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March 24, 2015
By Bill Koch
Go.BEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI - The best way to get University of Cincinnati quarterback Gunner Kiel riled up is to tell him that he gained a reputation last year for being soft because of the injuries he sustained.
"That just fuels my fire when someone calls me soft or says that I'm not a competitor or not tough at all," Kiel said Monday as the Bearcats returned to practice after a week off for spring break. "That really gets under my skin. So I just use that as fuel to go on the field and compete that much harder."
Kiel, a 6-4, 208-pound junior who began his college career at Notre Dame before transferring to UC, had a remarkable year in 2014, passing for 3,254 yards while completing 59.7 percent of his passes. He led the American Athletic Conference in pass efficiency and in touchdown passes with 31, which tied a school record. But he was dogged by injuries all season. He started all 13 games, but was forced to leave five of them.
"I kind of heard some things where people said I'm soft for coming out of those games," Kiel said. "Like why's he hurt? That wasn't a big hit. They just don't really understand. They don't know what's going on. But for me, I hate coming out of games. I hate it. So whenever I came out, I was more frustrated than they were."
In an effort to avoid injuries next season, Kiel looks considerably slimmer with more muscle. He has worked with the strength staff and the training staff to improve his core and his flexibility. He also plans to do a better job of avoiding hits from onrushing linebackers, even if that means sliding when he sees one bearing down on him.
But he says for the most part the injuries that he suffered last year were freak occurrences and not the result of devastating hits.
"Some of the hits weren't really big hits at all," Kiel said. "You think you're hurt because you got blown up, but for me, it was a guy who landed on me funny and something popped out. It was hard to pop back in with my ribs. I messed up my collarbone. It was a whole mess of things."
Kiel began spring practice in much better position than he was last year at this time. With Munchie Legaux gone, there is no question that Kiel will be the Bearcats' starting quarterback next fall, so rather than trying to make an impression on the coaching staff to enhance his chances of starting, he can work on getting better and becoming more of a leader.
UC coach Tommy Tuberville has noticed a difference, especially in the leadership department.
"He kind of gave Munchie a lot of room for that stuff (last year)," Tuberville said. "Now the ball's in his court. We've got nobody but a freshman behind him. We can't wait for August for him to start stepping up. He's got to do it now. He's done a good job so far."
Despite the gaudy numbers that Kiel put up last year, Tuberville says he has only scratched the surface of how good he can be. Now it's up to Kiel to take advantage of what looks like the ideal situation for a quarterback: no competition, a year of experience under his belt, a fleet of quality, experienced receivers, and what Tuberville hopes will be an improved running game that will prevent defenses from teeing off on the quarterback.
If it all comes together as Tuberville envisions, Kiel and the Bearcats could produce a slew of wins and a ton of entertaining offense in 2015.
"Compared to last spring, this spring is just night and day better for me," Kiel said. "Obviously, I have more control of the team. I'm not as intimidated by the players as I was last year to speak up as a leader. Now this year I get to take that role as captain to speak up and take control of the team and lead by example. I come out with a lot more confidence in myself."
This spring is night and day for Tuberville, too. He begins knowing that he has an experienced and talented player at quarterback. For the most part, the growing pains are over for Kiel, who still has two years to play, which should also bring great comfort to the UC coach.
"There's so many questions with how you can coach a football team when you don't have an experienced quarterback coming back," Tuberville said. "Do you have to pressure them on defense? Do you have to try to get more possessions? Do you need to run the ball more? It's a lot better knowing what you've got coming back at quarterback. It's a great starting point."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBEARCATS.com as featured columnist in January, 2015.