By Matt Bradshaw —

Vince Tyra may have lost his first choice to replace Bobby Petrino, but the athletic director found success with a solid second option. Today, the University officially announced that Scott Satterfield will take over its football program next season as head coach.

“He’s a winner,” Tyra said. “I believe he will guide us through the ACC and through the college football playoffs.”

Spotlight shined on Satterfield when popular candidate Jeff Brohm elected to stay at Purdue, a tough choice the Louisville native called “excruciating.” Six days out from Brohm’s decision and 23 days out from Petrino’s firing, Satterfield has agreed to become the 23rd coach in Cardinal football history.

Native to North Carolina, Satterfield has coached at Appalachian State in Boone for the past six seasons. He led the Mountaineers to three consecutive conference victories in the Sun Belt along with three straight bowl wins. His overall record is 51-24.

“He grew up in Hillsborough and is not a big-city guy,” David Jones of the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Patriot-News recently wrote on Satterfield. “And he strikes those who meet him as a little more down-to-earth and less controlling than your average college football corporate chieftain…Because they’re unpretentious, such men can be underestimated these days. They shouldn’t be.”

Satterfield also guided Appalachian State during the team’s transition into the FBS. The 45-year-old finished this season with a 10-2 record, marking the complete opposite of Louisville’s 2-10 standing.

Moreover, Satterfield holds close ties with the Mountaineers where he played as quarterback from 1991-95. For a former player to leave his alma mater, not to mention his contract that guaranteed $3.69 million overall through 2021, hopefully speaks to Satterfield’s newfound dedication to the struggling Cardinals.

“This is awesome, I mean it really is awesome,” Satterfield said. “I am so fired up about being here, I can’t wait to get started.”

His dedication and drive will face a laborious uphill climb in Louisville. Everything went wrong this past season as the Cards finished near the bottom of almost all national categories concerning total offense or defense.

Whether due to the loss of Lamar Jackson, the hubris of Petrino or lack of overall discipline, Satterfield has a lot of culture to change by taking over the program for its 101st season. Satterfield has no experience coaching in a Power 5 conference, but his history of winning with an exciting offensive strategy has chances of bringing life to the Ville.

Last of all to note, and perhaps most important, is Satterfield’s ability to recruit and maintain players. This is extremely important to the future of U of L, who currently idles in those categories. Recently transferred Jon Greenard, the Cardinals’ top pass rusher, and recent decommit Jaden Johnson, three-star quarterback recruit, exemplify the situation.

With new hires for lacrosse, men’s basketball and softball, Satterfield is the latest in a growing line of replacements for long-time coaches in athletics.

His contract is six years with $3.25 million per year.

He becomes the fifth leader of the Cards on the gridiron since the turn of the century (John L. Smith, Petrino, Steve Kragthorpe and Charlie Strong the previous coaches).

Satterfield has three children with his college sweetheart, Beth.

You can watch Satterfield’s Mountaineers play for their fourth straight postseason victory on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 9 p.m. in the New Orleans Bowl versus Middle Tennessee State.

U of L football kicks off its season at home next year against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

You can follow the Louisville Cardinal on Twitter @thecardsports.

Photo courtesy / Yahoo Sports