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Good Sunday morning everyone! Wow! This has been an insanely interesting coaching search to cover. I appreciate all the discussion on the thread I started yesterday. I've absolutely loved hearing everyone's take and the healthy banter that ensued. We all want to know who the coach will be. And I can tell you we're exhausting all our resources to try to nail things down. As has been pointed put, John Cunningham has absolutely put a lid on this, which in this day and age, is absolutely admirable. It is incredibly hard to do that anywhere. So, below is our latest updates on what we're hearing. And again, Sam will add here as he sees fit, but everyone is absolutely welcome to chime in. Love the discussion!
*I can corroborate Justin Williams' report that Gino Guidugli has been told he will not get the job and will head to Wisconsin to join Luke Fickell's staff there. So as far as internal candidates to stay, honestly, whoever the new coach will basically have Walter Stewart and Kerry Coombs to work with. Pretty much everyone else is headed to Wisconsin. Either or both would be good to keep on board. But either way, I expect quite a bit of player turnover, as much as staff here.
**The three new names I'm hearing chatter on are TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, Troy coach Jon Sumrall and Buffalo coach Mo Linguist. These are three very different scenarios and none have the natural tie to Cincinnati or Ohio like the other candidates. But I'll go into each.
***First off, Sean Lewis is still in play, though again, my same source that's close to him has told me that as of about 7 pm last night, he had not been offered the job and was still waiting to hear back from Cunningham. Of course, this also means he hasn't been told he's NOT getting the job. So I think Lewis has to remain in play here.
****Our friend Tim Adams threw out Riley's name here and I've gotten back conflicting reports here. It does sound like there's some smoke with Riley, just not sure how much. I had one source tell me Riley is very interested, but couldn't confirm whether or not he was on the plane spotted at Lunken Airport that arrived from Arlington yesterday. But then I had another Rivals source reach out to some coaches and was told by one coach that they absolutely couldn't see it because he has no experience in the region. BUUUT, UC will almost certainly have to recruit Texas more, playing four Texas schools on a regular basis, so that's not necessarily a detriment. Yes, Riley would have to recruit Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky, but he can hire assistants who know those areas well. Remember, the head coach doesn't usually go out recruiting a ton himself. That falls largely to the assistants. The head coach comes in to support the assistants. So I think Riley is definitely in play here. He's the one of the four names here, however, without head coaching experience.
*****I honestly have heard less on Sumrall and Linguist. But I have heard their names mentioned here, so I think each has to be in play. I don't believe Sumrall has had any on-campus visit, so of these four, I'd put him at least likely. And I really can't confirm a ton here with him, other than I do believe he's in play, based on what I'm hearing.
******Linguist I also have not heard a ton on. But aside from others reporting he's an option, I have heard his name. I first heard it Friday after Buffalo's game, but it was just from one source, so I didn't think a ton of it. But his name came up again last night, when I was trying to figure out where UC goes after Alex Golesh agreed to go to South Florida. I can tell you Golesh was never offered the job at UC and I think felt that he didn't want to pass a sure thing at USF for the potential of getting UC. I can get that.
Sooooooo, I'll update the hot board as well, but it sounds like we've got four (five if you count Coombs, though I don't expect him to be the guy). Updates here throughout the day when available, as an announcement could come as soon as later today.
Good Sunday morning everyone! Wow! This has been an insanely interesting coaching search to cover. I appreciate all the discussion on the thread I started yesterday. I've absolutely loved hearing everyone's take and the healthy banter that ensued. We all want to know who the coach will be. And I can tell you we're exhausting all our resources to try to nail things down. As has been pointed put, John Cunningham has absolutely put a lid on this, which in this day and age, is absolutely admirable. It is incredibly hard to do that anywhere. So, below is our latest updates on what we're hearing. And again, Sam will add here as he sees fit, but everyone is absolutely welcome to chime in. Love the discussion!
*I can corroborate Justin Williams' report that Gino Guidugli has been told he will not get the job and will head to Wisconsin to join Luke Fickell's staff there. So as far as internal candidates to stay, honestly, whoever the new coach will basically have Walter Stewart and Kerry Coombs to work with. Pretty much everyone else is headed to Wisconsin. Either or both would be good to keep on board. But either way, I expect quite a bit of player turnover, as much as staff here.
**The three new names I'm hearing chatter on are TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, Troy coach Jon Sumrall and Buffalo coach Mo Linguist. These are three very different scenarios and none have the natural tie to Cincinnati or Ohio like the other candidates. But I'll go into each.
***First off, Sean Lewis is still in play, though again, my same source that's close to him has told me that as of about 7 pm last night, he had not been offered the job and was still waiting to hear back from Cunningham. Of course, this also means he hasn't been told he's NOT getting the job. So I think Lewis has to remain in play here.
****Our friend Tim Adams threw out Riley's name here and I've gotten back conflicting reports here. It does sound like there's some smoke with Riley, just not sure how much. I had one source tell me Riley is very interested, but couldn't confirm whether or not he was on the plane spotted at Lunken Airport that arrived from Arlington yesterday. But then I had another Rivals source reach out to some coaches and was told by one coach that they absolutely couldn't see it because he has no experience in the region. BUUUT, UC will almost certainly have to recruit Texas more, playing four Texas schools on a regular basis, so that's not necessarily a detriment. Yes, Riley would have to recruit Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky, but he can hire assistants who know those areas well. Remember, the head coach doesn't usually go out recruiting a ton himself. That falls largely to the assistants. The head coach comes in to support the assistants. So I think Riley is definitely in play here. He's the one of the four names here, however, without head coaching experience.
*****I honestly have heard less on Sumrall and Linguist. But I have heard their names mentioned here, so I think each has to be in play. I don't believe Sumrall has had any on-campus visit, so of these four, I'd put him at least likely. And I really can't confirm a ton here with him, other than I do believe he's in play, based on what I'm hearing.
******Linguist I also have not heard a ton on. But aside from others reporting he's an option, I have heard his name. I first heard it Friday after Buffalo's game, but it was just from one source, so I didn't think a ton of it. But his name came up again last night, when I was trying to figure out where UC goes after Alex Golesh agreed to go to South Florida. I can tell you Golesh was never offered the job at UC and I think felt that he didn't want to pass a sure thing at USF for the potential of getting UC. I can get that.
Sooooooo, I'll update the hot board as well, but it sounds like we've got four (five if you count Coombs, though I don't expect him to be the guy). Updates here throughout the day when available, as an announcement could come as soon as later today.
