Governor’s Cup Week has arrived, so who’s the better coach? Stoops or Satterfield?
We kick off another Governor’s Cup week with a simple question.
Which coach has done the better job in 2019?
Is it Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, who took a team depleted by graduation, that moved a wide receiver to quarterback six games into the season and still steered the ship to bowl eligibility?
Or is it Louisville’s Scott Satterfield, who in his first season at the ‘Ville took the dumpster fire left behind by his unpopular predecessor and found a way to squeeze out seven victories even before the Cards’ biannual trip to Kroger Field?
Has to be Satterfield, right? After all, Louisville was 2-10 just one disastrous season ago. So bad were the Cardinals that not even Bobby Petrino’s history of grooming Lamar Jackson could save the controversial U of L coach from getting canned before season’s end in his second go-round with the Cards.
As expected, Louisville Athletics Director Vince Tyra went all-in on poaching former U of L quarterback Jeff Brohm from Purdue. Alas, Brohm opted to remain in West Lafayette, thereby leaving Louisville in a serious lurch.
Or so we thought. Turned out Tyra had a savvy Plan B. He promptly hired the 46-year-old Satterfield away from Appalachian State, where the Mountaineers had gone 51-24 in five seasons under the North Carolina native’s direction.
Almost overnight the ‘Ville experienced a mood change. Upbeat and forthright, Satterfield was a welcome relief from the prickly Petrino. The new coach rallied a fan base beaten down by the poundings in football and the scandals in basketball. Twinned with Tyra’s hiring of basketball coach Chris Mack, the new U of L AD looks 2-for-2 in major sports hires.
Still, consensus assumed it would take Satterfield time to produce on-the-field results. Wrong. Last Saturday’s 56-34 victory over visiting Syracuse improved the Cards to 7-4 overall, including 5-3 in the ACC. Louisville’s defense needs work, but it is 28th nationally in total offense and 25th in both rushing and scoring offense.
Said Tyra last week, “We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure this coaching staff is here for a long time.”
Which brings us to the 52-year-old Stoops, who after Kentucky’s 50-7 romp over UT Martin on Saturday confirmed that, despite reports of a meeting with Florida State, he plans on remaining in the Bluegrass for a long time building the program he took over seven seasons ago.
And this might be his best coaching job of the seven, even better than last year’s historic 10-win campaign. After all, that team had Josh Allen, Benny Snell, Lonnie Johnson, Mike Edwards, C.J. Conrad, Derrick Baity, Bunchy Stallings and Jordan Jones, just to name a few.
This team did not. And yet, despite widespread youth on defense, Stoops and first-year coordinator Brad White’s group ranks 22nd nationally in total yards allowed. Not one of UK’s last five foes has managed to reach the 300-yard mark in total offense. That happened just four times last year.
On offense, Stoops lost starting quarterback Terry Wilson to in injury the second game of the season and backup Sawyer Smith three games later. What followed was the decision that saved the season. Offensive coordinator Eddie Gran moved Lynn Bowden, the team’s best player, from wide receiver to quarterback, his old high school position, and devised a run-heavy attack that played to Bowden’s strengths.
The Cats are 4-2 since. They clinched a fourth straight bowl game by battering UT Martin to the tune of a school-record 462 rushing yards. Moreover, in both the 38-14 thumping of Vanderbilt the previous week and Saturday’s scorching of the Skyhawks, enough young, talented Wildcats saw the field to give Big Blue Nation plenty of optimism.
Which returns us to our original question.
Answer: It doesn’t matter.
Kentucky fans might not be happy Louisville has landed on Satterfield so soon after Petrino. And Louisville fans might not be happy Stoops has kept Kentucky’s bowl streak alive. But college football fans in Kentucky should be thrilled the state is now home to them both.
Saturday, they go head-to-head for the first time. Stoops vs. Satterfield, Round 1. Should be fun.
Next game
Louisville at Kentucky
Noon Saturday (SEC Network)
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 7:53 AM.
