Jenkins is deciding tonight if he is taking an OV to Cincy or Temple. Complete update on Rivals:

Had to think he would follow Tayvion Galloway, plus his relationship with Mike Denbrock:

Following up on my last INsider. Davis went in-depth on his commitment to the Bearcats and injury. I don't think he's 100% and I doubt he'll actually play in the game Saturday. But he'll be there and get a practice or two in.

The last of UC's run of four-star commits this summer is gone. Daeh McCullough flipped to Oklahoma, to join his brother Dasan, who's transferring from Indiana:
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Guys, I just got off the phone with UC's newest commit, the first of the Scott Satterfield era, in Jayden Davis. I know Luke Kandra jumped on board last week, but he's transferring colleges, not committing.
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Davis is another guy who's fully on board with the new UC staff. But I was piqued, when one of the first things Davis said in explaining his decision is how well he got along with Kerry Coombs. That's big. He's already making a difference in being retained on the staff. Still, Bryan Brown and Derek Nicholson were the main recruiters here. When I asked Davis what he liked about them, he told me, "I just feel like theyre leaders and winners. Im a winner and I wanna surround myself with winners."

Davis said he plans on majoring in kinesiology and loved the academic side of the Bearcats. He liked the graduation history of the program including the guys now in the NFL. Most of them finished school.

The thing I didn't realize and honestly, I haven't seen out there much is Davis is coming off a torn meniscus in his knee. He got the injury in his third game of the season and immediately had surgery. It seems to have gone well. He told me he's 100% and participating in the US Army Bowl on Saturday. Not sure how much playing he'll do, but he's taking part in the practices and workouts this week after he leaves for there on Wednesday.

Also, Davis is graduating in May. So while he'll sign next week, he won't enroll til the summer.

Full story coming.

Not a surprise:

From the Football Writers Association and the Cotton Bowl. Here's the full list:

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB Caleb Williams, USC (6-1, 215, So., Washington, D.C.)
RB Blake Corum, Michigan (5-8, 210, Jr., Marshall, Va.)
RB Bijan Robinson, Texas (6-0, 222, Jr., Tucson, Ariz.
WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State (6-4, 205, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa.)
WR Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee (6-0, 185, Jr., Irmo, S.C.)
TE Brock Bowers, Georgia (6-4, 230, So., Napa, Calif.)
OL Steve Avila, TCU (6-4, 330, Sr., Arlington, Texas)
OL Paris Johnson Jr., Ohio State (6-6, 310, Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio)
OL John Michael Schmitz, Minnesota (6-4, 320, Sr., Flossmoor, Ill.)
OL Peter Skoronski, Northwestern (6-4, 315, Jr., Park Ridge, Ill.)
C Olusegun Oluwatimi, Michigan (6-3, 307, Gr., Upper Marlboro, Md.)

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
DL Jalen Carter, Georgia (6-3, 300, Jr., Apopka, Fla.)
DL Calijah Kancey, Pitt (6-0, 280, Jr., Miami, Fla.)
DL Tuli Tuipulotu, USC (6-4, 290, Jr., Hawthorne, Calif.)
DL Tyree Wilson, Texas Tech (6-6, 275, Sr., Henderson, Texas)
LB Will Anderson Jr., Alabama (6-4, 243, So., Hampton, Ga.)
LB Jack Campbell, Iowa (6-5, 246, Sr., Cedar Falls, Iowa)
LB Ivan Pace Jr., Cincinnati (6-0, 235, Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio)
DB Emmanuel Forbes, Mississippi State (6-0, 180, Jr., Grenada, Miss.)
DB Clark Phillips III, Utah (5-10, 183, So., Lakewood, Calif.)
DB Chris Smith, Georgia (5-11, 195, Sr., Atlanta, Ga.)
DB Devon Witherspoon, Illinois (6-0, 180, Jr., Pensacola, Fla.)

FIRST TEAM SPECIALISTS
K Christopher Dunn, N.C. State (5-8, 170, Gr., Lexington, N.C.)
P Tory Taylor, Iowa (6-4, 230, Jr., Melbourne, Australia)
KR Lideatrick Griffin, Mississippi State (5-10, 185, Jr., Philadelphia, Miss.)
PR Derius Davis, TCU (5-10, 175, Sr., Saint Francisville, La.)
AP Zach Charbonnet, UCLA (6-1, 220, Sr., Camarillo, Calif.)

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE: QB Max Duggan, TCU; RB Israel Abanikanda, Pitt; RB Mohamed Ibrahim, Minnesota; WR Josh Downs, North Carolina; WR Rashee Rice, SMU; TE Michael Mayer, Notre Dame; OL Joe Alt, Notre Dame; OL Nick Broeker, Ole Miss; OL O'Cyrus Torrence, Florida; OL Andrew Vorhees, USC; C Alex Forsyth, Oregon. SECOND TEAM DEFENSE: DL Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State; DL Tyler Davis, Clemson; DL Isaiah Foskey, Notre Dame; DL Mike Morris, Michigan; LB Tommy Eichenberg, Ohio State; LB Jason Henderson, Old Dominion; LB Drew Sanders, Arkansas; DB Erick Hallett II, Pitt; DB Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, TCU; DB Joey Porter Jr., Penn State; DB John Torchio, Wisconsin. SECOND TEAM SPECIALISTS: K Joshua Karty, Stanford; P Bryce Baringer, Michigan State; KR Milan Tucker, App State; PR Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama; AP Chase Brown, Illinois.

First Team by Conference: Big Ten 9, SEC 7, Big 12 4, Pac-12 4, ACC 2, American Athletic 1.
Second Team by Conference: Big Ten 7, ACC 4, SEC 4, Big 12 3, Pac-12 3, Independents 3, Sun Belt 2, American Athletic 1.
Combined by Conference: Big Ten 16, SEC 11, Big 12 7, Pac-12 7, ACC 6, Independents 3, American Athletic 2, Sun Belt 2.

First Team by School: Georgia 3, Iowa 2, Michigan 2, Mississippi State 2, Ohio State 2, TCU 2, USC 2, Alabama, Cincinnati, Illinois, Minnesota, N.C. State, Northwestern, Pitt, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA, Utah.
Second Team by School: Notre Dame 3, Pitt 2, TCU 2, Alabama, App State, Arkansas, Clemson, Florida, Illinois, Kansas State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio State, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, SMU, Stanford, USC, Wisconsin.
Combined by School: TCU 4, Georgia 3, Michigan 3, Notre Dame 3, Ohio State 3, Pitt 3, USC 3, Alabama 2, Illinois 2, Iowa 2, Minnesota 2, Mississippi State 2, App State, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Clemson, Florida, Kansas State, Michigan State, North Carolina, N.C. State, Northwestern, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, SMU, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA, Utah, Wisconsin.

First team by Class: Juniors 13, Seniors/Graduates 10, Sophomores 4, Freshmen 0.
Second team by Class: Seniors/Graduates 12, Juniors 11, Sophomores 4, Freshmen 0.
Combined by Class: Juniors 24, Seniors/Graduates 22, Sophomores 8, Freshmen 0.Total by class: Juniors 24, Seniors/Graduates 22, Sophomores 8, Freshmen 0.

Per his Twitter it sounds like Brady Drogosh has decided to remain committed to the Bearcats. Big win for this coaching staff.

Guys, following up on my INsider post last night. Full story on Rayquan Adkins after his UC official visit this past weekend:

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Guys, I talked a bit earlier with one of UC's official visitors this weekend, Northwestern (Fla.) three-star cornerback Rayquan Adkins. He's still committed to Louisville, which he has been since March 5. And he told me he's not considering anyone else, just UC and Louisville.
Login to view embedded media This was Adkins' first time at Cincinnati. He told me he liked the city, the campus and the hospitality he received from the recruiting staffers, most of whom he met for the first time. As you can imagine, coach Scott Satterfield was cited as one of the main reasons Adkins is interested. But he also really likes defensive coordinator Bryan Brown. Adkins called Brown "My guy" and said he just had to visit. He told me he doesn't believe much has changed from when the staff was at Louisville.

I do really like this quote from Adkins: "The only thing that changed was the logo. The color stays the same. They just show major love."

Overall, I think this one will end in the Bearcats' favor. Adkins is officially visiting Louisville next weekend. He wants to give coach Jeff Brohm and his new staff a chance, which is what I always think any commit should do when there's a coaching change. But I don't think there's any connection to Brohm, just the couple of coaches and staffers left behind from Satterfield.

I think Adkins will make a decision likely next Sunday or the following day. Definitely before signing day Dec. 21. And again, I'll be surprised if this one isn't for UC by the end.

Full story coming.

This one should come as no surprise. The new staff visited with Davis this week, he decommitted the next day and I made my FutureCast for UC. Davis delivered with his pledge this afternoon:

Hey all, just wanted to post all the confirmed visitors this weekend. A TON are official. Not a complete list and will be adding to it, but to give you an idea of who is on campus this weekend:

Let's start with the high school recruits:
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College players in the portal:
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Now that the media has had a chance to attend a bowl practice, I’m interested to hear who is going to be UC’s OC and DC. I hope someone asked that question.

I’d expect Mike Cummings to be UC’s OC. He was an OC at UConn.

The DC is a bigger question for me. Because the staff is so short handed and Kerry is serving as the interim HC, I’m not sure he’d want to also take the DC duties. Even though Walt has never done it, I think he would be the next most likely candidate.

On the other side of the field, will Coach Brohm sacrifice recruiting by putting one of his Purdue in-comers as a coordinator? I seriously doubt he’d do that. Recruiting is more important than the bowl game. That would leave only TE coach Josh Stepp to call the plays.

Defensively, I’d think Mark Ivey (DL) would take the task of DC (assuming he doesn’t follow CSS to UC).

Game planning for Louisville has to be a real chore with only three assistant coaches and grad assistants.

From the Crosstown Shootout. Brutal first half got UC too behind to come back all the way.

Still technically committed to UC, but seems like zero connection to new staff and is taking official visit to Oklahoma.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dec. 9, 2022

CONTACT: Zach Stipe, Associate AD/Communications (865-244-6119/stipezd@ucmail.uc.edu)

WEB LINK: https://gobearcats.com/news/2022/12/9/kerry-coombs-to-return-to-cincinnati-football-staff.aspx



Kerry Coombs to Return to Cincinnati Football Staff Longtime NFL, college and Cincinnati high school coach will serve as Scott Satterfield’s secondary coach and special teams coordinator



CINCINNATI – Cincinnati football head coach Scott Satterfield announced on Friday that Kerry Coombs will remain on the Bearcats coaching staff.



Coombs signed a new three-year deal. He will serve as UC’s secondary coach and special teams coordinator.



Coombs was named interim head coach last month following Luke Fickell’s departure. He will lead the Bearcats into the Fenway Bowl on Dec. 17.



“We’re excited to keep Coach Coombs on our staff,” Satterfield said. “His energy is contagious. He’s an excellent motivator and developer of young men on and off the field. His resume here in Cincinnati, but also in the NFL and at Ohio State, speaks for itself. He’s respected throughout the country. Interacting with him this past week and watching him serve as the interim head coach, I’ve been very impressed, and I know he will be a perfect fit for what we are building here.”



The Cincinnati native’s 40-year coaching career has been highlighted by stints in the NFL as the secondary coach for the Tennessee Titans, two separate tenures as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Ohio State as well as two stops as an assistant at UC. Prior to collegiate coaching, he served as the head coach at Colerain High School in Cincinnati, where he went to 10 state playoffs and five state semifinals over 16 years, including an undefeated state championship season in 2004.



Coombs rejoined the Bearcats in February 2022 following a two-year stint as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator from 2020 to 2021.



Tasked with replacing a pair of All-American cornerbacks and NFL draft picks at both cornerback spots, Coombs developed first-year starter Ja’Quan Sheppard into an All-AAC First Team selection and moved nickel back Arquon Bush to cornerback where he also earned all-conference honors.



Coombs also oversaw one of the nation’s top special teams units. Sophomore Mason Fletcher proved to be one of the nation’s top punters. He was named a finalist for the prestigious Ray Guy Award and collected All-AAC Special Teams Player of the Year accolades.



Additionally, UC ranked second nationally in net punting (44.69), 14th in kick return defense (16.9), No. 17 in punt return defense (3.5) and No. 21 in punt return average (11.4).



Coombs coached the Buckeyes from 2020 to 21 and from 2012 to 2017 with a two-year stint with the Titans from 2018 to 2019.



At Ohio State, Coombs served as the defensive coordinator (2020-21) and the cornerbacks coach/special teams coordinator (2013-2017), adding assistant defensive coordinator duties in 2017. In his six-year tenure, every starting cornerback he had coached made it to the NFL. Ohio State won the national title in 2014.



Coombs began in college coaching on Brian Kelly’s Cincinnati staff in 2007 as defensive backs coach. He was promoted to associate head coach/defensive backs coach/special teams in 2009 and stayed in that role until 2011.



Starting in 1991, he compiled a 161-36 record as the head coach at Colerain, his alma mater.



Coombs and his wife Holly are the parents of three grown children. They have a son Brayden, a daughter Cortney and son Dylan, who is a former cornerback for UC and was in the Lindner Honors Plus business program.

Hey all, following up my last INsider, full story on Luke Kandra transferring to UC. All happened quickly and he loves Satterfield and the coaches he's brought with him to the Bearcats:

Cincinnati's new staff has reached out asking for a mid-week OV. Update on Rivals:

Good details about UC and others with Rivals' national writer Travis Graf:

One of the biggest mistakes Tommy Tuberville made during his time in Cincinnati was not prioritizing the recruitment of the Cincinnati area. I firmly believe it is ten times harder to succeed at UC if you don’t prioritize the Queen City area. There’s plenty of good talent locally, and that talent has grown up seeing very good football played at Nippert Stadium.

UC football has really succeeded since 2006, and that means every local kid in high school has viewed the Bearcat program as a winner. That wasn’t always the case, but Nippert Stadium has basically sold out for two straight seasons, and locals have seen the home school achieve something no one else had accomplished when UC made the CFP last season as a member of the G5. Heading into a P5 league next season and having the playoffs soon expanded to 12 teams means the Bearcats have a very clear path to the playoffs every year. All that should only help.

Here’s the problem as I see it. Scott Satterfield has never really recruited this area, or at least, he hasn’t recruited it very well. Former UC coach Tim Hinton (one-time ace recruiter) once told me that people outside this area don’t understand that recruiting Cincy is unlike anywhere else. Hinton would know because he spent a lot of time in Ohio as a high school coach and then recruited this area for Wilmington, Ohio, UC, Notre Dame and Ohio State. When asked what makes recruiting Cincinnati so difficult, it’s hard to get a clear, concise answer, but Hinton swore to me that Tubs was doing it wrong. He suggested local high school coaches need someone they know and trust. They need to see those coaches at their schools often, and they want their players to get local attention. I personally know in my decade of covering recruiting here that Cincinnati high school coaches will even go to bat to promote a Cincinnati kid at another school.

I remember when Coach Coombs moved from Colerain to UC. One of his first goals was to visit every Cincinnati area high school. Keeping Kerry Coombs at UC might be one of Satterfield’s most important recruiting jobs. It also would be a good idea to recruit Walt Stewart as well. A person close to Walt told me several years ago that he really wanted to return to Cincinnati, and Walt won‘t want to leave after being here for only one year. But the availability of the coaching assignments might play a big role in getting either or both. Reports are Louisville’s Bryan Brown (DC) will be joining UC, and he also coaches cornerbacks, and DL coach Mark Ivey appears to have done a good job with the Cards’ defensive front and might be Brown’s choice to assume the same job at UC. However, with staffs now being permitted to have ten assistant coaches, staffs have some flexibility on position assignments.