Mike Denbrock joined the University of Cincinnati football coaching staff in January 2017 and has served as the offensive coordinator since then. He moved from quarterbacks to tight ends coach in 2018.
A veteran of 30-plus years in the coaching profession, Denbrock has worked as both an offensive and defensive coordinator and coached every position on the offensive side of the ball.
In 2021, Denbrock was named a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach, as Cincinnati went 13-0 for the first time in school history, won its second-straight American Athletic Conference Championship and advanced to the College Football Playoffs Semifinal at the Cotton Bowl.
Denbrock led one of the nation’s top offensive attacks. The offense broke school records for touchdowns (70) and points scored (510).
UC ranked first in the AAC and eighth nationally in scoring (39.2) and also led the conference and ranked No. 6 overall in yards per play (6.9).
Cincinnati scored 50 points in back-to-back games for the first-time ever when it defeated Temple (52-3) before routing UCF (56-21) in consecutive weeks.
Cincinnati saw seven players collect All-AAC honors, including quarterback Desmond Ridder, who was named the AAC’s Offensive Player of the Year for a second straight year. He was joined on the All-AAC First Team by a trio of offensive linemen, Dylan O’Quinn, Lorenz Metz and Jake Renfro, as well as junior running back Jerome Ford. Senior wide receiver Alec Pierce (second team) and junior tight end Josh Whyle (honorable mention) also earned all-conference accolades. Ridder and Pierce both accepted invitations to the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Ridder developed into the school’s all-time leader in yards and touchdown passes under Denbrock. He also will finish his career at UC as the all-time leader in touchdowns (116) and total yards (12,281) in the AAC. He ranks third all-time in wins (44) by a quarterback in college football history.
Ridder had one of the finest seasons ever by a Bearcat in 2021, passing for 3,190 yards and 30 touchdowns, while Ford proved to be one of the nation’s top running backs as he rushed for 1,243 yards and a school-record-tying 19 touchdowns despite not paying a game-and-a-half with an injury.
Whyle has developed into one of the nation’s top tight ends under Denbrock, ranking second on the Bearcats in touchdown receptions (6) in 2021. Whyle collected third-team All-America and second-team All-AAC honors in 2020 after catching 28 passes for six touchdowns in 2020.
In 2020, Denbrock had five offensive players collect All-AAC honors. The team ranked 19th in total offense, 18th in team passing efficiency and 15th in scoring offense.
Before coming to UC, Denbrock was at Notre Dame from 2010-16 in a variety of roles. He coached tight ends (2010-11), outside receivers and was the passing game coordinator (2012-13), served as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach (2014) and was the associate head coach and wide receivers coach (2015-16). During his second stint with the Fighting Irish, Denbrock coached in six bowl games, including the 2012 BCS National Championship.
Known as a dynamic recruiter, Denbrock is a strong offensive mind who had success as the Irish’s primary play caller for two seasons. The offense averaged 443 yards per game and close to seven yards per play over a 25-game span.
He acted as Notre Dame offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2014, with the Irish scoring at least 27 points a school-record 11 times in 2014 and averaging 33.0 points per game -- most since 2005 (36.7) -- and 444.6 yards of total offense per game -- most since 2009 (451.75). Fuller set Irish sophomore records in touchdown receptions (15), catches (76) and receiving yards (1,094) in 2014.
Denbrock returned to Notre Dame in 2010 and spent the next two seasons coaching the Irish tight ends. He was selected by Tom Lemming as one of the 2011 Assistant Coaches of the Year.
He coached 2011 Mackey Award finalist Tyler Eifert to one of the best seasons ever by a Notre Dame tight end. Eifert, now playing with the Cincinnati Bengals, ranked second on the Irish with 63 receptions for 803 yards and five TDs in 2011. Those marks were Notre Dame single-season records for receptions and receiving yards by a tight end and led all FBS tight ends in 2011 in both receptions and receiving yards. He was selected to the 2011 Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America first team and became the first Irish tight end named first-team All-American since Derek Brown in 1991.
Denbrock mentored 2010 preseason All-American Kyle Rudolph as he collected 28 receptions for 328 yards and three touchdowns in first six games before a hamstring injury ended his season.
Before his time at Notre Dame, Denbrock spent the 2009 season as the associate head coach at Indiana State University and was the offensive line coach at the University of Washington from 2005-08.
He coached offensive tackles and tight ends during his first stint at Notre Dame from 2002-04. The offense produced 1,000-yard rushers in 2002 (Ryan Grant) and 2003 (Julius Jones).
He worked with the offensive tackles and tight ends at Stanford in 2001, developing Kwame Harris (2003 first-round NFL Draft pick) into one of the top offensive tackles in the Pac-10 Conference.
He joined the AFL's Buffalo Destroyers's inaugural coaching staff in 1999 and was the assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and offensive and defensive line coach.
He was an assistant at Grand Valley State from 1992-98, coaching the quarterbacks (1992-95) before moving to the defensive side of the ball as coordinator and linebackers coach (1996-98).
Between 1992-95, the Lakers’ offense rated first in the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference in both total and scoring offense each season. He guided a GVSU defensive unit that ranked among the nation’s top 30 in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense each season.
His first full-time coaching assignment came in 1990-91 as the tackles and tight ends coach at Illinois State after working as a graduate assistant at Michigan State for two years, working with quarterbacks and receivers in 1988 and offensive line in 1989.
He broke into coaching as a graduate assistant with the offensive tackles and tight ends from 1986-87 at his alma mater, Grand Valley State. Denbrock was a tight end at GVSU from 1982-85, earning a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1987.
Denbrock and his wife Dianne have a son, Chance.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Born: Jan. 29, 1964
Hometown: Homer, Mich.
Wife: Dianne
Children: Chance
Education: Grand Valley State (1987, Bachelor’s – Communications)
Year in Coaching: 31st
PLAYING CAREER
1982-85: Grand Valley State (Tight End)
COACHING CAREER
YEAR: SCHOOL/POSITION
1986: Grand Valley State - Graduate Assistant
1987: Grand Valley State - Graduate Assistant
1988: Michigan State - Graduate Assistant
1989: Michigan State - Graduate Assistant
1990: Illinois State - Offensive Tackles/Tight Ends
1991: Illinois State - Offensive Tackles/Tight Ends
1992: Grand Valley State - Offensive Coordinator/QBs/WRs
1993: Grand Valley State - Offensive Coordinator/QBs/WRs
1994: Grand Valley State - Offensive Coordinator/QBs/WRs
1995: Grand Valley State - Offensive Coordinator/QBs/WRs
1996: Grand Valley State - Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
1997: Grand Valley State - Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
1998: Grand Valley State - Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
1999: Buffalo (AFL) - Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator/OL/DL
2020: Buffalo (AFL) - Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator/OL/DL
2001: Stanford - Offensive Tackles/Tight Ends
2002: Notre Dame - Offensive Tackles/Tight Ends
2003: Notre Dame - Offensive Tackles/Tight Ends
2004: Notre Dame - Offensive Tackles/Tight Ends
2005: Washington - Offensive Line
2006: Washington - Offensive Line
2007: Washington - Offensive Line
2008: Washington - Offensive Line
2009: Indiana State - Associate Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator/LBs
2010: Notre Dame - Tight Ends
2011: Notre Dame - Tight Ends
2012: Notre Dame - Outside Wide Receivers/Passing Game Coordinator
2013: Notre Dame - Outside Wide Receivers/Passing Game Coordinator
2014: Notre Dame - Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers
2015: Notre Dame - Associate Head Coach/Wide Receivers
2016: Notre Dame - Associate Head Coach/Wide Receivers
2017: Cincinnati - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
2018: Cincinnati - Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends
2019: Cincinnati - Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends
2020: Cincinnati - Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends
2021: Cincinnati - Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends
BOWLS COACHED IN
YEAR: SCHOOL/BOWL
1989: Michigan State/Gator
1989: Michigan State/Aloha
1994: Grand Valley State/NCAA Division II First Round
1998: Grand Valley State/NCAA Division II First Round
2000: Buffalo/AFL Playoffs
2001: Stanford/Seattle
2003: Notre Dame/Gator
2004: Notre Dame/Insight
2010: Notre Dame/Sun
2011: Notre Dame/Champs Sports
2012: Notre Dame/BCS National Championship
2013: Notre Dame/Pinstripe
2014: Notre Dame/Music City
2015: Notre Dame/Fiesta
2018: Cincinnati - Military
2019: Cincinnati - Birmingham
2020: Cincinnati – Peach
2021: Cincinnati – Cotton (CFP Semifinal)
Mike Denbrock
Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks