Satterfield abandons Louisville: what does is mean for the 2023 class?

While everyone slept on Sunday night, Scott Satterfield grabbed his go bag and fled up I-71 to become the next head coach of the University of Cincinnati. Players, coaches, fans, and 2023 high school football commits woke up this morning, checked social media, and discovered that their leader had left his post, and they would have to figure out contingency plans just two weeks and a few days before National Signing Day.

Many questions now exist. The first is who will replace Satterfield. Most people are guessing Purdue head coach and former Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm will fill the void. That seems likely but people thought that in 2018 and things obviously didn't work out. Even if Brohm is hired and this happens say, in the next few days, he doesn't have a relationship with any of these recruits or their families.

The next question is what happens to Louisville's top-25 recruiting class? After Louisville lost to Boston College this season people were speculating that Satterfield would get the axe and the class would fall apart. On the other hand, it was claimed (by me and a few others) that the NIL deals the players received were the key to Louisville's success and if a new coach was hired there would be time to keep the class together. While the NIL deals are still in place, presumably, the time to sell the players on a new system is not. Even if Satterfield's recruiting prowess didn't have much to do with the recruits committing, they were pitched on their fit in his system. Now he is gone and there is no idea what system will replace his. If a high end recruit like four-star receiver DeAndre Moore has the option to play at Texas or Georgia with system's in place why take a chance on committing to a school like Louisville that has a vacuum there?

Another glaring question is what assistant coaches follow Satterfield to Cincinnati? Does quarterbacks coach Pete Thomas leave? He is credited with laying the ground work that landed four-star quarterback Pierce Clarkson and his father Steve has been instrumental in helping to secure commitments from so many other of Clarkson's teammates and close associates. Does Thomas get retained by the new coach if he doesn't follow Satterfield?

Even if Jeff Brohm is hired and this happens in the next few days, he doesn't have a relationship with any of these recruits or their families. This makes retaining the current assistants essential to keeping this class together. However, requiring a new coach to retain staff members of the old regime also makes the job less appealing.

It doesn't seem like anyone (me, I'm talking about myself here) with any gambling sense would put their money on this class surviving Satterfield's exit.

While talk-radio hosts and callers are celebrating the fact that Scott Satterfield is no longer going to be patrolling the sidelines in front of an empty stadium, the new coach may be coming in trying to fill an empty recruiting class as well.