The 2023 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the University of Cincinnati during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats, members of the Big 12 Conference, played home games at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. 2023 was the program's first season under head coach Scott Satterfield. The Cincinnati Bearcats football team drew an average home attendance of 38,193 in 2023.
In September 2021, Cincinnati, BYU, Houston, and UCF accepted bids to join the Big 12. On June 10, the American Athletic Conference and the three American Athletic Conference schools set to depart from the league (Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF) announced that they had reached a buyout agreement with the conference that will allow those schools to join the Big 12 Conference in 2023. BYU had previously operated as an independent prior to accepting a membership invitation to join the Big 12 conference.
Two years removed from their appearance in the College Football Playoff, the Bearcats failed to qualify for a bowl game for the first time since 2017 after a loss to UCF.
Offseason Entered NFL draft
Tyler ScottWR
Coaching changes On November 27, 2022, head coach Luke Fickell, who had been the Bearcats head coach the last six years, left the school to take the same role at Wisconsin.
On December 5, 2022, Scott Satterfield, who had been the Louisville Cardinals head coach the last four years, left the school to become the Cincinnati head coach.
On December 6, 2022, it was reported that Bryan Brown would follow Satterfield to Cincinnati as defensive coordinator.
On December 14, 2022, Satterfield announced additions to the coaching and support staffs. Joining the Bearcats are Nic Cardwell, Derek Nicholson, De'Rail Sims and Pete Thomas. Official titles and responsibilities will be announced at a later date.
On January 4, 2023, Satterfield announced further staff additions, which included Greg Gasparato and Josh Stepp as well as his strength and conditioning staff led by Niko Palazeti.
On January 9, 2023, Satterfield announced the hiring of Tom Manning as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. Other staff announced were Zach Grant as general manager, Jack Griffith as director of player personnel, Cass Simmons as director of recruiting strategy, and Carolina Tart as director of recruiting.
On February 20, 2023, Manning was reported to be leaving the Bearcats to become the next tight ends coach for the Indianapolis Colts.
After departures of Manning, Nicholson, and Gasparato in February, Satterfield announced the hiring of Brad Glenn as offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach, Nate Fuqua as co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach, and Cortney Braswell as inside linebackers coach. Josh Stepp, previously named wide receivers coach, was named the tight end coach.
Offseason departures 2022 Cincinnati offseason departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Ivan Pace Jr. 0 LB 6' 0" 235 Senior Cincinnati, OH Declared for NFL draft Tre Tucker 1 WR 5' 9" 185 Senior Akron, OH Declared for NFL Draft Wil Huber 2 LB 6' 4" 250 Graduate Student Indianapolis, IN Declared for NFL Draft Ja'Von Hicks 3 S 6' 2" 210 Graduate Student Cincinnati, OH Declared for NFL Draft Arquon Bush 9 CB 6' 0" 198 Senior Cleveland, OH Declared for NFL Draft Charles McClelland 10 RB 5' 11" 200 Senior Homerville, GA Declared for NFL Draft Leonard Taylor 11 TE 6' 5" 235 Senior Springfield, OH Declared for NFL Draft Ty Van Fossen 13 LB 6' 2" 222 Senior Croton, OH Declared for NFL Draft Tyler Scott 21 WR 5' 11" 185 Junior Norton, OH Declared for NFL Draft Jacob Dingle 29 S 5' 11" 195 Senior Louisville, KY Retired Lorenz Metz 51 OL 6' 9" 330 Senior Neuötting, Germany Declared for NFL Draft James Tunstall 72 OT 6' 5" 320 Senior Indian Head, MD Declared for NFL Draft Jeremy Cooper 74 OL 6' 4" 325 Senior Chicago, IL Declared for NFL Draft Josh Whyle 81 TE 6' 6" 250 Senior Cincinnati, OH Declared for NFL Draft Jabari Taylor 90 DL 6' 1" 280 Graduate Student Akron, OH Declared for NFL Draft
Transfers
Outgoing Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown New School Jake Renfro C 6' 3" 308 Junior Mokena, IL Wisconsin Ja'Quan Sheppard CB 6' 2" 200 Senior Zephyrhills, FL Maryland JQ Hardaway CB 6' 3" 200 Freshman Columbus, GA Kentucky Ryan Coe K 6' 3" 227 Junior McDonald, PA North Carolina Noah Potter DE 6' 6" 270 Junior Mentor, OH NC State Jojo Bermudez WR 5' 10" 170 Freshman Egg Harbor City, NJ Delaware Jadon Thompson WR 6' 2" 187 Junior Chicago, IL Louisville Nick Mardner WR 6' 6" 215 Senior Mississauga, ON Auburn Leroy Bowers LB 6' 1" 207 Freshman Cincinnati, OH Southern Luther Richesson QB 6' 3" 204 Freshman Nashville, TN Golden West College Mario Eugenio DE 6' 3" 245 Freshman Tampa, FL Patrick Body Jr. CB 6' 2" 171 Freshman Monroeville, PA Will Pauling WR 5' 10" 180 Freshman Chicago, IL Wisconsin L'Christian Smith WR 6' 5" 215 Senior Huber Heights, OH Western Kentucky Joe Huber OL 6' 5" 310 Sophomore Dublin, OH Wisconsin Drew Donley WR 6' 2" 180 Sophomore Frisco, TX Texas State Quincy Burroughs WR 6' 2" 202 Freshman Jacksonville, FL Wisconsin Devin Hightower LB 5' 11" 225 Junior Twinsburg, OH Jaheim Thomas LB 6' 4" 240 Senior Cincinnati, OH Arkansas Christian Lowery K 5' 11" 180 Junior Acworth, GA Marcus Peterson WR 6' 3" 215 Freshman Lake City, FL McNeese Malik Rainey CB 5' 11" 175 Sophomore Chicago, IL Armorion Smith S 6' 2" 205 Sophomore Detroit, MI Michigan State Cameron Junior LB 6' 1" 211 Sophomore Middletown, OH Eastern Kentucky Ben Bryant QB 6' 3" 190 Senior La Grange, IL Northwestern Jonah Lytle CB 5' 11" 165 Sophomore Canton, OH Central State
Incoming Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Prev. School Luke Kandra OL 6' 4" 320 Junior Cincinnati, OH Louisville Trevor Radosevich C 6' 4" 310 Senior Englishtown, NJ Penn Dorian Jones LB 6' 0" 230 Senior Plantation, FL Louisville Emory Jones QB 6' 3" 212 Senior LaGrange, GA Arizona State Keyshawn Helton WR 5' 9" 160 Senior Pensacola, FL Florida State Daniel Grzesiak DE/LB 6' 1" 250 Senior Los Angeles, CA Utah State Philip Wilder OL 6' 5" 305 Junior Jonesboro, GA Southeast Missouri State D.J. Taylor DB 5' 10" 192 Junior Tampa, FL Arizona State Dee Wiggins WR 6' 3" 195 Senior Miami, FL Louisville Carter Brown K 6' 0" 205 Sophomore Pearland, TX Arizona State Sterling Berkhalter WR 6' 4" 200 Junior Cincinnati, OH North Carolina A&T Joey Beljan TE 6' 3" 240 Senior Holland, NJ Western Kentucky Rory Bell K 5' 9" 185 Sophomore Wilmington, OH Temple Jordan Young DB 6' 0" 195 Sophomore Tampa, FL Florida Donovan Ollie WR 6' 3" 212 Senior Wylie, TX Washington State Aaron Turner WR 5' 7" 185 Junior Ellicott City, MD UConn Braden Smith WR 5' 10" 185 Senior Flowood, MS Louisville Deondre Buford OL 6' 3" 315 Junior Detroit, MI Kentucky George Udo DB 6' 1" 200 Senior Walnut Creek, CA BYU Xzavier Henderson WR 6' 3" 200 Senior Miami, FL Florida Jalen Hunt DL 6' 4" 315 Senior Belleville, MI Michigan State Kyree Moyston DL 6' 4" 242 Sophomore Norfolk, VA Virginia Tech Dion Hunter LB 6' 2" 235 Junior Rio Rancho, NM New Mexico
Recruiting
Schedule
Game summaries No. 24 (FCS) Eastern Kentucky
at Pittsburgh
Miami (OH)
No. 16 Oklahoma
at BYU
Iowa State
Baylor
at Oklahoma State
UCF
at Houston
at West Virginia
Kansas
Personnel
Roster and staff
Awards and honors
Big 12 Weekly Honors September 1Emory JonesRS-SrQBBig 12 Offensive Player of the WeekBig 12 Newcomer of the Week
All-Big 12 All-Big 12 Luke Kandra OL 2nd Dontay Corleone DL 2nd HM = Honorable mention. Source:
References