Report: Louisville Director of Strength and Conditioning Ben Sowders Heading to Arkansas

Sowders spent just one season with the Cardinals.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Head coach isn't the only position amongst the coaching and support staff that the Louisville football program will have to fill this offseason.

The Cardinals' Director of Strength and Conditioning, Ben Sowders, is "planning" to head to the same position at Arkansas, according to a report from Rivals. The news comes on the same day that head coach Scott Satterfield had also left Louisville to become the next head coach at Cincinnati.

Following a 2021 campaign where Louisville's physicality was heavily criticized, Satterfield brought in Sowders this past offseason. The Cardinals looked vastly improved in this department during the 2022 season, with their play in the trenches playing a large role in their second half turnaround.

Prior to his line year at Louisville, Sowders spent four years with Georgia, helping the Bulldogs reach three SEC Championship games as well as their first national championship in over 40 years. Under his watch at UGA, Sowders helped mold 15 players who currently play in the NFL.

The Bowling Green, Ky. native also had stints with McNeese State, Georgia Tech, Gardner-Webb and Southern Miss. He is a 2008 graduate of Western Kentucky, where he played linebacker for the Hilltoppers, starting off as a walk-on before earning a role as a scholarship starter. 

The Cardinals finished the regular season at 7-5, and 4-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Louisville, ironically, will face Cincinnati in the Fenway Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 11:00 a.m. EST.

(Photo of Ben Sowders: Matt Stone - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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