Appalachian State Hires Louisville QB Coach Frank Ponce as Offensive Coordinator

Ponce served as the Mountaineers' co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach prior to joining the Cardinals

(Photo of Frank Ponce: Michelle Hutchins/Special to Courier Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC)

BOONE, N.C. - Another member of the Louisville football program's offensive coaching staff is on the move.

Quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce, who joined head coach Scott Satterfield's staff when he was hired after the 2018 season, has been hired as the offensive coordinator for Appalachian State, the program announced Friday,

He will replace Tony Peterson, who held the same role this past season with the Mountaneers before taking the same position at Illinois last month.

Ponce has a plethora of ties to App State, as he served as their co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2013 to 2018. Prior to that, he spent six seasons as the wide receivers coach at Florida International, where he worked with Satterfield for the two seasons that he served as FIU’s offensive coordinator from 2010 to 2011.

In his two seasons at Louisville, starting quarterback Malik Cunningham has completed 63.5% of his passes and thrown for 4,678 yards and 42 touchdowns. In 2019, Cunningham set the program record for passing efficiency, and would have ranked second nationally behind only Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, but fell one pass shy of qualifying for the NCAA rankings.

The Cardinals are also losing running backs Norval McKenzie, as he has been hired to the same position at his alma mater of Vanderbilt. Offensive coordinator/offensive line Dwayne Ledford is also reportedly one of the "three strong candidates" for the head coaching position at Marshall.

Louisville ended the 2020 season at 4-7 overall and 3-7 in the ACC.

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