situation just down river.
Not what Cincinnati needs right when they're stepping up a difficulty level
December 5th, 2022 at 11:17 AM ^
Tim Lester to Purdue!
December 5th, 2022 at 1:08 PM ^
Scott Loeffler to Louisville!
December 5th, 2022 at 10:35 AM ^
(Waved my hand slowly)
Moore and Minter aren't the coordinators you're looking for.
They can go about their business.
Move along.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:41 AM ^
Louisville to Cincinnati doesn't exactly seem like a move up, but more of a move sideways and over at best. In any case, when I heard about this, my immediate wonder was whether or not they would make another run at Jeff Brohm because they wanted him rather desperately a few years ago.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:49 AM ^
All I care is its not Minter! Playoffs may have saved us.
December 5th, 2022 at 10:55 AM ^
Satterfield was a great coach at App State. Never really a good fit at Louisville culturally. Maybe a fresh start at Cincinnati will be good for all parties. Two things especially stand out. 1 - Satterfield led the transition at App State from FCS to FBS, and now he leads Cincinnati from G5 to P5. He knows how to handle increased expectations and challenges. And 2 - Cincinnati will now have to recruit a different territory. Yes they will still focus on SW Ohio, but the plains, Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida will now be recruiting territory due to conference travel. Satterfield probably will have to create a whole new recruiting game in Texas and Oklahoma because I don't think he's ever recruited there.
December 5th, 2022 at 11:09 AM ^
Since Fickell is gone is he allowed to be on the sideline for the Wisconsin game or does he just wait until after the game to move in the coaches room?
December 5th, 2022 at 11:43 AM ^
Shame they didn't hire Kerry Coombs. /s
December 5th, 2022 at 12:00 PM ^
To be totally honest, Coombs is going to be a great head coach somewhere in Ohio. He's a far better coach than coordinator. Knows every high school head coach and is a great recruiter. I'm thinking he's the next head coach at Miami (NTM) and is going to out recruit the entire MAC.
December 5th, 2022 at 12:02 PM ^
Minter would be a big loss, but Moore is the best in the business.
December 5th, 2022 at 12:06 PM ^
My initial thought went like this
Cincinnati>Louisville>Purdue?
then I thought we’ll that’s in reverse how odd.
December 5th, 2022 at 12:09 PM ^
Is Louisville a better job than Purdue though?? I probably have a Midwest bias, but I would much rather stay at Purdue win between 7 and 9 games a year, and have a reasonably happy fan base than have to move my family and go to Louisville.
December 5th, 2022 at 1:14 PM ^
It's funny that Cincy went this direction because it was my understanding that Louisville was thinking of canning Satterfield at various times this season because of underperformance.