Louisville football coach Scott Satterfield discusses Malik Cunningham’s Heisman Trophy hype from Cardinals QB

Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham is expected to enter his redshirt senior season in 2022, and there’s a lot of hype surrounding the Cardinals’ signal caller. During a recent interview Morose & MacLainLouisville head football coach Scott Satterfield was asked about the viability of Cunningham’s Heisman Trophy.

“He played so much” said Satterfield. “I mean, he started over four years ago now and we just take it every day to say, ‘Hey listen, you’re going to have a great year, but how you’re going to have a great year was focusing every day Focus on what you can do to get better.’ And that’s one way we keep it. Of course we would like to get some awards for him towards the end of the season but that will happen if he has a great year. I think if he’s playing within himself, let the guys around him help him, then I think he’ll be a topic of conversation towards mid-season as he’s playing a lot of good football.

“And of course you have to win. They don’t hand out those Heismans to beat the teams that aren’t very good. So he has to get out there and play well so we can get a lot of wins and I think he can be a part of that conversation when we get to mid-season and after that we’ll see what happens.

Last season, Cunningham completed 62% of his passes for 2,941 yards with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions in 13 games. He also rushed for 1,031 yards and 20 points.

In four seasons with Louisville, Cunningham has thrown for 8,092 yards with 62 touchdowns and 24 interceptions while rushing for 2,619 yards and 38 touchdowns.

Prior to Louisville, Cunningham was a three-star 247Sports recruit from Montgomery (Ala.) Park Crossing. He was also the No. 501 overall player and No. 33 athlete in the class of 2017.

Cunningham has followed in the footsteps of Lamar Jackson in Louisville, who played three seasons from 2015 to 2017 before being drafted No. 32 overall by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. During an interview with the ACC Network at the ACC Media Days, Cunningham was asked if he ever got tired of being compared to Jackson.

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“I’m getting a little tired, but who doesn’t want to be compared to Lamar?” said Cunningham. “I mean, the great Lamar, in my opinion the best college football player that ever played the sport. He’s just a role model for me, a big brother, and I’m grateful for a lot of what he does for me.”