By Bill Koch
Five years ago this week, the University of Cincinnati football team received one of the biggest breaks in the program’s history.
On Nov. 5, 2016, head coach Tommy Tuberville was walking off the field at Nippert Stadium after a 20-3 loss to BYU when a fan yelled at him, “You’re stealing from the university.”
Tuberville responded by telling the fan to “go to hell,” and “get a job,” effectively sealing his fate as the UC football coach. A month later, Tuberville resigned under pressure after the Bearcats posted a 4-8 record in his fourth season as head coach. His overall record at UC was 29-22. He had signed a contract extension through 2019 on Oct. 1 of that year.
The departure of Tuberville cleared the way for athletic director Mike Bohn to hire Luke Fickell, who has guided the Bearcats to a 9-0 record this season, a No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press poll, No. 5 in the College Football Playoff Rankings, something that never could have been envisioned on the day Tuberville responded to that fan.
Tuberville apologized via Twitter the day after he made the comments, saying he “had a regrettable outburst at a moment of great frustration.”
Then-athletic director Whit Babcock had hired Tuberville to replace Butch Jones after Jones left UC for Tennessee. He was introduced on Dec. 8, 2012 after the UC basketball game against Maryland-Eastern Shore. Many of the fans who had watched the basketball game stayed around to watch Tuberville make a grand entrance with the band playing in true pep rally fashion. Tuberville wore a UC hat and pumped his fist. The fans ate it up, cheering, “Tom-my! Tom-my!”
Without having done anything except show up to replace Jones, Tuberville was hailed as a hero. Finally, the Bearcats had a nationally recognized head coach to guide their program. And because he had been to the big time at Mississippi, Miami, Auburn and Texas Tech, the feeling among UC fans was that he would not use the UC job as stepping stone.
But after back-to-back 9-4 seasons in his first two years, the Bearcats slipped to 7-6 and then to 4-8. After averaging 36 points and 559 yards per game under quarterback Gunner Kiel in 2015, the UC offense struggled in 2016, at one point going 13 straight quarters without scoring an offensive touchdown. Kiel began the season as the third-string quarterback.
With UC fans clamoring for Kiel, Tuberville persisted with the weekly ritual of declaring that he would start the quarterback who had the best week of practice, repeatedly saying the decision wouldn’t be made by him, but by first-year offensive coordinator Zac Taylor.
By then, Tuberbille was being criticized by UC fans as a coach on the downside of his career who had come to UC to play out the string before he could retire.
Fickell went 4-8 in his first season at UC, but immediately showed that he could recruit some of the best players in the area. The following year the Bearcats went 11-2. Last year they went 9-0 during the regular season before losing to Georgia in the Peach Bowl on a last-second field goal. The Bearcats are 44-14 under Fickell.
This year the UC football is the biggest thing in town. The Bearcats are 9-0 and own a victory over No. 9 Notre Dame in South Bend on the way to what they hope will be an appearance in the four-team College Football Playoff. The program has never been in better shape, and Fickell is the most popular sports figure in town.
It all started on Nov. 5, 2016 when a fan got under Tuberville’s skin enough to get him to lose his cool. Where would the UC football program be today if that fan hadn’t vented his frustration at Tuberville as he walked off the field? Would the Bearcats have ascended to become one of the top teams in the country as they have in five seasons under Fickell?
Meanwhile, things have worked out just fine for Tuberville. He’s now a U.S. Senator from Alabama and an avid supporter of former President Trump. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Tuberville was one of 15 people present at the Trump International Hotel on Jan. 5 of this year to discuss “how to put pressure on more members of Congress to object to the Electoral College results” from the 2020 presidential election.
Five years ago this week, the University of Cincinnati football team received one of the biggest breaks in the program’s history.
On Nov. 5, 2016, head coach Tommy Tuberville was walking off the field at Nippert Stadium after a 20-3 loss to BYU when a fan yelled at him, “You’re stealing from the university.”
Tuberville responded by telling the fan to “go to hell,” and “get a job,” effectively sealing his fate as the UC football coach. A month later, Tuberville resigned under pressure after the Bearcats posted a 4-8 record in his fourth season as head coach. His overall record at UC was 29-22. He had signed a contract extension through 2019 on Oct. 1 of that year.
The departure of Tuberville cleared the way for athletic director Mike Bohn to hire Luke Fickell, who has guided the Bearcats to a 9-0 record this season, a No. 2 ranking in the Associated Press poll, No. 5 in the College Football Playoff Rankings, something that never could have been envisioned on the day Tuberville responded to that fan.
Tuberville apologized via Twitter the day after he made the comments, saying he “had a regrettable outburst at a moment of great frustration.”
Then-athletic director Whit Babcock had hired Tuberville to replace Butch Jones after Jones left UC for Tennessee. He was introduced on Dec. 8, 2012 after the UC basketball game against Maryland-Eastern Shore. Many of the fans who had watched the basketball game stayed around to watch Tuberville make a grand entrance with the band playing in true pep rally fashion. Tuberville wore a UC hat and pumped his fist. The fans ate it up, cheering, “Tom-my! Tom-my!”
Without having done anything except show up to replace Jones, Tuberville was hailed as a hero. Finally, the Bearcats had a nationally recognized head coach to guide their program. And because he had been to the big time at Mississippi, Miami, Auburn and Texas Tech, the feeling among UC fans was that he would not use the UC job as stepping stone.
But after back-to-back 9-4 seasons in his first two years, the Bearcats slipped to 7-6 and then to 4-8. After averaging 36 points and 559 yards per game under quarterback Gunner Kiel in 2015, the UC offense struggled in 2016, at one point going 13 straight quarters without scoring an offensive touchdown. Kiel began the season as the third-string quarterback.
With UC fans clamoring for Kiel, Tuberville persisted with the weekly ritual of declaring that he would start the quarterback who had the best week of practice, repeatedly saying the decision wouldn’t be made by him, but by first-year offensive coordinator Zac Taylor.
By then, Tuberbille was being criticized by UC fans as a coach on the downside of his career who had come to UC to play out the string before he could retire.
Fickell went 4-8 in his first season at UC, but immediately showed that he could recruit some of the best players in the area. The following year the Bearcats went 11-2. Last year they went 9-0 during the regular season before losing to Georgia in the Peach Bowl on a last-second field goal. The Bearcats are 44-14 under Fickell.
This year the UC football is the biggest thing in town. The Bearcats are 9-0 and own a victory over No. 9 Notre Dame in South Bend on the way to what they hope will be an appearance in the four-team College Football Playoff. The program has never been in better shape, and Fickell is the most popular sports figure in town.
It all started on Nov. 5, 2016 when a fan got under Tuberville’s skin enough to get him to lose his cool. Where would the UC football program be today if that fan hadn’t vented his frustration at Tuberville as he walked off the field? Would the Bearcats have ascended to become one of the top teams in the country as they have in five seasons under Fickell?
Meanwhile, things have worked out just fine for Tuberville. He’s now a U.S. Senator from Alabama and an avid supporter of former President Trump. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Tuberville was one of 15 people present at the Trump International Hotel on Jan. 5 of this year to discuss “how to put pressure on more members of Congress to object to the Electoral College results” from the 2020 presidential election.
I really enjoy your articles Bill.
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