Recruiting Roundup: Assessing UC's Outlook With Scott Satterfield

The Bearcats just hired a successful recruiter to lead the program.

CINCINNATI — Scott Satterfield is the new head coach at UC, and his recruiting prowess is a big factor in the hire. The former Louisville head coach is kind of an opposite figure from the last leader in Clifton.

Satterfield is very locked in on NIL structures and has drastically improved the Cardinals recruiting base since arriving in Louisville. He's an offensive-minded coach who's struggled a bit to maximize his talent. The opposite of a defensive-minded, developmental coach in Luke Fickell.

Cincinnati's new NIL collective, Cincy Reigns, now comes into the picture as a big way for Satterfield to carry his Adidas-driven NIL structure at Louisville to Cincinnati's new environment. Albeit, with a different apparel company backing his new school starting in 2024.

That NIL power was on full display this cycle as Louisville currently boasts Sports Illustrated's 20th-ranked class nationally. A group that John Garcia Jr. pointed out was ripe for picking last week.

"Several programs are working on flipping Louisville commitments down the stretch of the recruiting cycle," Garcia wrote about Louisville's class. "Especially with a handful being from the state of California, while the current group of pledges to UofL could still be considered one of the top skill-position hauls in the country. How many stick with the Cardinals in the end?"

Satterfield has steadily improved each annual recruiting ranking during his time at Louisville.

• 2019 (year hired) - 71st, 15 enrollees
• 2020 - 44th, 26 enrollees
• 2021 - 41st, 26 enrollees
• 2022 - 35th, 16 enrollees
• 2023 - 19th, N/A

Rueben Owens headlines the 2023 Louisville class as the nation's top running back in 247Sports' rankings and the 21st-ranked player overall. He is the second-highest-rated UofL recruit in the 247Sports era.

Add in seven four-star talents, and you get a deep, dynamic recruiting class from Satterfield. A class with national reach, another divergence from Luke Fickell and the "300-mile radius" around UC.

The 2023 crew has one member fitting that criteria, while Satterfield's brought in just 16 combined players from the "radius" since 2020. He has mostly focused on the Carolinas (North Carolina native), Georgia, Florida, and some California, as Garcia noted.

Cincinnati has never signed a five-star recruit in program history. But Satterfield just did at a school with a lower ceiling than UC. It was clearly driven by NIL money, but why can't that be the case at UC with the new collective?

UC fans now have a legal, direct way to impact recruiting, and Satterfield can work that asset to his advantage. We'll see how many recruits he can retain or add before the signing day on Dec. 21.

The Bearcats class is tumbling down boards. It just dropped out of SI's Top 25 and is now ranked 48th overall by 247Sports. Cincinnati has 14 hard commits remaining. The most important being four-star QB Brady Drogosh, who fits Satterfield's dual-threat friendly scheme perfectly.

Drogosh now looks like the top priority for this entire program. 

Retaining him is crucial for the first few years of Big 12 action. He may already be better than Evan Prater and could be a potential day-one starter if they can hold onto him.

Although, Satterfield could choose a different route at QB if he wants. It's unknown how many St. John Bosco commits he will try and take to Cincinnati. Four-star QB Pierce Clarkson is actually rated higher than Drogosh, but NIL money will play a role. He is one of five St. John Bosco players to sign with Louisville this cycle.

A few more recruits will bail from UC, namely four-star safety Daeh McCullough and three-star tight end Jackson McGohan now fit as prime jump candidates. Still, the Bearcats should be able to keep at least ten recruits this cycle and build through the transfer portal.

The next few weeks will be very busy for the newest UC employee.

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