Satterfield staying at Louisville, Gamecocks search in final stages
One day after meeting with South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner about the Gamecocks vacant head coaching position Friday, Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield told the Courier-Journal Saturday that he's staying as the Cardinals coach.
Checking with sources on the South Carolina end, the job was not offered to Satterfield and, while Tanner is still in the process of completing his search as of Saturday afternoon, Satterfield was not expected to be the choice.
Satterfield confirmed that he spoke with the Gamecocks saying that he wanted to see what Tanner had to say because of the school's location near the Hillsborough, N.C. native's parents.
“I think, again, my intentions were never to leave or go anywhere else, but I thought I owed an obligation just to listen because of where it’s at. That’s it,” Satterfield said in the exclusive interview with Cameron Teague Robinson (subscription). “Nothing else to read into that. I had no intention of entertaining it, I just wanted to listen to see what they had to say. That’s the bottom line. I don’t want it to offend anyone. We are committed to this program.”
Satterfield's latest comments come after he put out a carefully-worded statement nearly two weeks ago saying that he was not pursuing any other jobs when it was initially reported that he would interview with the Gamecocks.
Satterfield did ultimately speak with Tanner and the Gamecocks, one of several coaches to do so as the Gamecocks look to close out their search to replace Will Muschamp, who was fired on Nov. 15 after four-plus seasons in Columbia.
Tanner, who is expected to speak with Louisana head coach Billy Napier on Saturday, also spoke with Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson this week after previously speaking with Oklahoma assistant head coach for offense Shane Beamer and Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell.
Beamer is considered the "leader in the clubhouse" as the Gamecocks close in on a decision, possibly as early as this weekend.
GamecockCentral.com will continue to provide its readers with the very latest on the search which you can read on our Coaching Search Central landing page.
