Cincinnati Bearcats Football

Gunner Kiel has found a home. 

The former Indiana commit, former LSU commit and soon-to-be-former Notre Dame freshman quarterback has reportedly decided to transfer from Notre Dame to Cincinnati.

Kiel's transfer destination was shaped by some restrictions—the schools listed on his transfer request would have had to have received Notre Dame's stamp of approval. 

According to USA Today, head coach Brian Kelly said that "he is no longer part of the team.'' He also said that Kiel's list of potential transfer spots "were in line with the schools that were appropriate, relative to who was on our schedule." 

Since Notre Dame plays Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Boston College, Navy, USC and Stanford every year, those schools would likely have been listed as those to which he can't transfer. Most schools tend to discourage intra-league transfers, but since Notre Dame is an independent football program, its regularly scheduled opponents would serve as its "conference" opponents.

Notre Dame approving Kiel's request to transfer to Cincinnati—the school Kelly bailed from four years ago—was quite chivalrous. If Kiel pans out—and I think he will—maybe Bearcat fans can finally forgive Kelly for his abrupt departure.  

Kiel will have to sit out the 2013 season and will have three years of eligibility remaining starting in 2014. Three years is still a long time to play college football, and this one-year transfer penalty will give him a year to mature and acclimate to a new campus without the distractions of football. Kiel was recently interviewed by ESPN about why he made his decision to transfer to Cincinnati.

Cincinnati was the best fit for me because the relationship I have with [quarterbacks] coach [Darin] Hinshaw is like nothing else. He is a great overall person and is someone I know I can get coached by. The group of guys I'm going to be around is second to none. I love where they are heading and the future is bright.

Is this a good choice for Kiel? Actually, yes. Yahoo! Sports reported that Kiel "looked at Ball State, Miami-Ohio and was considering Mississippi, Mississippi State and Kansas State." Going from Notre Dame to a MAC school (no disrespect to the MAC) would be considered a bit of a downgrade and attending an SEC school would have been problematic for Kiel. 

One can only imagine the taunts Kiel would have heard about his chest, a reference to Les Miles' public criticism of Kiel and his lack of leadership ability after he backed out of his commitment to LSU.

Cincinnati, on the other hand, makes sense. It's less than a 100 miles from his hometown of Columbus, Ind. It's still in the Midwest, and the fans' expectations under a first-year head coach Tommy Tuberville are probably a bit tepid, making Kiel's timing perfect.

The Bearcats have two senior quarterbacks in Munchie Legaux and Brendon Kay (a sixth-year senior). Legaux was the starter at the beginning of the 2012 season, but Kay leapfrogged him and went on to lead the Bearcats to three consecutive victories, including a 48-34 victory over Duke in the Belk Bowl.

Next year, the starting spot will be up for grabs and Kiel will have finished serving out the one-year penalty. Perfect. Timing.  

Kiel's plate will be full—transferring from one school to another can have its trying moments—but at least now he can focus on only two things: academics and memorizing the playbook. The stress of having to compete for the starting spot is no longer on the table. 

Kiel's fickleness has elicited many jokes, but then again, most football fans probably don't have his best interests at heart—their team's best interests come first. Adults making light of Kiel's situation probably made his decision-making process more difficult. He's still a teenager, after all. Sometimes you have to try on a lot of shoes before you find the one with the perfect fit.

We're hoping this shoe fits.  

Next year Cincinnati will be part of the newly formed American Athletic Conference (unless it gets a better offer from another conference, of course), so there's a lot of new and exciting stuff going on at Cincinnati.

On the other hand, maybe not. According to FOX Sports Ohio, Tuberville said that the team's spring workouts are "all boring, they're all about the same," and that they're, "kind of like watching paint dry."

With 5-star quarterback Gunner Kiel waiting in the wings, Tuberville might be singing a different tune next spring. 

Gunner Kiel has reportedly transferred from Notre Dame to Cincinnati.

According to Joe Schad of ESPN.com, Kiel made the switch on Wednesday:

This is an excellent decision for Kiel, as he'll be able to compete for the starting quarterback position in 2014.

As written by Tom Groeschen of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Kiel's addition will come in handy for the Bearcats after the 2013 campaign:

Kiel would become eligible at UC in 2014. UC will lose its top two quarterbacks, seniors Brendon Kay and Munchie Legaux, following the 2013 season. Bennie Coney, a highly regarded redshirt freshman quarterback, should be the top competition for Kiel.

While at Notre Dame, Kiel never saw the field with Everett Golson starting and Tommy Rees acting in relief from coach Brian Kelly's bullpen. Considering Golson's development throughout the 2012 season, Kiel's best chance to see the field would be elsewhere.

Fortunately, the Bearcats are not too far away from South Bend and Kiel's talent will be helpful.

After all, he was ranked the No. 1 quarterback recruiting prospect on Scout.com and Rivals.com entering 2012. Possessing good size at 6'4", 210 pounds, Kiel has the pocket patience, footwork and mobility to survey between the tackles and buy time when needed.

He also has impressive mechanics to build from and a strong arm. If anything, a quicker release and more consistent decision-making are required. That, however, will come through development as well.

Expect that development to come quickly also, because Kiel will be playing for a well-established coach in Tommy Tuberville. In addition, Schad reported Tuberville will implement a pro-style offense:

Given his already sound quarterbacking tangibles and we'll see Kiel immediately lead Cincinnati when under center. The Bearcats provide much potential from their rushing attack in Ralph Abernathy who averaged 5.3 yards per attempt last season.

Include the No. 52 ranked recruiting class, per Scout.com, for 2013 and Tuberville will only draw more interest before Kiel's opportunity rolls around in 2014. By then, the Bearcats will be rolling and he'll just have to hop on board and take over.

Cincinnati has landed its quarterback of the future. After visiting a few schools and considering a few others along the way, former Notre Dame signal-caller Gunner Kiel will become a Bearcat.

Joe Schad of ESPN reported the news:

Kiel had spent a lot of time checking out the Cincinnati campus, and it quickly appeared the school was his frontrunner. However, Kiel was interested in the SEC at one point, and Schad recently reported that a visit to Ole Miss could be in the cards as well.

Never mind all of those rumors, because Kiel is heading to the American Athletic Conference, where he will be eligible to become the starting quarterback as early as the 2014 season (he's forced to sit out the 2013 season due to NCAA rules). Cincinnati will continue to shuffle quarterbacks this year with hopes of more consistency after an up-and-down 2012.

As for what Kiel thinks about the opportunity? He couldn't be any more excited, as he told Schad earlier today:

Rivals labeled Kiel a 5-star recruit back in 2012 and considered him to be the best quarterback of the entire class. After flip-flopping between Indiana and LSU, the talented quarterback eventually landed up in Notre Dame, where he redshirted last season as a true freshman. But with the sudden emergence of Everett Golson and another talented recruit in Malik Zaire enrolling, Kiel realized his chances of becoming a starter took a hit.

Kiel wanted to go to a school he could play for immediately and not have to worry about much competition. With there being no clear-cut favorite at the position right now and Munchie Legaux already entering his junior season, it is clear why Cincinnati appealed to him.

Current Cincinnati head coach Tommy Tuberville has also had some decent success over the years at quarterback. Whether it was Jason Campbell in his days at Auburn or Seth Doege back at Texas Tech, Tuberville has history of making a winner out of the position. 

After changing schools multiple times dating back to the recruiting process and being in the news for reasons other than football, hopefully Kiel has found the right place for a successful college football career.

Let the Gunner Kiel watch begin.

Transferring from Notre Dame, he is now a free man to test the waters and decide which school he wants to play for. Almost like free agency in a way, you can expect to hear updates about this kid as if he is Tim Tebow on ESPN.

The first school that has hopped on board is the Cincinnati Bearcats. According to Tom Groeschen of the Cincinnati Enquirer, (h/t College Football Talk), Kiel was spotted at the team's scrimmage last weekend, and he has spent the last two days with the program.

According to the Groeschen report, a Cincinnati source also says this may just be the beginning of a long journey for the former Rivals 5-star recruit.

“He’s looking at several schools,” the source said. “You never know. Throw your name in the hat, see what happens.”

The Bearcats could use an upgrade at the quarterback position, as they finished fourth in the Big East in passing yardage last season. The team does have two seniors leading the way this season in Munchie Legaux and Brendon Kay, both of whom were inconsistent last year.

But with both being on their last years of eligibility, a possible transfer to Cincinnati would allow Kiel the chance to start right away beginning in the 2014 season. A chance for immediate playing time is going to be big in his final decision. He decided to leave Notre Dame once he realized playing time might not have come as soon as he would have liked; the school is currently comfortable with Everett Golson.

This is also an interesting, considering current Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly spent four seasons in Cincinnati before leaving for South Bend. He put together a 34-6 record during that time and led the Bearcats to a BCS bowl back in 2008.

Cincinnati is entering its first season with head coach Tommy Tuberville at the helm. Despite facing many coaching changes over the years, this has become one of the more consistent programs in the Big East recently, winning double-digit games in five of the last six seasons.

Kiel received an offer from Cincinnati when recruited back in 2012, but he eventually ended up at Notre Dame after flip-flopping between Indiana and LSU before signing his letter of intent to play for the Irish.

While Cincinnati does appear to be an attractive option for Kiel, this isn't the last you are going to hear of the young man over the next several weeks.

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Of all the pony rides on the 2012 coaching carousel, Tommy Tuberville's has been the strangest.

In fact, his entire coaching journey has been strange.

Once the head coach of Mississippi (1995-98), Tuberville was named the 1997 SEC Coach of the Year by the AP (Jim Donnan of Georgia was also named). A few days after making his statement, "They'll have to carry me out of here in a pine box," Tuberville was hired by Auburn for the 1999 season.

In 2008, Tuberville resigned from Auburn although some fans questioned if it was a decision made entirely by the coach. After then-head coach Mike Leach was dismissed from Texas Tech, Tuberville was hired by Texas Tech in January 2010.

Tuberville finished his career at Texas Tech with an overall record of 20-17 but the 2012 season was marred by an incident caught on camera where Tuberville appeared to have struck graduate assistant coach Kevin Oliver in the head. Tuberville claimed he was trying to pull Oliver off the field and/or attempting to remove Oliver's headset.

In any case, less than a month after the incident, Tuberville resigned from Texas Tech and took the job at Cincinnati left vacant by Butch Jones. This not only shocked college football fans, but the Texas Tech athletic department, as well.

From Lubbockonline.com:

Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said he received a phone call from Cincinnati athletic director Whit Babcock at 9:15 a.m., which Hocutt let go to voicemail because he was watching his son’s soccer game.

At 10:30 a.m., Tuberville called Hocutt and said he would resign as Tech’s coach to take the same position at Cincinnati.

Hocutt was caught off guard.

“As recently as yesterday (Tuberville) looked me in the eye and gave me his commitment and dedication to Texas Tech football,” Hocutt said on Saturday, “and leading this football program forward.”

One day later he was gone, inking a five-year contract with Cincinnati."

 

The story also noted that Tuberville's wife, Suzanne, "is from Guilford, Ind., about 30 miles from Cincinnati."

As all husbands can tell you, when the wife is happy, everyone is happy. In March of last year, however, Tuberville's happiness was questioned when the SportsbyBrooks facebook page indicated that he was "miserable" in Lubbock. 

Tuberville refuted that report, but even ESPN.com's David Ubben addressed possible conflicts that Tuberville was feeling over his job at Texas Tech.

"Would anyone be shocked if Tuberville left for an opportunity that he felt better fit him?" Ubben wrote. "Certainly not. But I don't believe Tuberville is a coach actively looking for a way out of Lubbock."

Going from the SEC to the Big 12 to the Big East seems like career suicide, doesn't it?

If Tuberville was miserable in Lubbock—and let's face it, even Leach had issues with some of the school's administrators toward the end of his tenure—then why not take a higher profile position at one of the other schools' vacancies?

Tuberville is 58 years old so it's not like he's too old for the game. He was born in Camden, Arkansas and spent all of his childhood there as well graduating from Southern Arkansas University. Yet Tuberville never was hired to replace John L. Smith at Arkansas.

Moreover, Tuberville expressed no interest in the Arkansas job—according to Dallasnews.com, he didn't want to move his family again.

"We’re happy here," Tuberville told Mike Graham. "We’re excited. When I came here I wanted Tucker and Troy to both graduate here. I’m tired of moving them around."

Huh?

So Tuberville didn't want to take a job in his home state—which also happened to have a vacancy at an SEC school—because he didn't want to move them from Texas to Arkansas, but he did want to take a job farther away in Cincinnati with a Big East school to boot?

It sounds insane but perhaps Tuberville is tired of the politicking and pressure of the SEC and Big 12. Heck, Boise State head coach Chris Petersen has been courted by plenty of elite schools but seems content in Boise. 

There's something to be said for coaching jobs at lower-profile schools. 

There's also something to be said for keeping the wife happy. 

As the hours continue to pass, it is still uncertain what will happen with current Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones.

Jones has a very lucrative offer from Colorado, but is still deciding on whether he wants to stay or not.

I believe that deep down inside Jones would love to stay in Cincinnati. He has continued where Brian Kelly left off and grown the program into one of the premier powers in the Big East.

He sees a lot of potential with the team and the program, particularly with the growing possibility of the Bearcats going to the ACC sometime in the near future.

Leaving now and starting over at another program might not be something he is interested in, but could be his only option. 

Cincinnati has not held true to some of the promises it had for Butch Jones when he arrived on campus and with the uncertainty of the Big East, that is even more reason for Jones to bolt.

If the Bearcats were headed to the ACC like Louisville, there would likely not be much of a decision for Jones.

As it stands right now, there are enough questions surrounding the Cincinnati program that Jones just might jump ship.

The main reason Jones might leave for Colorado is money. Colorado is offering approximately $2.7 million dollars a year.

It will be hard for a university like Cincinnati to match an offer like that.

Either way, it is kind of mind-boggling why Butch Jones has taken so long to decide. One of the reasons could be the recent hiring of Bret Bielema by Arkansas.

That has opened up a Wisconsin job that Jones may be very interested in. Is he really still deciding on Colorado is he waiting to hear from Wisconsin? 

Only time will tell. Stayed tuned as a decision could be coming any minute now.

Follow @AlexCallos

With how crazy this past Saturday was in the Big East, it is hard to believe, but Cincinnati still has a legitimate shot to finish in four-way tie for the Big East title.

With a Louisville victory over Rutgers and a Cincinnati win over Connecticut, the top four teams in the conference will all finish with identical 5-2 records in league play.

While Cincinnati will not win a four-team tiebreaker, the Bearcats would still grab a share of their fourth Big East title in the past five seasons.

Winning four conference titles in five years is a remarkable feat, and it has not been done by any BCS school over the past five years.

While there are certainly a lot of distractions off the field for Cincinnati, the Bearcats will try to have their full concentration on a Connecticut defense that is quickly developing into one of the best in the conference.

The Huskies have an offense that struggles to score points. The group is 120th in the country, only averaging 17.8 points a game. The defense, on the other hand, ranks 19th, only allowing 18.5 points a contest.

While the defense is allowing nearly 19 points a game, part of that is because of such an anemic offense. When it comes to yards, the defense ranks 10th in the country, only allowing 305.73 yards a game.

These are remarkable numbers, and the Huskies' strong defense is something that Cincinnati will have to overcome in order to remain in contention for another 10-win season and Big East tittle.

The Huskies do have a lot to play for. At 5-6, they need one more win to become bowl eligible. The win would be their third straight and would cap off a very nice finish.

As mentioned, the Bearcats will have plenty of distractions off the field, as talks continue to swirl about a possible move to the ACC.

There have also been discussions about head coach Butch Jones leaving for a better gig. Tennessee is among the possibilities along with Purdue.

If the Bearcats can put all of this aside and play the game that they are capable of, a victory at Connecticut and share of the Big East crown are strong possibilities.

Follow @AlexCallos