College football insider provides shortlist for Cincinnati Job
With Luke Fickell leaving Cincinnati for the Wisconsin job, a new job opening popped open in the coaching carousel. For a lot of coaches, the Cincinnati job is an exciting one. This is a program one year removed from the College Football Playoff that will move into the Big 12 for 2023. It’s already a well-oiled machine, meaning plenty of coaches would be happy to take the job.
Now, college football insider Dennis Dodd has given a list of three potential hires for the Bearcats:
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Notably, as Dodd pointed out on Twitter, the list of these coaches is in random order, and they would all be good hires on paper for Cincinnati.
If the name Mike Tressel sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the nephew of the legendary Jim Tressel. He has spent most of his career in the Big Ten and has been at Cincinnati since 2021 when he replaced Marcus Freeman who left to go to Notre Dame at the time. Hiring him would be an effort to keep the program stable and not change much from the Fickell era.
Jesse Minter is another up-and-coming coach with ties to the Midwest. He’s currently the defensive coordinator at Michigan and has NFL experience. He also might be coaching in the College Football Playoff this season.
Finally, Kevin Wilson is a former Big Ten head coach at Indiana. He struggled to a 26-47 record there over six seasons. However, since then he’s been the offensive coordinator at Ohio State, producing some of the best offenses in the country while recruiting the state of Ohio. That’s always important for Cincinnati.
Paul Finebaum reacted to the Luke Fickell news
The news that Luke Fickell was leaving Cincinnati for Wisconsin caught a lot of people by surprise. However, Paul Finebaum thinks that this was a great opportunity for him after missing out on jobs last season.
“Last year he got stuck. All the big jobs came open and he couldn’t take them because he was in the playoffs,” Finebaum said. “He really has blossomed into an elite coach…I do think Luke Fickell is a great fit at Wisconsin. I think he can elevate that program immensely.”