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(01-13-2021 09:24 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  Replacing both coordinators in the year where we have the best chance we're ever going to have of making the playoffs is so Cincinnati sports its not even funny.

Excited about the prospect of Gino running the offense, even if he is green, and as others mentioned, he would likely be the guy after Fickell if he is successful here as OC, and I think we'd stand a chance of keeping him for awhile which is always nice. I wonder who we would get to replace Denbrock with the TEs. That's a population of heavy opportunity for us given the talent up and down the depth chart there.

My friends and I have a new saying whenever something sports related doesn't go our way. We just say "That's Cincy, baby"

The chuckle makes the pain a little more bearable. It was the first text I fired off after the Peach Bowl.

(01-13-2021 09:37 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Great programs lose coordinators / other coaches to better jobs / promotions. We still have the guy up top and we are brining back loads of talent. I feel great about where the program is.

I feel good about the program as long as the head is intact. The tail can always grow back.

I hope nobody tells Vandy that Denbrock thinks you score points by throwing the ball sideways.

(01-13-2021 09:51 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  I hope nobody tells Vandy that Denbrock thinks you score points by throwing the ball sideways.

Alabama scored a lot of points on Monday off balls thrown sideways.

(01-13-2021 09:56 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 09:51 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  I hope nobody tells Vandy that Denbrock thinks you score points by throwing the ball sideways.

Alabama scored a lot of points on Monday off balls thrown sideways.

Great! When did Devonta Smith transfer in???

Vanderbilt?????

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(01-13-2021 10:01 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 09:56 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 09:51 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  I hope nobody tells Vandy that Denbrock thinks you score points by throwing the ball sideways.

Alabama scored a lot of points on Monday off balls thrown sideways.

Great! When did Devonta Smith transfer in???

With guys like Tucker, McClelland, Ford and the incoming Donley... We have more than enough speed to throw laterally.

(01-13-2021 10:17 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 10:01 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 09:56 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 09:51 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  I hope nobody tells Vandy that Denbrock thinks you score points by throwing the ball sideways.

Alabama scored a lot of points on Monday off balls thrown sideways.

Great! When did Devonta Smith transfer in???

With guys like Tucker, McClelland, Ford and the incoming Donley... We have more than enough speed to throw laterally.

One of those four is not like the other. Donley is a cookie-cutter vertical threat guy. Also, Alabama is a vertical passing attack with some swings and bubbles thrown in...our offenses have very little in common, so to equate Bama running some Spot concepts in Goal Line scenarios and the occasional Slant-Flat combinations to bring the defense back to the line of scrimmage with what we've been running (lots of drags concepts, speed outs with backside slants, RPOs with quick primary reads) is watering down things quite a bit. Alabama kills people with Sail Concepts from a single back or pistol, Smash Concepts and Sucker Routes out of spreads, and the occasional floods out of trips to isolate their outside receivers...tons of personnel movement to create matchup issues (ex: Devonta Smith on the slowest LB in recorded history in a National Championship game).

We are a short passing game team, but that is what we should be with a Quarterback who has very little control of his deep passing and touch on medium yardage throws. Ridder made strides on his accuracy on flag/corner routes and hitting passes over the middle more consistently as the year lead on, but do not run a similar offensive game plan as Alabama, and anyone who has ever so much as LOOKED at an offensive concept chart would understand that.

Alabama did that because Kerry Coombs thought giving WRs a 10 yard cushion at the line was a good idea. Rest of the season Mac Jones’ vertical game was the most pronounced and effective in the nation.

Ridder is not an effective downfield passer...that is why we run short crosses, TE drags and screens.

Has Bryant been the guy, we would have stretched the field more. You call plays to fit the personnel.

(01-13-2021 10:27 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 10:17 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 10:01 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 09:56 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 09:51 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  I hope nobody tells Vandy that Denbrock thinks you score points by throwing the ball sideways.

Alabama scored a lot of points on Monday off balls thrown sideways.

Great! When did Devonta Smith transfer in???

With guys like Tucker, McClelland, Ford and the incoming Donley... We have more than enough speed to throw laterally.

One of those four is not like the other. Donley is a cookie-cutter vertical threat guy. Also, Alabama is a vertical passing attack with some swings and bubbles thrown in...our offenses have very little in common, so to equate Bama running some Spot concepts in Goal Line scenarios and the occasional Slant-Flat combinations to bring the defense back to the line of scrimmage with what we've been running (lots of drags concepts, speed outs with backside slants, RPOs with quick primary reads) is watering down things quite a bit. Alabama kills people with Sail Concepts from a single back or pistol, Smash Concepts and Sucker Routes out of spreads, and the occasional floods out of trips to isolate their outside receivers...tons of personnel movement to create matchup issues (ex: Devonta Smith on the slowest LB in recorded history in a National Championship game).

We are a short passing game team, but that is what we should be with a Quarterback who has very little control of his deep passing and touch on medium yardage throws. Ridder made strides on his accuracy on flag/corner routes and hitting passes over the middle more consistently as the year lead on, but do not run a similar offensive game plan as Alabama, and anyone who has ever so much as LOOKED at an offensive concept chart would understand that.

It was mainly because the OP has some of the worst takes on the board. I am well aware that Bama's offense is much more vertical. Ohio State continued to crash in giving Alabama all the time in the world in the flats. The DE/LB continued to lose contain and Jones was able to step out and throw it to someone wide open in the flat more times than I could count.

My point was more that throwing it side to side is not an ineffective strategy as the original post implied.

(01-13-2021 10:01 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  Vanderbilt?????

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Perhaps, Fick told Denbrock, as one of my former bosses used to say "it would be in your best interest if you sought your fortune elsewhere."

(01-13-2021 10:44 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 10:27 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 10:17 AM)Banter Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 10:01 AM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 09:56 AM)Banter Wrote:  Alabama scored a lot of points on Monday off balls thrown sideways.

Great! When did Devonta Smith transfer in???

With guys like Tucker, McClelland, Ford and the incoming Donley... We have more than enough speed to throw laterally.

One of those four is not like the other. Donley is a cookie-cutter vertical threat guy. Also, Alabama is a vertical passing attack with some swings and bubbles thrown in...our offenses have very little in common, so to equate Bama running some Spot concepts in Goal Line scenarios and the occasional Slant-Flat combinations to bring the defense back to the line of scrimmage with what we've been running (lots of drags concepts, speed outs with backside slants, RPOs with quick primary reads) is watering down things quite a bit. Alabama kills people with Sail Concepts from a single back or pistol, Smash Concepts and Sucker Routes out of spreads, and the occasional floods out of trips to isolate their outside receivers...tons of personnel movement to create matchup issues (ex: Devonta Smith on the slowest LB in recorded history in a National Championship game).

We are a short passing game team, but that is what we should be with a Quarterback who has very little control of his deep passing and touch on medium yardage throws. Ridder made strides on his accuracy on flag/corner routes and hitting passes over the middle more consistently as the year lead on, but do not run a similar offensive game plan as Alabama, and anyone who has ever so much as LOOKED at an offensive concept chart would understand that.

It was mainly because the OP has some of the worst takes on the board. I am well aware that Bama's offense is much more vertical. Ohio State continued to crash in giving Alabama all the time in the world in the flats. The DE/LB continued to lose contain and Jones was able to step out and throw it to someone wide open in the flat more times than I could count.

My point was more that throwing it side to side is not an ineffective strategy as the original post implied.

To be fair, he is a bad take machine...I tend to just gloss over his posts entirely at this point

I thought it was weird that Denbrock was being quoted as saying that Freeman was a slam dunk hire for ND...and I believe it was on an ND recruiting site. I know Denbrock came from there, and is likely still close with Kelly, but for a sitting OC to talk up his peer for the same role on another team seems a little off...whether it is a "better" program or not. I am thinking he was on his way out the door when he was quoted for that story.

New Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman couldn't pass on Notre Dame a second time

(01-13-2021 11:53 AM)bearcatdp Wrote:  I thought it was weird that Denbrock was being quoted as saying that Freeman was a slam dunk hire for ND...and I believe it was on an ND recruiting site. I know Denbrock came from there, and is likely still close with Kelly, but for a sitting OC to talk up his peer for the same role on another team seems a little off...whether it is a "better" program or not. I am thinking he was on his way out the door when he was quoted for that story.

New Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman couldn't pass on Notre Dame a second time

Agreed. Denbrock must be out because this article is very strange for a current OC of another program to be so heavily quoted in talking about how he's such a great fit for ND (who we obviously play next year). Basically saying he's a great recruiter and implying he'd do even better at a better program?

Just an incredible relationship builder with players,” Denbrock said of Freeman on the recruiting trail. “Constantly working at it. Diligent. Detailed. Great with them in conversations, whether that’s in the world we live in now — Zoom calls.

“Great at digging into the family dynamic and making sure he’s having the conversations with the decision-makers in the recruiting process. And based on my experience with him here at Cincinnati, he is great at selling what the strong points of Cincinnati are and what it could do for the young men that we’re recruiting.

“I can only imagine what that would look like if he had Notre Dame in his back pocket when he walked into some of these schools.”

Idle speculation that other coaches on the staff are either looking or are also actively in the process of pursuing other jobs.

Part of me says it’s just a symptom of success. Other part of me has bad institutional memories of Minter hiring 5 new assistants every off season.

(01-13-2021 10:52 AM)chatcat Wrote:  

(01-13-2021 10:01 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  Vanderbilt?????

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Perhaps, Fick told Denbrock, as one of my former bosses used to say "it would be in your best interest if you sought your fortune elsewhere."

.........that was my first thought when I saw this thread. In

Look if you're an assistant/coordinator, etc. you have to strike while the iron is hot if you want to move up in pay. I'm sure Vandy can pay more than what we would pay but he'd be crazy not to listen at his age and with a new head coach that needs/wants an experience offensive guy regardless of his standing here. It also doesn't hurt that it's a school in a nice city.

(01-13-2021 12:28 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Idle speculation that other coaches on the staff are either looking or are also actively in the process of pursuing other jobs.

Part of me says it’s just a symptom of success. Other part of me has bad institutional memories of Minter hiring 5 new assistants every off season.

And then the Cincy fan in me wonders if they know something about Fickell that we don't know.

(01-13-2021 12:48 PM)dsquare Wrote:  Look if you're an assistant/coordinator, etc. you have to strike while the iron is hot if you want to move up in pay. I'm sure Vandy can pay more than what we would pay but he'd be crazy not to listen at his age and with a new head coach that needs/wants an experience offensive guy regardless of his standing here. It also doesn't hurt that it's a school in a nice city.

Denbrock has spent a lot of his career at Notre Dame and Stanford. He honestly seems like a great fit for a school like Vandy. All private schools with high academic standards.

(01-13-2021 12:28 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Idle speculation that other coaches on the staff are either looking or are also actively in the process of pursuing other jobs.

Part of me says it’s just a symptom of success. Other part of me has bad institutional memories of Minter hiring 5 new assistants every off season.

UC IS BLEEDING FOOTBALL ASSISTANTS, and that’s a good thing. Marcus Freeman to Notre Dame, to coordinate that defense, associate head coach and RBs coach Dan Enos to Maryland, to coordinate that offense. Now O-coordinator Mike Denbrock is interviewing for the same job at Vanderbilt.

UC will never be a destination job for any young, talented and hungry coach. The more assistants graduate to bigger (not necessarily better) gigs, the easier it will be to find their talented replacements. You want that ambition in your program, even as it inevitably leads to churn.

That said, is the Vandy job that much better for Denbrock than the gig he has now?

Maryland for Enos?

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/...654535002/