Scott Satterfield addresses opening Big 12 play vs. Oklahoma

New Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield knows the Big 12 is a challenge right away. The Bearcats open conference play with Oklahoma, an outgoing member.

Either way, Satterfield and company are excited to face the Sooners. Cincinnati is one of four new members to the Big 12 in 2023. When the Sooners come to Nippert Stadium in late September, it should be a rowdy environment.

“Well, I looked at that and I was like, oh, okay, they’re going to send us one of the most recognizable teams in the country to play the first game,” Satterfield said. “I thought that’s exciting.”

It’s the history that did it for Satterfield, the former Louisville head coach. Playing a program with that much success in the past and bringing it to the forefront of Cincinnati football is too good to pass up.

“To be your first game in the Big 12, to be able to play a team like that with so much history, Heisman Trophy winners in the past, have really done some exciting things in the game of football for a long time, to bring them to our stadium, we know it’s going to be a hot ticket,” Satterfield said. “We know it’s going to be very electric.”

Nippert Stadium has a capacity of 40,000. That pales in comparison to some other Big 12 schools, but the crowd makes up for it in quality, not quantity. Expect that game to be a hot ticket as Satterfield said. But then the coach-speak came out of Satterfield. The Oklahoma game is exciting to talk about, but the Bearcats have to play three football games prior to the Big 12 opener.

“But as a coach also I’m thinking we’ve got three games before that,” Satterfield said. “We’ve got to be ready for those three prior to play Oklahoma. But what a way to start the Big 12 play against a team like Oklahoma. We’ve just got to be competitive. We’ve got to go out there and put a team out there that’s going to be very competitive and fight their butts off to go out there and try and get that win.”

Satterfield went 25-24 at Louisville in four seasons and went 1-1 in bowl games he coached. Prior to that, he went 51-24 at Appalachian State from 2013-18, including three straight conference titles to end his tenure.

Satterfield is 76-48 overall as head coach and has a chance to make a mark in the Big 12 with Cincinnati.