Cincinnati Move to Big 12 a ‘Home Run’ Says Scott Satterfield
ARLINGTON, Texas — New Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield made one of the more curious coaching moves of the offseason hiring cycle by taking over the Bearcats.
Satterfield was the head coach at Louisville before taking the job at Cincinnati. It was a curious move to some, moving from a Power 5 job to a school that was about to become a Power 5 school.
He replaced Luke Fickell, who took the Wisconsin job one season after leading the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff after the 2021 season.
So far, Satterfield calls the move for him and the Bearcats a “home run.”
“It’s been awesome,” Satterfield. “The last four years in the ACC our Media Days were in a hotel. Having it in this venue (AT&T Stadium), most of our players aspire to be here on Sundays. To bring them here, it’s been tremendous to be a part of this. It’s a home run. Part of this coming to a new conference, a competitive conference, this is just the start for us. I’m very impressed with this conference. Our first game against Oklahoma at Nippert (Stadium) and it’s going to be an outstanding atmosphere.”
The Cincinnati Bearcats are officially entering their first season in the Big 12 Conference after becoming a conference member on July 1st. The Bearcats finished third in the AAC last season with an overall record of 9-4 (6-2).
Cincinnati’s squad now joins one of the fastest-rising football conferences in America under commissioner Brett Yormark, as the Bearcats enter the fall in hopes of competing in year one.
Offensively, the Bearcats return just three starters from last year. Cincinnati lost its top eight receivers and has only one receiver who was on scholarship with the team in 2022.
The lone bit of production returning to Cincinnati can be seen with running back duo Corey Kiner and Ryan Montgomery, who combined for 144 carries, 632 yards, and 10 touchdowns on the season last year.
Defensively, Cincinnati returns six starters including players like DE Eric Phillips who had a productive season with 38 tackles, three sacks, five TFLs, four pass breakups, and one forced fumble in 2022. The team also returns sophomore DL Dontay Corleone who became the team’s everyman last season with 44 tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles, even earning All-Big 12 Preseason team honors.
While the defense looks to be a strong unit this season under Satterfield, the team did lose its best player from last season linebacker Ivan Pace, who led the defense in most statistical categories with 137 total tackles, 10 sacks, and 11.5 TFL in 2022.
The Bearcats were active in the transfer portal this offseason. Cincinnati found three new starters at wide receiver in Louisville’s Braden Smith, Florida’s Xzavier Henderson, and Louisville’s Dee Wiggins.
The team also added a new starting quarterback in Arizona State transfer Emory Jones who joins the Bearcats with 4,880 passing yards, 33 passing touchdowns, and 18 interceptions in his career.
Cincinnati will begin its 2023 campaign at home against Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 2nd, before taking on the Oklahoma Sooners at home to open up Big 12 Conference play.
