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I mean this sincerely and honestly. I am NOT trying to stir the pot.

Last night, after the game, Coach Satterfield was quoted in a post on "X" (formerly known as "Twitter"):


(I've never tried to post a "Tweet" before, so in case I didn't do it correctly, the quote from Keegan Nickoson was:
"Satterfield is very upset.

He said he told the team they will work with whoever shows up in the locker room tomorrow. #Bearcats" )

That sounds...ominous. I haven't heard anything in the intervening 24 hours... Is there any news on how the practice (post-UCF) is going?

(I figured this is a separate subject from the UCF game and/or the Houston game.)

Reading the tea leaves and listening to the past several Bearcat Journal podcasts tells me the coaches and players are feeling the weight of losing seven games in a row. They heard the collective boos from the fans on the field for the first time Saturday. The coaches are challenging each other and the players right now. In the context of the presser, Satt wants guys who will continue to fight and try to improve each week. There seems a few who aren't on board. He also mentioned playing time is another way he'll use for motivation and reward. I don't have any insider information [if I did I wouldn't share it here] so take this as my interpretation of current events.

Maybe it finally all boiled over. I'm not close enough to coaches or players to have any idea what's going on within the confines of the locker room. But it's become apparent watching every game this year that it's more than just a talent deficit.

Optimistically, I thought this group could win six and bowl. Realistically, I believed this team would win four or five. Had just two more games gone our way, UC would have broken through for at least one Big 12 win and there would be reason for hope. Any of us who have been behind the Bearcats for decades are used to coaching changes and rebuilds. This time feels different.

If Saturday's postgame tumult yields a win or two the next three weeks we'll mark it as a turning point in a transition year. If it's more of the same and three more losses, we'll see increased instability--coaches and players moving on, prolonging the rebuild.

We've been celebrating Big 12 membership for more than a year now but none of us imagined such a horrific first football season to get conference play underway. Not just losing, but the way they are losing. This squad is a couple plays away from having a winless FBS season (Pitt game) or a couple plays away from four wins. Take your pick.

It's one of the dangers of hitting the portal. You better evaluate personalities as much as capabilities sometimes. Especially if you don't have a head coach who has a big enough personality to impose culture by sheer will. We sure don't right now.

Remember when CLF was first hired and he and the staff were out with the entire team doing push-ups in the snow and rain at 5:30 am to weed out the personalities who were not going to fit since the team culture was so broken after four years of the Tubby Country Club?

We have a staff right now that allegedly allows players to skip position group meetings or show up late if they want to. If that is true it's no wonder we are seeing the recurring problems and results on the field.

(11-05-2023 09:04 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Reading the tea leaves and listening to the past several Bearcat Journal podcasts tells me the coaches and players are feeling the weight of losing seven games in a row. They heard the collective boos from the fans on the field for the first time Saturday. The coaches are challenging each other and the players right now. In the context of the presser, Satt wants guys who will continue to fight and try to improve each week. There seems a few who aren't on board. He also mentioned playing time is another way he'll use for motivation and reward. I don't have any insider information [if I did I wouldn't share it here] so take this as my interpretation of current events.

The boos tick me off. The players are not at fault.

It's totally classless. The frequency of boos the past few years in Nippert are a sign of an overly entitled fanbase.

In the immortal words of Sam Wyche, "you don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati." And you sure as heck don't live in Philadelphia.

(11-06-2023 08:39 AM)OKIcat Wrote:  Optimistically, I thought this group could win six and bowl.

They could/should have, even with the limitations at QB, receiver, and db's.

(11-06-2023 08:51 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  It's one of the dangers of hitting the portal. You better evaluate personalities as much as capabilities sometimes. Especially if you don't have a head coach who has a big enough personality to impose culture by sheer will. We sure don't right now.

Remember when CLF was first hired and he and the staff were out with the entire team doing push-ups in the snow and rain at 5:30 am to weed out the personalities who were not going to fit since the team culture was so broken after four years of the Tubby Country Club?

We have a staff right now that allegedly allows players to skip position group meetings or show up late if they want to. If that is true it's no wonder we are seeing the recurring problems and results on the field.

I do remember those mud and snow, get dirty and grind workouts. If your latter paragraph is true, then the staff has created part of the problem. All I know is something changed after the Pitt road win. I know, I know...Pitt ain't exactly tearin' it up this year but the team was 2-0 at that point and hosting MyAmUh the next week. You wonder had we converted that game winning field goal how different the season may have turned out. It seems our team hasn't dealt with adversity well and some of that is on the staff. We've heard the coaches need to do better getting guys ready and in better positions to win stated in 7 losing postgame pressers...

Satterfield's comment post game about working with whomever shows up tomorrow was apparently directed at those guys.

Why that is even a potential issue with 3 games left to play is bizarre.

(11-06-2023 09:42 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Satterfield's comment post game about working with whomever shows up tomorrow was apparently directed at those guys.

Why that is even a potential issue with 3 games left to play is bizarre.

That's why that particular post caught my attention. It signals that ***something*** is happening in the locker room (i.e. among the players) that people are either "on the edge" of quitting or there's some sort of division/rebellion going on.

A "normal" part of "coachspeak" would have been to say "We're going to be out on the practice field tomorrow, working our @sses off to fix what ain't working."

There are rumblings that there could be a portal tsunami in a month that could cut both wheat and chaff.

(11-06-2023 09:05 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(11-05-2023 09:04 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Reading the tea leaves and listening to the past several Bearcat Journal podcasts tells me the coaches and players are feeling the weight of losing seven games in a row. They heard the collective boos from the fans on the field for the first time Saturday. The coaches are challenging each other and the players right now. In the context of the presser, Satt wants guys who will continue to fight and try to improve each week. There seems a few who aren't on board. He also mentioned playing time is another way he'll use for motivation and reward. I don't have any insider information [if I did I wouldn't share it here] so take this as my interpretation of current events.

The boos tick me off. The players are not at fault.

It's totally classless. The frequency of boos the past few years in Nippert are a sign of an overly entitled fanbase.

In the immortal words of Sam Wyche, "you don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati." And you sure as heck don't live in Philadelphia.

Ah for the good old days, when Nippert was only 1/3 full, most people were there because they had to buy football tickets to get their Basketball season tickets, and it was as quiet as a tomb.

You mention Philly... Go to a Temple game sometime. That'll make you nostalgic.

(11-06-2023 09:53 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  There are rumblings that there could be a portal tsunami in a month that could cut both wheat and chaff.

That was my concern...some good with the bad. Next season's roster may read like a cruise passenger's manifest list. Get facial ID apps and sticky name tags ready...

In 1994 Indiana (BB) was coming off final four and elite eight appearances the previous two years. They lost to Butler in their first game... and this was before Butler was BUTLER. Butler in those days was low level horizon league team. Their next game was against #1 Kentucky.

The now late, great Bob Knight said he told the team he didn't care if they lost by 100 points as long as they hustled for 40 minutes. They went out and ran UK out of the hoosier dome.

I think this team needs to be told the same thing. They're wound tighter than a snare drum.

Holdovers from the Fickell era know what enthusiasm and success feel like, and they entered this season with lowered expectations. Satterfield just doesn't measure up, and those kids know it. No doubt their misgivings and discontent have influenced others.

(11-06-2023 09:05 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(11-05-2023 09:04 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Reading the tea leaves and listening to the past several Bearcat Journal podcasts tells me the coaches and players are feeling the weight of losing seven games in a row. They heard the collective boos from the fans on the field for the first time Saturday. The coaches are challenging each other and the players right now. In the context of the presser, Satt wants guys who will continue to fight and try to improve each week. There seems a few who aren't on board. He also mentioned playing time is another way he'll use for motivation and reward. I don't have any insider information [if I did I wouldn't share it here] so take this as my interpretation of current events.

The boos tick me off. The players are not at fault.

It's totally classless. The frequency of boos the past few years in Nippert are a sign of an overly entitled fanbase.

In the immortal words of Sam Wyche, "you don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati." And you sure as heck don't live in Philadelphia.

I love UC athletics, but overall we have a fan base made up of people who also root for OSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and Clemson. Sure other fan bases have a bit of that as well, but seem to have a little bit more than what is typical. As a result, I think many hold our program to the standards of those schools which is completely unrealistic.

not sure I'd expect holdovers from a previous coaching staff to buy in when the team is sitting at 2-7.you only get to have one year like this before the "not my players" excuse becomes bogus. butch year 1 is a better example than Fickell year 1.

(11-06-2023 11:20 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  not sure I'd expect holdovers from a previous coaching staff to buy in when the team is sitting at 2-7.you only get to have one year like this before the "not my players" excuse becomes bogus. butch year 1 is a better example than Fickell year 1.

No one wants to be the guy to replace The Guy for this very reason. You want to be the guy to replace the guy who replaced The Guy.

If we are being honest, this is another reason why the HC vacancy was not as desirable as we would have expected.

(11-06-2023 11:24 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(11-06-2023 11:20 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  not sure I'd expect holdovers from a previous coaching staff to buy in when the team is sitting at 2-7.you only get to have one year like this before the "not my players" excuse becomes bogus. butch year 1 is a better example than Fickell year 1.

No one wants to be the guy to replace The Guy for this very reason. You want to be the guy to replace the guy who replaced The Guy.

If we are being honest, this is another reason why the HC vacancy was not as desirable as we would have expected.

Many reasons this job was not desirable. For one = $$$$. Won't be getting B12 full share for many more years. We overpaid Fickell in hopes he wouldn't be a traitor - big swing and miss. Another big swing and miss is that the QB room was empty. Prater and Richesson were never P5, or even AAC, QBs. So many skill players had moved on to the NFL - did you see Bryan Cook's return or Tre Tucker's catch yesterday? And Fickell was simply not recruiting because he was headed to Michigan State and eventually Wisconsin. Now he is coaching a team below expectations with SMU's old QB. SMU is happier than UofL fans for Wisky taking Mordecai off their hands.

FYI Bryan Cook would have been like a 7th year senior to be on this team.

And UL fans are still all

(11-06-2023 11:09 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(11-06-2023 09:05 AM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(11-05-2023 09:04 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  Reading the tea leaves and listening to the past several Bearcat Journal podcasts tells me the coaches and players are feeling the weight of losing seven games in a row. They heard the collective boos from the fans on the field for the first time Saturday. The coaches are challenging each other and the players right now. In the context of the presser, Satt wants guys who will continue to fight and try to improve each week. There seems a few who aren't on board. He also mentioned playing time is another way he'll use for motivation and reward. I don't have any insider information [if I did I wouldn't share it here] so take this as my interpretation of current events.

The boos tick me off. The players are not at fault.

It's totally classless. The frequency of boos the past few years in Nippert are a sign of an overly entitled fanbase.

In the immortal words of Sam Wyche, "you don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati." And you sure as heck don't live in Philadelphia.

I love UC athletics, but overall we have a fan base made up of people who also root for OSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and Clemson. Sure other fan bases have a bit of that as well, but seem to have a little bit more than what is typical. As a result, I think many hold our program to the standards of those schools which is completely unrealistic.

Bolded, so true. When UC tries a "Stripe the Stands" you're as likely to get orange and black tiger stripes in the "red" sections, alongside Cincinnati Reds gear and the obligatory scarlet and gray.

We've come a long way from the darkest days of Bearcat fandom in a mostly empty Nippert, but work remains to bring in more fans who take an ownership interest in the Bearcats. We'll get there, despite a frustrating detour on the journey this season.

Meanwhile, the OSU Wal-Mart T-shirt fans are emerging from manufactured homes all over town in recent days.