Fickell asks Bearcats to be better leaders
Orlando Sentinel college insider Matt Murschel ranked all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the country entering the 2017 season. The Sentinel staff takes a closer look at a new team daily, counting backward from No. 130 to our projected No. 1 team.
Cincinnati Bearcats Luke Fickell (0-0 first season, 6-7
entering overall)
4-8 overall, 1-7 American Athletic Conference; fourth in the East Division
The Tommy Tuberville era came to an unceremonious close after four seasons, during which the program routinely coped with injuries at key positions and quarterback disruption. The Bearcats were often favored to finish at the top of the young league and tied for first place in 2014. However, they declined during the next two seasons, leading to Tuberville’s resignation in December.
Cincinnati’s 4-8 finish in 2016 was the program’s worst since 2010.
5 ties in the state should help stabilize the program.
This is Fickell’s first stint as a full-time head coach after a lengthy career as an assistant at Ohio State, where he mainly worked with defensive units. He also played for the Buckeyes from 1993-96 as a nose guard.
The Bearcats should be strongest on the defensive side of the ball in 2017. Leading defensive tackle Cortez Broughton suffered a foot injury during the spring, but he is expected to return in time for the 2017 season.
“We don’t have a lack of talent here. To me, what we’ve had is a little bit of lack of leadership,” Fickell said. “And what [do leaders] do? They set a standard. They set an expectation and they expect everybody else to live up to it and they demand it whether that’s from the coaches or the players.”
Running back Mike Boone is slowly easing his way back into action after being limited to nine games last season due to turf toe. Boone had only one carry for 1 yard during the spring game because he was instructed not to run the ball. The senior tailback still caught four passes for 25 yards, according Cincinnati Enquirer.
“We had our ups and downs, we had a couple of injuries that maybe set us back,” Fickell said. “We had a defensive lineman get hurt that we’re really counting on, we lost our center a week and a half ago on a scrimmage on Saturday. But all in all, I think that we had a very productive spring ball.” to the
Cincinnati has enough pieces in place to improve on last season’s 4-8 mark and should challenge several teams in the AAC East Division, but it will be a process with a new coaching staff.