Can UC become the "U"?

[dgill2424]

Shown below is the all-time won loss records of the Miami Hurricanes. As you can see they pretty much sucked until the 1980's. If Miami can turn themselves into one of the best programs of all time then why cant UC? Like Miami we also have a talent base in our own backyard. This proves that you can build a national reputation very quickly if you simply win.

Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
1926-28† Howard Buck 3 15-10-2 .593
1929 J. Burton Rix 1 3-2-0 .600
1930 Ernest Brett 1 3-4-1 .438
1931-34 Tom McCann 4 18-15-4 .541
1935-36 Irl Tubbs 2 11-5-2 .667
1937-42,
1945-47 Jack Harding 9 54-32-3 .624
1943-44 Eddie Dunn 2 6-8-1 .433
1948-63 Andy Gustafson 16 93-65-3 .587
1964-70 Charlie Tate 7 34-27-3 .555
1970 Walt Kichefski 1 2-7-0 .222
1971-72 Fran Curci 2 9-13-0 .409
1973-74 Pete Elliot 2 11-11-0 .500
1975-76 Carl Selmer 2 5-16-0 .238
1977-78 Lou Saban 2 9-13-0 .409
1979-83 Howard Schnellenberger 5 41-16-0 .719
1984-88 Jimmy Johnson 5 52-9-0 .852
1989-94 Dennis Erickson 6 63-9-0 .875
1995-2000 Butch Davis 6 51-20-0 .718
2001-06 Larry Coker 6 60-15-0 .800
2007-present Randy Shannon 3 21-16-0 .568
1926-2008 20 coaches 82 561-313-19 .642
† – Includes 1926's freshmen-only team

[Former Lurker]

The answer 10 years ago would've been no, but the BCS changed everything. Now, the answer is yes, but it's not a sure thing. We need facilities improvements, good hiring decisions if/when coaches leave, and some luck.

[DMoney1080]

I don't know if anyone has watch the "The U" on ESPN. It was an excellent biography of the program and if weren't for Schnellenberger, there might not be a U program today. I really had no idea how bad the program was, but I do know that with the right blend of coaches we can build pretty quickly. Remember, they had a coaching carosel with HS leaving after 4 years, jj leaving after 4, and erickson only stayed 5.

History has proven that the right guy in right situation will make things happen. But a big difference b/w then and now. JJ and HS tapped into a massive oil field of talent in one of the worst areas of miami, and they did it successfully for several years. You won't find that today.

[CincyBeerCo]

I don't know if anyone has watch the "The U" on ESPN. It was an excellent biography of the program and if weren't for Schnellenberger, there might not be a U program today. I really had no idea how bad the program was, but I do know that with the right blend of coaches we can build pretty quickly. Remember, they had a coaching carosel with HS leaving after 4 years, jj leaving after 4, and erickson only stayed 5.

History has proven that the right guy in right situation will make things happen. But a big difference b/w then and now. JJ and HS tapped into a massive oil field of talent in one of the worst areas of miami, and they did it successfully for several years. You won't find that today.

Yeah, that "30 on 30" Documentary on the U on ESPN was great!!! And I agree that we could def achieve that level of success (as we are experiencing now).

[DOOGINS]

I would love to see us beat ND like they beat Faust.

[Bearcat Otto]

Miami had no faciltities when Howard S took over.

They played, still do, many miles from campus. They had an open space on campus for a practice field. Their locker rooms were high school like. Tghey had nothing.

We can do that here. I have been saying it for years. And we actually have a head start from where Miami U started!

[RedRocker]

I would love to see us beat ND like they beat Faust.

I loved that part! Like Gerry Faust didn't run up scores on HS FB teams here.

[Brantley12]

1. The Hurricanes have had for along time a thug mentality. They have always been known as Thug U. More recently Randy Shannon has done an excellent job cleaning up that program. Look at the midfield brawl vs FIU a few years ago as an example.

2. Miami Hurricanes still don't play in their own stadium, and they can't even fill up the one they play in now.

3. They are in a hotbed for talent, South Florida, which is a reason why they had a dominant run in the 80's(FSU had just started to succeed with Bowden, Florida didn't have the coaches and was about to be put on probation i think).

Cincy can do what Miami did, but the difference is talent. Cincy has to compete with Ohio State and Michigan. Miami did not have to compete with anybody at the time.

With all due respect, if you're a 5* athlete and you're offered Cincinnati or Ohio State where would you play your college football? I would say the same if i were offered say South Florida or Florida State, i would play for FSU even though i am a Gator fan.

[mjb1979]

I would only want to become The U if, in the middle of a blowout of Texas, one of our receivers catches a TD, runs up the tunnel, and comes back pretending to be shooting a pistol.

That was hilarious. Stupid excessive celebration penalties.

[Carin's Dad]

With all due respect, if you're a 5* athlete and you're offered Cincinnati or Ohio State where would you play your college football?

5* - OSU. 4* - who knows, a lot of 4 stars get red shirted or have to sit on the bench a couple of years. We start having a shot at the 4 star level and you can win a lot of games with them and the 3*'s from Ohio.

Schnellenberger is an incredible story. Not only did he "create" Miami as a power, he did the same thing at Louisville. He got a little cocky though when he went to Oklahoma.

[CaptainProbasco]

There are many similarities: we're an urban university in the middle of a high school football hotbed. We have a fan base that's eager to unite behind our local kids. We had a talented coach who was charismatic and sold the city on his vision, (and hopefully have hired another one).

But Howard Schnellenberger's advantage was finding talent in inner city neighborhoods where coaches from bigger programs wouldn't dare to recruit. While there is a similar level of talent in Cincinnati that there is in Miami, Cincy's metro is 1/2 the size of Miami and is much safer than Miami was in the 80's. Miami only competed with two D-1 programs within 8 hours, whereas there are 16 D-1A programs within 5 hours of Cincy.

On the other hand, we have several advantages Miami didn't have. We are more than twice the size of Miami. We have a storied basketball program, a huge alumni base, and a lot more money than Miami did in 1980. We have a gem of an on-campus stadium which, while small, is a huge draw.

The Sugar Bowl will be our coming out party. If ticket sales are any indication, we're going to draw significantly more fans than Florida. If we win, it will show the nation that UC is more than just Brian Kelly and that we are staying on the national scene.

[richard k.]

If we win, it will show the nation that UC is more than just Brian Kelly and that we are staying on the national scene.

While perhaps not as big as last year, that is still a big "If." I would prefer to think that UC will stay on the national scene win or lose (though I will, with what now seems like 20,000 other UC fans, be in the Dome rooting my *** off for the Bearcats).

[RedRocker]

With all due respect, if you're a 5* athlete and you're offered Cincinnati or Ohio State where would you play your college football? I would say the same if i were offered say South Florida or Florida State, i would play for FSU even though i am a Gator fan.

I go where I'm going to play the most. Redshirt OK, but I'd want to play 4 years or at least contribute 3 solid years. Too many times these kids go to an OSU or UF and are lost in the shuffle until their junior or senior season.

I want to play and if you are in a BCS conference, that would be good for me.

[RedRocker]

Schnellenberger is an incredible story. Not only did he "create" Miami as a power, he did the same thing at Louisville. He got a little cocky though when he went to Oklahoma.

Dead on assessment on Howie. I think he has changed after that UO debacle. I like him. He did great work at both UM and UL. A little taller order at FAU.

[Alpha5]

We want to follow the path of Miami we better start locking down recruiting in the city of Cincinnati.