After Loss in Sugar Bowl, Seniors Depart and Underclassmen Get Ready for 2010

On Friday January 1st, 2010, the Cincinnati Bearcats football program lost the biggest game in their program’s history to the Florida Gators in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Before kickoff, the game has been and was dominated mostly by the headlines of former UC head coach Brian Kelly’s departure, UF head coach Urban Meyer’s resignation and withdrawal of that resignation and UF quarterback Tim Tebow’s final college football game. Looking for a statement to show the nation that their loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship game was a fluke, Florida found it in their 51-24 blowout rout of the Cincinnati Bearcats.

If you were to look at the stat sheet, and not have watched the game, you would have asked what happened. UC quarterback Tony Pike was 27 for 45 for a completion percentage of 60% and threw for three different touchdowns. The problem was that he threw for 170 yards and could not complete the long, big pass plays this offense loves and thrives on. The problem was that Florida’s defense didn’t allow Tony Pike time to make those types of throws and wait for a receiver down field to get open.

The defense could not stop Tim Tebow and the Gators, and that was expected. Next year on the other hand, the defense should be much better, as they will be much more mature and ready for the roles they will play. The offense next year should be star studded once again as sophomores Zach Collaros and D.J. Woods are coming back along with junior wide receiver Armon Binns. The offense, under new head coach Butch Jones will be trying to continue the high scoring spread offense UC fans have gotten used to seeing on Saturdays.

As for the impact of the game, the Bearcats not only let down their fans, but also themselves. I am not the only one that believes UC could have kept up with Florida. The one thing that would have definitely helped the Cats in this game would have been Butch Jones coaching the team, not Jeff Quinn. I have nothing against Quinn, as I like him and I think that without Quinn, Kelly’s system would not have worked as well as he needed it to. But after the game, Quinn leaves and heads to Buffalo and Jones comes here to Cincinnati. Quinn has nothing to coach for in this game as he will have his job regardless of the Bearcats result.

At the same time, the players have no reason to play under Quinn either. I’m not saying that Quinn wasn’t really trying to coach, or that the Cats players didn’t really play hard under Quinn. What I’m saying is that there was no reason for them to play other than respect, glory, an undefeated season and their first ever BCS Bowl win, which in my mind is a whole hell of a lot. If Quinn wins the game, he receives no compensation other than a hand shake and a swift kick out the door to Buffalo. If Jones coaches, he has the chance to start his program off the right way. Underclassmen would have had the chance to see what it would be like over the next few years playing under Jones as well.

All in all, I believe Jones should have been coaching the Sugar Bowl and I know that was definitely not the Cincinnati Bearcats that I saw playing on that field. It seemed like this team forgot who they were, what they did to get here and how they got here. This past year may have been the best season, the UC versus Pitt match up may have been the best game, and the Sugar Bowl may have been the biggest game but the next season is the biggest season in the program’s history. Brian Kelly left, and the Cats lost the Sugar Bowl.

Now with a new coach and a disappointing loss, the Bearcats must show the nation that they are a program and not a coach. Anything less than a 10 win season may place the Bearcats back into the scrap heap of the Big East. Whether or not Quinn should have been kept, there is a reason he has been playing second fiddle to Brian Kelly all these years. There is also a reason he was beat out at Central Michigan, after Brian Kelly departed for Cincinnati, by Butch Jones and here in Cincinnati, following Brian Kelly’s departure by the same man in Butch Jones.

According to FBSchedule.com, the Bearcats will play at least four games in the first six weeks, with the first two being at N.C. State on the fourth of September and at Fresno State on the 18th of September. The other intriguing match up is that of the Oklahoma Sooners traveling to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats for the second time in three years. The game will not be taking place at Nippert Stadium though, as it will be played down at Paul Brown Stadium in late September.

I believe this was just a brief road bump that the Cats will hurdle on their way to being a top 25 finishing team for years to come. I believe that we will be seeing the Bearcats in many more BCS Bowl games, winning their fair share, and will in my mind, be playing for the BCS National Championship in Pasadena in 2012.

At the End of the Day, Games are Won by Players, Not Coaches

Today is the most upsetting and depressing day that University of Cincinnati Football fans have ever encountered. Never before has UC’s football program excelled and competed the way they have in the last three years of Brian Kelly’s tenure only to lose our most prized athletics coach since Bob Huggins. After leading the Bearcats to a 9-3 record in 2007, a 10-2 record in 2008 and a 12-0 record in 2009, Kelly will leave the program and become Charlie Weis’ successor at the University of Notre Dame. In his three years here, he led the Bearcats to three bowl games. In ’07, Kelly led the ‘Cats to a win in the Papajohns.com Bowl, a loss to Virginia Tech in the program’s first ever BCS Bowl Game(Orange Bowl) last year and this year Kelly will not coach in the Sugar Bowl as the Bearcats will face the Florida Gators in their second BCS bowl game in as many years.

Fans are angry and upset that Brian Kelly lied to his players, the media, University Officials, and most of all, us. But as fans, we can not blame Kelly for what he did. He did everything in his power to keep the attention off himself and onto the players and their match up against the Pittsburgh Panthers. The players would not have responded with a great attitude if Kelly said before the game, “Hey guys, I know that if we win we might go to the BCS National Championship, but I might be going to coach at Notre Dame.” If Colt McCoy would’ve thrown the ball a second later, or if Hunter Lawrence missed the last field goal, UC would be playing for the championship in Pasadena on January 7th. Chances of Kelly leaving with the ‘Cats in the title game are slim to none. Although, I’d love to know how many coaches resign before the biggest game in the program’s history after going undefeated in the regular season.

Fans want to yell and scream that Notre Dame broke the rules and contacted him before the bowl game, but UC did the same thing with Kelly back in 2006-07 when they needed a coach for the International Bowl. Then, Kelly was the coach of Central Michigan, leading them to the Motor City Bowl in which he did not coach. So, if fans are going to be mad at Notre Dame for contacting him before the bowl game and Brian Kelly lying to everyone, then we must also be mad at the University of Cincinnati for contacting Brian Kelly before his former team’s bowl game. It’s worth noting that at the moment, UC has received permission from the University of Houston to speak with their Head Coach Kevin Sumlin about UC’s recently vacated Head Coaching position.

We may be angry that the man who has led our team to 34 wins in 3 years left in the middle of the night, but the time has come to let the anger go and move towards the Sugar Bowl. At the end of the day, Brian Kelly couldn’t throw the game-winning touchdown to Armon Binns to put UC in the Sugar Bowl. Nor could Brian Kelly make the four straight stops on defense to put the game in Pittsburgh away. It was not Brian Kelly’s play calling that won 12 games this year. The play calling does have some impact, but it’s the execution of the play by the players that rack up first downs, score touchdowns and win ball games.

Brian Kelly was and is a great motivator and is able to get players to follow him by believing in the system himself. He believes in his system and knows that it wins ball games. When a coach believes in their own system, it’s only a matter of time until the player’s start believing. That is the key behind Brian Kelly’s success. That is the kind of coach UC needs to be looking for to replace the once loved Brian Kelly. Sure, a Bob Stoops or Urban Meyer would work, but a coach that can come into a program that is experiencing its first major coaching departure and set up a system around soon to be starting quarterback Zach Collaros is what this program, the players and the fans need.

A new head coach needs to be found fast. If the Bearcats don’t find a new head coach soon, high school players that have already committed to UC could decide that a program without a head coach is not where they want to play. A program whose coach leaves before the biggest game in their history does not look good to a prep star. But a program that finds a coach quickly who possesses the skills needed to succeed in Cincinnati may save the program from losing top recruits.

University of Cincinnati President Mike Thomas will interview those already working in the program. Once Brian Kelly left, Offensive Coordinator Jeff Quinn was named Interim Head Coach and will coach the ‘Cats in the Sugar Bowl. If Quinn is not given the head coaching position, it’s expected, and almost guaranteed that he will follow BK to Notre Dame. That’s not the worst thing that can happen. Whoever is named head coach will most likely bring in their own offensive coordinator. The worst thing that could happen is the departure of Associate Head Coach Kerry Coombs. Coombs was the head coach at Colerain High School for 16 years and is one of the most popular Prep Coaches in Ohio. If Coombs leaves his ties to the area and relationship with the prep players and their families could destroy UC’s recruiting in their own city.

Whether we like it or not, this is sports. In sports, coaches leave or get fired, players get traded or leave, and fans get happy or mad. We love sports because of the storylines. This is what we signed up for when we decided to be sports fans. We knew these things could happen. It’s all fun and games until it’s your coach or player leaving. Brian Kelly came to UC as a coach who had yet to really prove himself. He left as a coach who can take even the worst teams from the bottom of the pile and into the BCS title game picture. Love him or hate him, you have to thank Brian Kelly. Look at how far he’s brought our football program in just three short years. For that, I thank him and wish him well at Notre Dame. Brian Kelly walked into the UC Football program and did what nobody, including us, thought was ever possible and that was transform our football team into championship contender. For that, we will forever keep him immortalize him in our hearts as the start of something beautiful.