Scott Satterfield Dives Into Nuances of Playing Youth, What Came Out of Sunday's Team Meeting

Cincinnati did some soul-searching as a program over the last few days.

CINCINNATI — The Bearcats season is essentially down the tubes with no hope for postseason play amidst a seven-game losing streak, but Scott Satterfield says the program won't quit fighting across the final three games of the season.

It's a fine line to dance between developing for next year and making sure the program sends its veterans out the right way.

"I've seen some great players, players that are drafted, that maybe took two years before they even started and all of a sudden now, they're developed and they're really good players. It's about having a little bit of patience and continuing to work but some of them are not trying to hear that. Some want to play now, you think about as coaches, we don't want to redshirt this guy for somebody else because now he may after a year or two decide to go play somewhere else and that's not good. So, there's a fine line there. But if you want to build your program, right, if the players are not 100% ready, then you don’t play them, you redshirt them.

"Maybe if some are ready, you try to play them in four games to get them some time in the game. Give them some experience, because I do believe that next spring and in that next offseason, they're going to have something to build off of. They're going to have something to coach off of for us as coaches. So, I do think that is very beneficial. There are others that you just want to go ahead and play because they're good enough to help you even if it isn't a limited role.”

Cincinnati started that process a bit by starting Kalen Carroll for the first time in his career, plus, some other defensive players like Jah-Mal Williams, Rob Jackson, and Jonathan Thompson have gotten run.

Offensively, most of the same veteran names have played all year, outside of a few snaps for Evan Prater, and limited time Barry Jackson and Brady Lichtenberg last week. Discipline and untimely mistakes by too many of the veterans have Cincinnati playing out the string with nothing on the line when it comes to postseason play.

“They all showed up and that was good," Satterfield said about a "heated" Sunday at the Bearcats facility. "That was a positive. But it was a heated team meeting. Several coaches spoke up in the meeting, even players. Listen 85-90% of our players are doing exactly what they need to be doing but some are not. The key, as coaches, we have to do the best job we can to get everybody pulling in the same direction, doing the things that it takes to win and to play disciplined football. When you don't, there are consequences. You’re going to get called out, you're going to get coached hard. That’s what it was a lot of the time. To be able to point that out in a team meeting and in a team setting so everybody can see it. You put it all out there on the table.

"So, we all know what we're working with. We all know how we need to get better. Because maybe you're a guy who has made those mistakes, but you're hearing what mistakes you've made so you’re saying, ‘I don't want to make them.’ They need to hear that. It’s not just a one-on-one conversation. The whole team needs to hear it and that's kind of what we had, and it was a really good meeting. The guys are coming out hard and trying to continue to compete. I thought Sunday night was that way at practice and I think today it will be those guys coming out and competing hard.”

The 2023 season is lost, but with three stops left on the trip, the program has to find a way to squeeze as much development and positive momentum out as possible before going on winter break at the end of the month.

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