TicketsMark Speir returned to Cincinnati for the 2026 season to serve as the program’s assistant head coach. He previously acted as UC’s chief of staff in 2023.
In his new role, Speir will work closely with Satterfield to set the direction of the Bearcats’ program.
Speir spent the last two seasons in an off-field coaching role at Appalachian State.
Speir has spent more than 30 years in college football, most notably as the head coach at Western Carolina for 10 seasons from 2011 to 2021, where he was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National FCS Coach of the Year in 2014.
Before leading the Catamounts, he was an assistant coach at Appalachian State for nine seasons. He helped the Mountaineers win three national championships and six conference titles.
In 2009, he was named the national FCS Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association.
App State posted a combined record of 92-28 during Speir’s nine seasons with the program, and he was the position coach for six All-Americans: DL Jason Hunter, DL Marques Murrell, DL Gary Tharrington, DL Anthony “Whopper” Williams, DL Jabari Fletcher and LB Jeremy Kimbrough.
Speir returned to Boone as a senior analyst in the fall of 2021.
He also coached as an assistant at Western Carolina, Presbyterian and Elon.
Off the field, Speir has also made an incredible impact by his involvement in many charitable causes, including raising more than $100,000 to rebuild the Memorial Christian Hospital in Bangladesh. Part of the fundraising came through his participation in the 2008 Music City Marathon in Nashville, the 2009 Boston Marathon (which he completed in less than four hours) and the 2010 Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati.
He and his wife, Paige, have two sons, Zeb, a former App State quarterback, and Jackson.