CSNbbs

Many UC ties in AFC, NFC title games
Posted by BKoch at 1/12/2009 1:47 PM EST on Cincinnati.com

This comes from Ryan Koslen, UC's ever-vigilant football SID:

Five former UC football players and seven former assistant coaches will battle for a berth in Super Bowl XLIII as the NFL enters its conference championship weekend.The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers will face off in a game that features head coaches who were both UC assistants. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was a UC assistant from 1989-96 and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was on the UC staff from 1999-2000.Both coaches have multiple assistants on their staff with UC ties. On the Raven’s side, assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Rex Ryan (1996-97), special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg (1992-95), and offensive assistant Craig Ver Steeg (1990-93) all served with Harbaugh at Cincinnati.On Tomlin’s staff, assistant special teams coach Amos Jones (1999-2002) and offensive line coach Larry Zierlein (1997-2000) coached for the Bearcats. Former standout safety Haruki Nakamura is wrapping up his first professional season with the Ravens. He has played in 14 games, mostly on special teams. He has 12 tackles. Linebacker Andre Fraizer played in 10 games this season for Pittsburgh, recording 10 tackles and a sack. On the NFC side, the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles will meet with three former UC players among the participants. Cardinals linebackers coach Bill Davis was a four-year letter winner for UC at quarterback and running back from 1985-88 who is in his 17th season as an NFL assistant. Philadelphia features former student-athletes Brent Celek and Trent Cole. Celek, in his second season as a pro, has 30 catches for 330 yards and two touchdowns. In the Eagles’ 23-11 win over the Giants Sunday, he caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb in the fourth quarter. Cole, who has emerged as one of the top young defenders in the league, leads all NFL players with 20 tackles in two playoff games. For the season, he has 102 tackles and eight sacks.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll...innati.com

with all those coach's in the NFL now, why weren't we good in the 90's

(01-12-2009 03:40 PM)bearcat PACO Wrote: [ -> ]with all those coach's in the NFL now, why weren't we good in the 90's

They weren't allowed to "coach" at UC. They left like all the other coaches.

(01-12-2009 03:40 PM)bearcat PACO Wrote: [ -> ]with all those coach's in the NFL now, why weren't we good in the 90's

I guess good is relative. We made far more strides in the 90s than a lot of fans realize. We went from an independent with very little success to a conference team with marignal success and eventually to the Big East. We had some very good teams over the years. Never quite made a jump to top 25 caliber..but had a fairly good period of successful teams.

To go from where UC was to where it is now took a lot of legwork that many of these coaches that are at better places now did. Other places recognized what a tough job UC was and how talented some of these assistent coaches were.

(01-12-2009 03:40 PM)bearcat PACO Wrote: [ -> ]with all those coach's in the NFL now, why weren't we good in the 90's

Do you not remember the Rick Minter Revolving Door of Assistant Coaches that UC had during the 90's? Coaches got their feet wet, showed some promise and then got tired of Minter's schtick and bolted for greener pastures. I remember a lot of people questioning how much better UC would have been if Rick would have managed to have some consistency on his staff.

(01-12-2009 04:11 PM)oleskl Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-12-2009 03:40 PM)bearcat PACO Wrote: [ -> ]with all those coach's in the NFL now, why weren't we good in the 90's

Do you not remember the Rick Minter Revolving Door of Assistant Coaches that UC had during the 90's? Coaches got their feet wet, showed some promise and then got tired of Minter's schtick and bolted for greener pastures. I remember a lot of people questioning how much better UC would have been if Rick would have managed to have some consistency on his staff.

He couldn't keep his coaches because the University would not pay them a whole lot. Many left for a similar position with another team who paid more.

Glad to see the University wised up and now has competitive pay for our assistants.

Yeah, I'd really like to hear what was really going on with all the turnover - hopefully Josh's book will provide some insight. It's hard to believe it was all about just one thing: Minter, money or something else but the turnover was just ridiculous and had to make it very difficult to have the continuity necessarily to build a program.

Also many people were taking better jobs. Tomlin ended up in the NFL, Fisher at LSU...Assistent coaches are looking to advance.... UC was not exactly the top place on the totom poll

On a positive note, it also shows that Minter had a real eye for talent.

(01-12-2009 05:30 PM)pobearman Wrote: [ -> ]On a positive note, it also shows that Minter had a real eye for talent.

And Minter would the first guy to tell you that.

I think Rex Ryan left UC after one year to go to Oklahoma State.