Passion, Players Fueled Mark Ivey's Decision to Remain at Louisville

When Scott Satterfield decided to leave the Louisville football program and take the vacant head coaching position at Cincinnati, there was a near-consensus pick amongst the fanbase as to who they wanted to be the next head coach of the Cardinals. Their wishes were ultimately fulfilled, and Jeff Brohm came over from Purdue to lead his alma mater just three days removed from Satterfield opting to head up I-71.

Brohm wasn't the only coach that people were clamoring for. Once he was officially hired and began filling out his coaching staff, both fans and players alike took to social media pleading for Brohm to retain defensive line coach Mark Ivey.

Ivey had not only developed a reputation as one of more fiery and high-energy coaches on Satterfield's staff, which boded well with fans, but oversaw a unit in 2022 that was the driving force behind the Cardinals leading all of college football in sacks. Starting defensive ends YaYa Diaby and Ashton Gillotte combined for 21.0 tackles for loss and 15.0 sacks, en route to helping Louisville tie the single-season school record in sacks with 50.

However, on the surface, it seemed like it might not be a slam dunk that he would return. Ivey has known Satterfield since 1991, had been on his staff since 2013 dating back to their Appalachian State days, and was one of just two assistant coaches - along with defensive coordinator Bryan Brown - to stay with him during all four of his years in Louisville.

But as it turns out, Ivey wanted to stay in Louisville just as much as fans wanted him. He not only wanted to help the program continue building what he and Satterfield started, but saw the passion in the fanbase that was stoked by Brohm's hiring, and wanted to be a part of that.

"It's been cool to see, because we had some good things and have some good things going on, but there's no comparison to what's going on right now," he said. "The energy and enthusiasm, not just in the building, that's easy and evident, but in the city. To be around, seeing what's going on in the friendly confines of Louisville, knowing that the Brohm family is back home. It's just exciting knowing what everybody's input, thoughts and enthusiasm are. ... It is really good, and I'm glad I get to be a part of it.

"I appreciate coach Brohm allowing me an opportunity to stick with these kids, because there's some great kids here. I love these players. They're great human beings, good football players, too, but some great people. I'm really ecstatic to be able to be a part of that, and stick around and keep seeing it grow."

Fans wanted to see Ivey return because of his job guiding the defensive line last season, but for the players, it was in part because he went out of his way to develop relationships with as many players as he could. While he sticks to his actual position group during practice and meetings, he gets involved with everyone else whenever he can, whether that be giving uplifting advice or just engaging in conversation.

Part of that is because he had that experience as a player with several coaches. He specifically remembers George Edwards, who was an assistant at App State during Ivey's playing days in the mid-1990's and is now the outside linebackers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"He would always come by and say something positive to me," Ivey said. "I thought, you know what, maybe I'm not such a piece of garbage. That would make me remember, "Hey, I'm gonna keep fighting, I'm gonna keep working. I love this staff, I love my teammates. I'm gonna keep playing." So I try to have that as best I can with the guys when it's possible. To see that resonated with some of them, that was great."

After Louisville's 24-7 victory over Cincinnati in the Fenway Bowl on Dec. 17, where Ivey served as the Cardinals' defensive coordinator following an exodus of position assistants in the wake of Satterfield's departure, conversations between Ivey and Brohm began.

Discussions between the two mainly revolved around how Ivey felt about switching positions and coaching the linebackers, as Brohm brought over his defensive line coach at Purdue in Mark Hagen with him to Louisville. Fortunately, Ivey does have experience here, having previously coached the linebackers at App State from 2012 to 2013, so it wouldn't be a completely new endeavor for him.

A lot of time was also spent making sure that Ivey would be a good fit on Brohm's staff. It appears that Brohm believes that he would, considering Ivey was officially announced to be returning to Louisville just three days after their Fenway Bowl win.

"I think the main thing was, he just wanted to make sure that I was going to be able to be a person that was going to work at my craft. I have coached linebackers before. It's been a little bit of time, but it's something I've done before. Then, if I was gonna be a good fit with him, the staff and the other guys.

"There was a couple of days that we went back and just talked about different stuff. A lot of it was just how you're gonna handle situations, and just if I'm a good fit for what they're doing. I'm assuming that, at the end the day, he figured I would be. I feel blessed to be able to have that opportunity to stick around."

Ever since the bowl game, Ivey admits that the transition has been "a bit of a whirlwind." The defense is shifting to a 4-2-5 system anchored by co-defensive coordinator Ron English and Hagen, and Louisville has had a lot of moving pieces in terms players both departing and joining the program.

That being said, he has enjoyed the ride thus far. He has embraced coaching a new position, what learning a new system entails in terms of expanding his own football knowledge, and loves working alongside the new staff. He especially likes that all of his position assistant co-workers all seem to have the players' best interests at heart.

"Everybody sits in there with absolutely no egos, and just talks football continuously, and what should we do here and a lot of things that they've done before," he said. "They may have tweaked or changed things, so it's not even something that I'm learning, it's something we're all changing together to make it better for the athletes that we have now."