With last weekend’s spanking at the hands of Ohio State still sticking in the fans’ respective craw, it might bring to mind the last team Cincinnati fell foul of an Urban Meyer-coached team, the 2009 Sugar Bowl. Meyer, as everyone and their mother likely knows, is a former Bearcat who began his coaching career in Ohio.
Ohio has long been considered the cradle of coaches, at least by folks in the state, and it’s hard to argue against the track record. Meyer is an obvious member of that fraternity, but Cincinnati has recently had a number of coaches who have parlayed a coaching position at the school into bigger and better things.
In fact, the Bearcats have had more head coaches (four, excluding interim coaches) since 2004 than losing seasons (two). Each have gone on to bigger, and sometimes better, things.
Take Mark Dantonio. He’s the coach who had the job of shepherding the Bearcats from Conference USA into Big East play. After an 8-5 season in the their last year in C-USA, they slipped to 4-7 in their first season against tougher competition, which was no great surprise. However, in just their second year in the league, Dantonio led the Bearcats to a 7-5 record, and Michigan State came calling. Since taking over in East Lansing, the Spartans have gone from strength to strength, and are currently regulars in any BCS/playoff talk.
Brian Kelly coached Cincinnati as the interim in the bowl game that year (2006), and got off to a great start as he pulled off the win. The administration decided to keep him around, and it turned out to be an inspired choice, as Kelly led the Bearcats to finest period in their history. In his three years, Cincinnati went 33-6, and making two BCS bowls. With his three years of service done, Kelly left for one of the best jobs in college football—Notre Dame—which he led to a national title appearance.
On a side note, Kelly’s dance partner Jeff Quinn (former Cincinnati offensive coordinator) took the head job at Buffalo, and led the Bulls to just the second bowl game in their history.
Kelly’s replacement, Butch Jones, who succeeded him at Central Michigan, fell to 4-7 in his first season, and many wondered if the magic was gone. It turned out to be a blip on the radar, as Jones continued the Bearcats winning ways, finishing 10-3 each of the next two seasons, and keeping Cincinnati in Big East contention, as it tied for the league lead both years. Tennessee had seen enough, and signed Jones, who looks to be turning things around in Knoxville.
Step forward to Tommy Tuberville, who doesn’t quite fit the coaching MO here at Cincinnati. He’s not quite the rising star, having already had (sometimes relatively) successful coaching stints at Mississippi, Auburn and Texas Tech. However, his time at Auburn did not end well, and he working at restoring his reputation, something that took another hit with the manner he ditched the Red Raiders.
Ohio State hammering aside, the Bearcats have arguably the best team in the AAC, and will compete for the conference title. Having coached with the big boys before, it’s not hard to envision him running to the SEC, or maybe another Power conference, if the right job crops up. The question now is: Will he leave this year, or will he honor the “Three Year Rule” and stick around for one more season?
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