Assistant Coaches Added to Several Teams -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

New Faces in familiar places for Cards

After nearly two weeks away, I'm back. Katy and I had a wonderful honeymoon on our cruise ship in the Caribbean and exploring various islands and countries. I'd like to take a moment to thank the rest of the crew here at Cardinal Couple for stepping in and covering for me in my absence.

It appears UofL has been busy while I'm gone, most recently announcing the hire of assistant coaches to three teams. Louisville softball, track and field, and rowing all added new assistant coaches to their respective staffs recently.

Louisville Softball Adds Bryan Sabatella

Bryan Sabatella has joined the Louisville softball staff as an assistant coach specializing in working with hitters. Sabatella comes from Utah Tech, where he spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach.

During his time at Utah Tech, which has been a DI program for three seasons, the Trailblazers ranked as one of the top offenses in the country with a .342 team batting average and 12 doubles this past season. Utah Tech also went 35-18 and won the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) regular season.

Sabatella played baseball at Quinnipiac and was then drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the ninth round of the 2005 MLB Draft.

Louisville Track and Field / Cross Country Adds Wyatt Rhoads

Wyatt Rhoads was announced as the new assistant coach for Louisville track and field and Louisville cross country. Rhoads is the first hire under new Track and Field/Cross Country Director Joe Franklin. He spent the last two seasons at New Mexico and will serve as both an assistant coach and the Director of Operations.

While at New Mexico, Rhoads was assigned to coach the pole vaults, javelin throws, jumps, and multi events (ie heptathlon). New Mexico had an individual win the 2022 Mountain West Indoor title in the heptathlon. 

Prior to New Mexico, Rhoads spent one season as a volunteer coach at Texas Tech. He competed in track and field and football at both Colorado and Iowa State University.

Louisville Rowing Adds Egan Berne and Brian Reifsnyder

Louisville rowing added to assistant coaches to the program in Egan Berne and Brian Reifsnyder. Berne was most recently at Michigan State while Reifsnyder came in from Old Dominion.

Berne had been at Michigan State since 2020 where she coached the Second Varsity 8+ and was one of their leaders in recruiting. Before her time at Michigan State, she spent time as both an assistant coach and interim head coach at Colgate and Gonzaga.

Reifsnyder was most recently an assistant coach at his alma mater at Temple. He was a 2016 graduate and spent time as a coach since 2021. Prior to his coaching time at Temple, Reifsnyder was an assistant coach at La Salle for three seasons, focusing on recruiting, budgeting, and compliance.

UofL's fiscal year begins on July 1 every year so it makes sense for several hires to be announced around this time. The budget was recently approved by the Board of Trustees, which allows various departments and sub-departments to be assigned their budgets, including Louisville Athletics and its teams.

We look forward to seeing what the addition of each of these coaches brings.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared