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Making the Case for Scott Satterfield

Mark BlankenbakerNovember 29, 2018

Scott Satterfield
Age: 45
Record: 50-24
Bowl Record: 3-0
Current Salary: $712,500 After Bonus – $425,00 base
Current Buyout: $425,000 amended September 21, 2018 (USAToday Database does not reflect correct figure).

Why He Can Succeed At Louisville

Satterfield’s teams are sound, fundamental, play with toughness and they don’t get penalties. It’s notable when watching Appalachian State play that the players care about one another.

Satterfield led App State from FCS to the FBS moving from the Southern Conference to the Sun Belt Conference. He’s 50-24 in 6 years and his only losing season was the 1st one. Since then it has been 7-5, 11-2, 10-3, 9-3, and currently 9-2 and playing for the Sun Belt title on Sunday. He’s 3-0 in bowl games.

Scott has been with Appalachian State since the beginning as a Quarterback for the Mountaineers from 1991-95. He began his coaching career in 1998 as the Wide Receivers Coach, then coached the running backs from 1999-2002, and moved on to coach the QBs at Appalachian State from 2003-2008. Then Satterfield went to Toledo for a year and was then the Offensive Coordinator for Mario Cristobal when TY Hilton and Florida International shocked the Louisville Cardinals at home.

In 2012 Satterfield returned to App State as Offensive Coordinator and then became the HC in 2013-present.

Sun Belt teams regularly have to attempt success without the resources of the rest of college football and Satterfield’s teams have taken those teams to tasks and handled the better competition in the Sun Belt as well. Here are some example games:

2014 Lost to Southern Miss 21-20 in Hattiesburg
2015 Beat Neal Brown’s Troy 44-41 in 3 OT (home)
2015 Beat Ohio 31-29 in Camellia Bowl
2016 Lost to #9 Tennessee 20-13 in OT in Knoxville
2016 Beat Toldeo 31-28 in Camellia Bowl
2017 Lost to Wake Forest 20-19 (home)
2017 Beat vs. Toledo 34-0 in Dollar General Bowl
2018 Lost to #10 Penn State 45-38 in OT in Beaver Stadium
2018 Beat Neal Brown’s Troy 21-10 (home)

Concerns

Recruiting? Currently the Mountaineers are ranked 89th in the country in recruiting rankings. Last year App State finished 113th. Satterfield has been able to find success without highly ranked recruiting classes, which you might expect at a place like Appalachian State. But this is a different level and players have to play. If Scott Satterfield is the UofL Head Football coach he’ll be expected to recruit at a higher level than he currently has.

The good news on the recruiting front is that Appalachian State is naturally going to lose recruiting battles in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida because of the profile of the schools in that region……. BUT he’s been working that region! He’s also spent time in Miami during his time at FIU and the recruiting region is not too dissimilar than the geography UofL typically attracts.

It will also be interesting to see who Satterfield might attract as assistant coaches, what their quality in recruiting and development might be. Does he retain much of the staff he currently has in Boone or does he have a Rolodex that he can reliably draw from?

Why He Might Be Attainable

Scott Satterfield currently makes $712,500 per year (according to the USA Today database). Appalachian State is not a Power 5 school and he’ll make a great deal more money for him and his family should he be named UofL’s head coach.

Why He Might Not Be Attainable

Satterfield is an Appalachian State graduate. He’s been at the school for a total of 25 years either as a player or a coach since 1991. He’s only spent 3 seasons away from Boone since 1991.