CINCINNATI
Just look at the coaches who've come through Cincinnati in the past decade. Mark Dantonio made a stopover before going to Michigan State. Brian Kelly was at Cincinnati before taking the Notre Dame job, and Butch Jones followed Kelly before heading off to Tennessee. The Bearcats then lured Tommy Tuberville away from Texas Tech and are paying him $2.2 million per year, which tops all non-Power 5 schools.

Now a member of the American Athletic Conference, Cincinnati might be viewed as a stepping-stone job, but that's not always a bad thing when you look at the caliber of coaches who've guided the program.

Tuberville, entering this third season, has won nine games each of the past two seasons. Jones won 10 games each of his last two seasons, in 2011 and 2012, and Kelly took the Bearcats to the Orange Bowl and the Sugar Bowl and won 23 games his last two seasons. Cincinnati has won or shared a conference title five times in the past seven seasons.

Nippert Stadium just underwent an $86 million renovation that will raise capacity from 35,000 to 40,000. The Bearcats played their home games last season at the Bengals' Paul Brown Stadium. With two professional franchises in the city (the Bengals and Reds), UC football can get swallowed up at times, especially with Ohio State being just up the road. But there are excellent football players in the state, and the Bearcats are going to get their share.

Sure, it's not a destination job, but it is a job that continues to attract first-rate coaches and continues to produce winning seasons.

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