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If Prater can't beat out Bryant and live up to his recruiting ranking...better make sure that ground game is solid.
Denbrock held positions at bigger schools and was at UC for 5 years. Whether that was loyalty to Fickell or him needing to build himself up - I can't see Gino getting better offers in a year or so unless the offense completely takes off. This will be his first year as a Coordinator. In 3-4 years, maybe other schools will come calling.
No doubt Prater has much more upside and is a much better option to take the reins, but apparently there's an accuracy issue. Doesn't matter what type of arm talent you have if you can't hit your WRs.
Good point. I guess I didn't even realize Denbrock had been here that long. If he does do a good job and the offers come in in a few years, maybe that's when Fick leaves for something larger (assuming continued success) and Gino takes over as HC if he's got the chops for it. All in all, still a lot to be excited about moving forward.
Absolutely. If coaches, whether the head coach, coordinators or position coaches are being poached and looked at as UC's have been so far this off-season, that means you're doing something right.
I feel like the offense will try to be more creative and pick up the pace a bit. I'm just basing that on the age difference between Denbrock and Gino. About a 20 year age difference so kinda old school vs. new school, and the young coaches seem to be more aggressive and take risks.
Also, they already have a transfer that is better than any hypothetical likely never kicked a football soccer player.
They picked up a kicker in the transfer portal I believe. As for the OL being the biggest weakness, bringing back 5 guys who played 14 games last year is a big deal, regardless of their struggles this year. I'll take another year in the weight room and all that experience to go along with a new OL coach.
Agree with a lot of what you are saying here. You're right saying the Big 12 will not be a pushover. The best teams from the AAC are coming with Cinci, and those teams are good and can beat Cinci. Right now, TCU, Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Texan Tech, BYU, and Kansas State are all pretty good programs. It will take a couple of years to get the recruits needed to win this conference. In the first year if Cinci goes 8-4, that would be a success. That WVU game is going to be interesting. I think that game will become a big rivalry game. Because of proximity and recruting areas, winning that game is going to be pivotal to Cinci. This is exciting though. I know some people on here don't think the new Big 12 minus OU and Texas should not be in the P5, but Texas has only won ten games once in the last ten years, and between 2010 - 2021, they have had five losing seasons. They are supposed to be a blue-blood of college football, but these guys are taking it to them. OU is a loss, but even they didn't win the conference this year, and once they go into the SEC, they will be a distant memory. But Cinci is going to have to improve a lot to compete with and beat on a regular basis most of these teams. In the long run, it will be good for them because now they will have more in roads to recruiting kids out of Texas. That will be really good for them.
.....and they increased the monies for his assistant's. Plus, firmed up their commitment to the new indoor practice facility. They are going balls out, all in.....
Not that I disagree with what you're saying here, but there are only a handful of programs that win 11-13 games in a given year. So that assessment alone is kind of silly to say.
Wait.......So you're saying the Bearcats playing a schedule of Okie State, Baylor, Texas Tech, K-State, WVU, Iowa State, and TCU is gonna' be more challenging than playing Tulane, ECU, USF, and Tulsa??? Quick, call the BIG12 and tell em' we changed our minds. Thanks for the heads up!!!
Yes UC made the Playoff last year and that should be the goal every year, but it took a perfect storm - special class, multiple P5 Champs with multiple losses, winning on the road against a top 5 team in ND - just to get there.
UC got him, see HS football forum.
Bryant adds nothing special to the position. If he’s the starter, he’s a game manager and you’re relying on the ground game and defense to win you games. Not saying he can or will go out and win you games, but if Prater can throw it well enough, he adds such a threat with his legs that it makes the offense more dynamic. Don’t think you get that at all with Bryant.
Adding Kiner to go with the backs they already have is big, and likely means whoever can move the chains through the air will win the job. Obviously Prater brings another dynamic with his legs, but you can get him involved in packages where you use that. Ridder barely ran the ball last season, not that I particularly agreed with that philosophy, but they proved they can win without relying on having a running QB. If Bryant proves to be more than a game manager, then I think it's his job because they're going to need consistency even if Prater has more upside.
I just can't see Bryant being more than a game manager, at best. His numbers at Eastern Michigan last season were pedestrian. I understand he had lesser talent around him, but he was also playing lesser talent for the most part. He even got benched in their bowl game against Liberty, who, aside from Malik Willis, was not a talented team. If he wins the job, I hope he does great, has a breakout year, but I certainly won't be excited about it.
To be clear, if Bryant is the starter I believe it'll be more Prater losing the battle than Bryant winning it. The only knock I've heard on Prater is his accuracy issues, so with most of the OL back and a stable of backs, they're going to be a run heavy team. Prater brings another element of that running game, but if he can't hit WRs when he needs to, then it's not going to work as teams stack the box and dare him to beat them over the top.