TicketsBy Dan Hoard
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI - Want to win a bar bet?
Here's a great trivia stumper: Who was the last head coach to lead the Bearcats to a bowl victory?
The answer? Current defensive line coach Steve Stripling.
"It was a great experience, but we're counting on changing that this year," he said.
Stripling was Cincinnati's interim head coach in the 2012 Belk Bowl victory over Duke. Three weeks earlier, Butch Jones left UC for Tennessee and took both of his coordinators and most of the coaching staff with him.
Stripling's makeshift staff against the Blue Devils included an old friend who had played in the NFL and Mark "Droopy" Murray, the husband of Sherry Murray who has worked for the last several UC head coaches and oversees the day-to-day operation of the football office.
"We were getting help from everywhere," said Stripling with a laugh.
Under similar circumstances in the 2010 Sugar Bowl following Brian Kelly's departure for Notre Dame, the Bearcats were routed by Florida 51-24. It looked like déjà vu in the 2012 Belk Bowl when Cincinnati fell behind Duke 16-0 in the first quarter.
"We only had, like, four full-time coaches so I don't think anybody was giving us much of a chance," said Stripling. "I think we got way behind and all of the sudden the Bearcats' formidable attitude showed up and we came back and won the game. It was awesome."
With the score tied 34-34, Duke had the ball at the Cincinnati 5-yard line before losing a fumble with 1:20 to go. Four plays later, Brendon Kay hit Travis Kelce on an 83-yard touchdown pass to give the Bearcats the lead with 44 seconds remaining. The play was called "Left Texas 60, Y Go Burst."
"I think we worked on that play all year and never broke it loose," said Stripling. "That was the night. And what a great forecast for the career that (Kelce) was going to have."
A defensive score with 25 seconds remaining gave UC a 48-34 win. Stripling calls it one of the highlights of his 40-plus years in college coaching.
"Absolutely," he said. "Especially because of the way the game unfolded. Nobody gave us a chance, we got way behind, hung in there together, and came storming back. It was awesome. A lifetime experience."
Following the win, Stripling joined Jones' staff at Tennessee where spent the last five seasons. He returned to Cincinnati this year to coach the defensive line following the departure of Al Washington to Michigan.
"It was kind of a specific thing that we needed when we went looking for a new guy after Al left," said head coach Luke Fickell. "Somebody that could come in and command the room and have that respect based on the things that he had done. There are a lot of different personalities in that room and I thought what was best for us and that room was to have someone who could come in and take it to a new level. He's got a pedigree, he's got a background, and there's instant respect when he walks on the field. That's what we needed."
Stripling takes over one of the deepest and most talented position groups on the roster.
"Coach (Fickell) told me that when we talked about the job," said Stripling. "It's a mature group. We've got some seniors in there that are really good football players. I'm their third D-line coach in three years so we had to get over the language barrier and those kinds of things, but they've been great. They're 'all in' and want to be the best they can be so it's been fantastic."
The defensive line is led by senior defensive tackles Marquise Copeland (Honorable Mention All-AAC last year) and Cortez Broughton (Second Team All-AAC in 2016).
"They're kids that you can coach at the second level, meaning that they're smart," said Stripling. "They can read backfield sets, they can read stances, they can read splits, and they can read eye location and all of those types of things. It's fun coaching really experienced players like that."
"He has the mentality of helping your brother," said Broughton. "You have to communicate and you have to talk. When you do that, it helps you raise your level."
In Stripling's previous stint on the Cincinnati coaching staff, the Bearcats went 20-6 in his final two seasons with back-to-back bowl victories over Vanderbilt (Liberty Bowl) and Duke (Belk Bowl). He's eager to help the current coaching return UC football to lofty heights.
"I love Coach Fickell and the culture of the program," said Stripling. "It's great seeing Sherry and her husband 'Droop' and everyone that was here when I was here. It's a great place to be."
"We look for players that really want to be here when we recruit them, but we also look for coaches that really want to be here," said Fickell. "For him to have a history here and to have two sons that live in town – we need people like that."
I'd love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net
If you're on Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard
And I'm on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dan.hoard.1
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI - Want to win a bar bet?
Here's a great trivia stumper: Who was the last head coach to lead the Bearcats to a bowl victory?
The answer? Current defensive line coach Steve Stripling.
"It was a great experience, but we're counting on changing that this year," he said.
Stripling was Cincinnati's interim head coach in the 2012 Belk Bowl victory over Duke. Three weeks earlier, Butch Jones left UC for Tennessee and took both of his coordinators and most of the coaching staff with him.
Stripling's makeshift staff against the Blue Devils included an old friend who had played in the NFL and Mark "Droopy" Murray, the husband of Sherry Murray who has worked for the last several UC head coaches and oversees the day-to-day operation of the football office.
"We were getting help from everywhere," said Stripling with a laugh.
Under similar circumstances in the 2010 Sugar Bowl following Brian Kelly's departure for Notre Dame, the Bearcats were routed by Florida 51-24. It looked like déjà vu in the 2012 Belk Bowl when Cincinnati fell behind Duke 16-0 in the first quarter.
"We only had, like, four full-time coaches so I don't think anybody was giving us much of a chance," said Stripling. "I think we got way behind and all of the sudden the Bearcats' formidable attitude showed up and we came back and won the game. It was awesome."
With the score tied 34-34, Duke had the ball at the Cincinnati 5-yard line before losing a fumble with 1:20 to go. Four plays later, Brendon Kay hit Travis Kelce on an 83-yard touchdown pass to give the Bearcats the lead with 44 seconds remaining. The play was called "Left Texas 60, Y Go Burst."
"I think we worked on that play all year and never broke it loose," said Stripling. "That was the night. And what a great forecast for the career that (Kelce) was going to have."
A defensive score with 25 seconds remaining gave UC a 48-34 win. Stripling calls it one of the highlights of his 40-plus years in college coaching.
"Absolutely," he said. "Especially because of the way the game unfolded. Nobody gave us a chance, we got way behind, hung in there together, and came storming back. It was awesome. A lifetime experience."
Following the win, Stripling joined Jones' staff at Tennessee where spent the last five seasons. He returned to Cincinnati this year to coach the defensive line following the departure of Al Washington to Michigan.
"It was kind of a specific thing that we needed when we went looking for a new guy after Al left," said head coach Luke Fickell. "Somebody that could come in and command the room and have that respect based on the things that he had done. There are a lot of different personalities in that room and I thought what was best for us and that room was to have someone who could come in and take it to a new level. He's got a pedigree, he's got a background, and there's instant respect when he walks on the field. That's what we needed."
Stripling takes over one of the deepest and most talented position groups on the roster.
"Coach (Fickell) told me that when we talked about the job," said Stripling. "It's a mature group. We've got some seniors in there that are really good football players. I'm their third D-line coach in three years so we had to get over the language barrier and those kinds of things, but they've been great. They're 'all in' and want to be the best they can be so it's been fantastic."
The defensive line is led by senior defensive tackles Marquise Copeland (Honorable Mention All-AAC last year) and Cortez Broughton (Second Team All-AAC in 2016).
"They're kids that you can coach at the second level, meaning that they're smart," said Stripling. "They can read backfield sets, they can read stances, they can read splits, and they can read eye location and all of those types of things. It's fun coaching really experienced players like that."
"He has the mentality of helping your brother," said Broughton. "You have to communicate and you have to talk. When you do that, it helps you raise your level."
In Stripling's previous stint on the Cincinnati coaching staff, the Bearcats went 20-6 in his final two seasons with back-to-back bowl victories over Vanderbilt (Liberty Bowl) and Duke (Belk Bowl). He's eager to help the current coaching return UC football to lofty heights.
"I love Coach Fickell and the culture of the program," said Stripling. "It's great seeing Sherry and her husband 'Droop' and everyone that was here when I was here. It's a great place to be."
"We look for players that really want to be here when we recruit them, but we also look for coaches that really want to be here," said Fickell. "For him to have a history here and to have two sons that live in town – we need people like that."
I'd love to hear from you at Dan.Hoard@Bengals.nfl.net
If you're on Twitter, you can follow my tweets at http://twitter.com/Dan_Hoard
And I'm on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dan.hoard.1