Report: Auburn Hires Louisville Co-DC Wesley McGriff

McGriff is the first position coach for the Cardinals to officially depart the program.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Following now-former Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield's exit to Cincinnati, the movement amongst his ex-coaching staff has officially begun.

Co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Wesley McGriff, who was in his first season with the Cardinals, has been hired to be the secondary coach at Auburn, according to a report from 247Sports' Brandon Marcello.

The move a reunion with recently-hired Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze. McGriff spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as the defensive coordinator at Ole Miss, with the former year being Freeze's final season with the Rebels before his resignation. McGriff also spent the 2016, 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Tigers on then-Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn's staff.

Working alongside defensive coordinator Bryan Brown, McGriff helped Louisville post arguably their best defense of the Satterfield era in 2022. It was the primary catalyst for their second half turnaround, with the Cardinals finishing the regular season at 347.1 yards and 20.2 points allowed per game, ranking 34th and 19th in FBS, respectively. Louisville's 206.5 passing yards allowed per game also came in at 34th nationally. 

McGriff is the first assistant coach to officially depart the program following Satterfield move to the Bearcats. However, offensive coordinator Lance Taylor recently "emerged" as the front runner for the head coaching job at Western Michigan, and head strength and conditioning coach Ben Sowders left for the same position at Arkansas this past weekend.

The Tipton, Ga. native joined the program after one season at Florida, with the Gators ranking 25th in FBS in passing defense at 203.9 yards per game during the 2021 season. 

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 Wesley McGriff via the Courier Journal)

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