The Bearcats want everyone to know why they are excited and what they are doing to make the most of the opportunity. Cunningham and some of his coaches, including new football coach Scott Satterfield, continued their tour of meeting with alumni on Wednesday at the downtown Dayton Beer Company. Cunningham sees Dayton as a crucial part of the fanbase because of the number of alumni, fans and potential recruits.
“We’ve had great student-athletes from this area so it’s a natural fit,” he said. “We feel like as a Power 5 program now in southern Ohio that we have a little bit more opportunity to come up here and be a part of this community and just make sure that all the Bearcat fans understand that we care about them.”
The Big 12 with schools like Kansas, Oklahoma State and Baylor fits more naturally with UC’s tradition-rich basketball program than the other sports. But football and football TV windfalls drive this conference upgrade more than anything. When Luke Fickell left after last season for Wisconsin a year after taking the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff, Cunningham looked for a program builder to push football forward.
Satterfield oversaw Appalachian State’s successful transition from FCS to FBS and into a three-time Sun Belt Conference champion in five seasons. Then he got Louisville back on track with three bowl appearances in four seasons. Now he has to guide the Bearcats into the Big 12 in the early years of the transfer portal and NIL opportunities for players. Satterfield’s experience in the ACC showed him what level of athlete he needs to recruit to be competitive in the Big 12.
“We know it’s going to be a challenge,” he said. “We’re going to be playing all new teams. The big thing for us is establishing and getting some depth because that’ll be the biggest difference week in and week out. Now we’re going to be playing these teams that have been established at that level for a long time. They’ve got that kind of depth.”
Satterfield will build an offense almost from scratch. The only returning starter is center Gavin Gerhardt, a redshirt junior from Xenia. His quarterback will be transfer Emory Jones, who previously started a combined 20 games at Florida and Arizona State. Two local defensive backs, Sammy Anderson from Trotwood-Madison and Justin Harris from Wayne, will play a lot.
Fortunately for Satterfield, the winning seasons and bowl appearances of past coaches Mark Dantonio, Brian Kelly, Butch Jones and Fickell have given the Bearcats a level of national recognition that new TV revenue can’t buy.
“What we’ve done in the past year certainly helps,” Satterfield said.
That past, however, didn’t help the Bearcats in the Big 12 preseason poll. They were picked 13th out of 14 teams and lower than other new members UCF, Houston and BYU.
“It’s motivation for those guys, which is a great attitude to have,” Satterfield said, who understands the hesitancy to expect much from his team because of a new coaching staff, not many returning starters and the move into a stronger league. “Once we get into conference play we’ll have a good idea of where we are. There will be some ups and downs for sure, but we’ve got seven home games which I think will help us.”
Beyond hiring coaches who can recruit at the necessary levels, Cunningham is already putting the increased TV revenue as a Big 12 member to work. The most important upgrade is an 84,000-square-foot indoor practice facility that will open before the 2024 football season. In addition, a 96,000-square-foot performance center will open in the spring of 2025. The center will help athletes with nutrition more than ever before and house a weight room, training room, offices, dining hall and mental health services.
“We’ve continued our growth mindset, which we’ve had for a few years, and now it’s getting ready for a new level of competition,” Cunningham said. “Some of the things that we haven’t been able to do in the past we can now do.”
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