CINCINNATI — On Monday afternoon, Scott Satterfield entered Fifth Third arena, shook hands with University of Cincinnati President Neville Pinto, put on his Bearcat visor for the first time and greeted the college as the next head football coach.
The former Louisville coach will lead the Bearcats into their first season in the Big 12 conference, taking on a six-year contract, pending board approval, for a salary of $3.4 million a year with an annual $100,000 raise.
Satterfield holds a 76-48 record in his 10 years as head coach at Louisville and Appalachian State, and a 4-1 record in bowl games. In his first public remarks at UC, the coach congratulated the school on their recent success.
“I came to Cincinnati with a program that is used to winning, that wins championships,” he said. “I want to be a part of that.”
He replaces Luke Fickell, who left last week to take on the head coaching position at the University of Wisconsin. As the winningest coach in Bearcat history, Fickell led the team to their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance and the first appearance from a “group of five” school.
Satterfield acknowledged those are big shoes to fill, especially as UC prepares to enter a new conference and face tougher competition.
“Everybody expects you to come in and pick up where they left off but I’m not Luke Fickell,” he said. “I’m gonna be Scott Satterfield, and I’m going to do the things that I think we need to do to be successful.”
The announcement also comes with unique circumstances as the Bearcats are set to play Louisville in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl on Dec. 17.
“I will stay out of that situation,” Satterfield said.
The incoming coach said he won’t even travel to Boston, leaving all of the preparations and game-day coaching to interim Coach Kerry Coombs. Instead, Satterfield said he will spend the rest of the year focused on recruiting players and staff.
“You have to be tremendous in the off-season. You have to get great players,” he said. “We have to have a great winter program. We have to be awesome in spring practice and have a great summer in order to compete in the Big 12 when we start next season.”
Satterfield said the first thing he plans to do is get in touch with students already committed to UC and work to get them on board with his vision for the program and find new players who he believes will work in his system.
In addition to Satterfield’s salary, UC is committing to a $7.25 million salary pool for assistant coaches, the highest-ever investment for Cincinnati Football.