By Bill Koch
I was the Enquirer’s UC beat writer on Dec. 5, 2009 when the Bearcats came back to beat Pitt in the Big East championship game on a cold, blustery day in Pittsburgh. That was the biggest win in UC history until Saturday when the Bearcats beat Houston, 35-20, in the American Athletic Conference title game, which landed them in the College Football Playoff on Sunday.
After that 2009 game, UC coach Brian Kelly lashed out at reporters who had the temerity to ask him about Notre Dame, even though the reporters were just doing their jobs. As the night progressed, we found out that UC came tantalizingly close to playing in the national championship game.
But even then, at what was the high point of UC football, there was a bittersweet feeling. At that point, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Kelly would leave for Notre Dame after three years at UC, which he did before the next week was over.
I wondered then if UC would ever get that close to playing for a national title again. It seemed unlikely after first Butch Jones and then Tommy Tuberville were hired to run the program. When Tuberville was introduced as UC’s head coach, in December 2012, it felt like a pep rally.
The Tuberville era came to an ignominious end when he told a heckling fan after a loss to “get a job” and “go to hell.
Next up was Luke Fickell. I sat in athletic director Mike Bohn’s office and listened to him describe the process that led to his decision to hire Fickell. I asked Bohn if he had sought a commitment from Fickell that he would stay longer than three years. He said he hadn’t. The way Bohn had it figured, if Fickell stayed for only three years and was then hired away, that would have meant he had moved the UC program forward. The UC athletic director was more than willing to live with that.
Fickell was impressive from the beginning in the way he handled himself the way he related to his players. By then, I was writing for UC’s website, ‘gobearcats.com.’ I did several profiles on Fickell and was confident he would do a good job at UC, but I’d be lying if I said I thought he’d be able to do this or I thought he'd still be at UC five years later.
Now I’m amazed every time I turn on the TV and see Nippert Stadium filled with fans like it never used to be, and when I see how good the Bearcats are.
When I watched them turn up the heat on Houston in the second half Saturday I thought back to all those hot summer practices I attended at Camp Higher Ground in August, looking for a story that someone would read, standing along the sideline and watching drill after drill that meant very little to me, but seemed so important to the coaching staff.
I thought of all the UC players I got to know over the years, players gave their all but never had a chance to do what the Bearcats are about to do – play for a national championship. I thought of the coaches who did their best against all odds to move the needle at least a little bit during their stays here, coaches like Tim Murphy, Rick Minter and Mark Dantonio. Those players and coaches gave everything they had at a time when UC football often seemed like a hopeless cause and when few sports fans in Cincinnati were interested.
I wonder what those players and coaches were feeling and how grateful they must be to Fickell, his coaching staff, and the players who made this happen at a school where it seemed it never would.
I was the Enquirer’s UC beat writer on Dec. 5, 2009 when the Bearcats came back to beat Pitt in the Big East championship game on a cold, blustery day in Pittsburgh. That was the biggest win in UC history until Saturday when the Bearcats beat Houston, 35-20, in the American Athletic Conference title game, which landed them in the College Football Playoff on Sunday.
After that 2009 game, UC coach Brian Kelly lashed out at reporters who had the temerity to ask him about Notre Dame, even though the reporters were just doing their jobs. As the night progressed, we found out that UC came tantalizingly close to playing in the national championship game.
But even then, at what was the high point of UC football, there was a bittersweet feeling. At that point, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Kelly would leave for Notre Dame after three years at UC, which he did before the next week was over.
I wondered then if UC would ever get that close to playing for a national title again. It seemed unlikely after first Butch Jones and then Tommy Tuberville were hired to run the program. When Tuberville was introduced as UC’s head coach, in December 2012, it felt like a pep rally.
The Tuberville era came to an ignominious end when he told a heckling fan after a loss to “get a job” and “go to hell.
Next up was Luke Fickell. I sat in athletic director Mike Bohn’s office and listened to him describe the process that led to his decision to hire Fickell. I asked Bohn if he had sought a commitment from Fickell that he would stay longer than three years. He said he hadn’t. The way Bohn had it figured, if Fickell stayed for only three years and was then hired away, that would have meant he had moved the UC program forward. The UC athletic director was more than willing to live with that.
Fickell was impressive from the beginning in the way he handled himself the way he related to his players. By then, I was writing for UC’s website, ‘gobearcats.com.’ I did several profiles on Fickell and was confident he would do a good job at UC, but I’d be lying if I said I thought he’d be able to do this or I thought he'd still be at UC five years later.
Now I’m amazed every time I turn on the TV and see Nippert Stadium filled with fans like it never used to be, and when I see how good the Bearcats are.
When I watched them turn up the heat on Houston in the second half Saturday I thought back to all those hot summer practices I attended at Camp Higher Ground in August, looking for a story that someone would read, standing along the sideline and watching drill after drill that meant very little to me, but seemed so important to the coaching staff.
I thought of all the UC players I got to know over the years, players gave their all but never had a chance to do what the Bearcats are about to do – play for a national championship. I thought of the coaches who did their best against all odds to move the needle at least a little bit during their stays here, coaches like Tim Murphy, Rick Minter and Mark Dantonio. Those players and coaches gave everything they had at a time when UC football often seemed like a hopeless cause and when few sports fans in Cincinnati were interested.
I wonder what those players and coaches were feeling and how grateful they must be to Fickell, his coaching staff, and the players who made this happen at a school where it seemed it never would.
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