Cincinnati Bearcats to hire Louisville’s Scott Satterfield as next head football coach

© The Associated Press Scott Satterfield is 25-24 in four seasons at Louisville, including a 7-5 mark this season.

The University of Cincinnati has found the head football coach who will lead the Bearcats into the Big 12 Conference.

Sources told The Enquirer that Cincinnati will hire Louisville’s Scott Satterfield as the 43rd head coach in program history.

Satterfield informed Louisville he’s leaving, according to sources. An official announcement from Cincinnati is expected at 1 p.m. on Monday.

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Satterfield led the Cardinals to a 7-5 record this season. Coincidentally, Cincinnati is scheduled to face Louisville in the inaugural Wasabi Fenway Bowl on Dec. 17 at Fenway Park in Boston.

Satterfield is 72-40 in nine seasons as a head coach, including a 25-24 mark in four seasons at the helm of the Cardinals program. The 49-year-old Hillsborough, North Carolina, native went 47-16 in five seasons at Appalachian State.

Satterfield was named the Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2018 and earned Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2019.

Satterfield replaces Luke Fickell, the winningest coach in the history of the Cincinnati program. Fickell left to take the vacancy at Wisconsin on Nov. 27 after leading the Bearcats to a 57-18 record in six seasons.

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Fickell led Cincinnati to back-to-back American Athletic Conference championships in 2020 and 2021. Fickell’s Bearcats became the first Group of Five team to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff last season.

It will cost Cincinnati $3.5 million to buy out Satterfield from Louisville, according to Satterfield’s contract with the Cardinals. Fickell’s buyout when he left Cincinnati for Wisconsin was $3.5 million.

The timing of the Satterfield hire coincides with the opening of the transfer portal. The portal opened Monday.

The first day of the early signing period for Class of 2023 recruits is Dec. 21. That’s when recruits can begin to sign their national letters of intent. Several players from Cincinnati’s 2023 recruiting class decommitted from the program following Fickell’s departure.

Cincinnati is scheduled to leave the AAC and join the Big 12 on July 1, 2023.

The Enquirer will update this story.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bearcats to hire Louisville’s Scott Satterfield as next head football coach