Cincinnati Bearcats 2025 Spring Football Talking Points

UC is looking to improve on a 5-7 2024 record.

Nov 16, 2024; Ames, Iowa, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats running back Evan Pryor (6) runs away from Iowa State Cyclones Carson Robbins (23) in the first half at Jack Trice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images / Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — Spring Football Season is here UC fans!

The Bearcats have a strong mix of returning talent and new names from the freshman/transfer class to start slotting into potential roles this fall. Add in some new coaches underneath Scott Satterfield, Brad Glenn, plus, Tyson Veidt and you get intriguing talking points to key in on over the next 15 practices through the middle of April.

Check out our top three talking points to follow below:

New-Look Special Teams

Cincinnati is going to field a new return, punting, and kicking unit this fall for the first time at the same time in years. Longtime special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs is also no longer with the program, making this the most drastically changed unit from the offseason.

UC was terrible in just about every facet of the forgotten phase this past season and it played a huge role in the five-game losing streak to end the campaign. The Bearcats' net field position ranked 80th nationally, including a massive falloff in November.

Punter Mason Fletcher's production completely tailed off in the back month of the season (42.6-yard punting average in 2024, career low). On top of that, Cincinnati had no punt returns of 20-plus yards or kick returns of 30-plus yards. Now, his brother Max, takes over after redshirting in 2024 following a 2023 season where he ranked seventh nationally with a 46.95 punting average. He should take full control of that spot quickly.

As should new kicker Stephen Rusnak. The Charlotte product is entering his final season of eligibility after going 11-11 on field goal tries this past season, including 3-3 from 50-plus yards, and 25-25 on extra points. The sniper was one of two qualified kickers nationally to not miss a field goal try, meanwhile, UC ranked 83rd in total field goal percentage last season (72.7%). He should fully ensure that spot from another disastrous kicking season like so many have been this decade.

The returning roles are a complete mystery, but that's why they lace 'em up. Satterfield noted earlier this offseason that they will test the best athletes they have, regardless of starting roles elsewhere.

"We got to put the best guys on the field," Satterfield said about boosting the return talent. "It's great to be able to rest some guys, but we need the best 11 guys we can put on the punt team. That's how important it's going to be this spring. 

"And we're going to do all we can to emphasize our special teams and all hands on deck in the coaching staff. But Tim (Connor) will kind of oversee that this spring. We'll evaluate it at the end of the spring, as we do, everything offense and defense, because that is certainly an area for improvement. We got to get better there."

Cincinnati ranked 61st in kickoff return average last season and 113th in punt return average. Plenty of improvement on the table for special teams lead Tim Connor and the rest of the staff. It's the fastest way to clean up mistakes and set a 6-win floor this season.

Tawee Top Dog?

Running back Corey Kiner and his 204 carries are out the door, leaving a ton of opportunities for Cincinnati's trio of senior options in Wisconsin transfer Tawee Walker, Chance Williams (2024 redshirt), and Evan Pryor.

The hierarchy will likely be Walker in the Kiner lead-back role and the other two filling in behind him, but we will start getting a sense of that this week. I'll be intrigued to see how much more run Evan Pryor gets this season after he played a career-high 203 snaps with a 75.8 PFF grade.

He obviously earned more touch opportunities after averaging 7.5 yards per carry and 12.1 yards per catch on 71 total touches, but you also don't want to get his smaller frame roughed up. I anticipate a higher workload throughout the next few months to get him ready to take on closer to 100 touches this fall.

Williams should mix in here and there after averaging 4.5 yards per carry on 15 attempts last season, but Walker will be the top dog on the depth chart barring a massive rise from an underclassman. It would be ideal to not run Brendan Sorsby 105 times again with the punishment he took down the stretch of 2024, having that reliable punch behind Walker will be important.

Gerhardt And Who Else?

We know Gavin Gerhardt is starting at center and that's largely it in terms of locked-in spots on the offensive line. The next easiest projection along the longtime starting Bearcats center is Ball State transfer guard Taran Tyo.

He is the top candidate to replace Luke Kandra at right guard after playing tackle and guard in the MAC. The third-team All-MAC selection played 758 snaps at mostly right tackle and some right guard to finish with a strong 78.1 PFF grade in 2024 (career-high). Tyo brings a wealth of experience (1,555 career snaps) and two years of eligibility to pair with Gerhardt.

Opposite Tyo, younger talents Evan Tengesdahl and Jake Wheelock should spark a nice battle for the left guard position. Tengesdahl may have the early edge having played 127 snaps in 2024, while Wheelock has never seen the field at UC. 

At tackle, Deondre Buford has never posted a full-season PFF grade above 55 overall in the past two years at UC, but he has 1,483 snaps of experience to throw around at right tackle and a few other spots. He'll be in the mix for the two tackle spots along with FCS transfer Nolan Latulippe, Ethan Green, and 2023 FCS transfer Xavier Lozowicki.

The interior is much easier to project than the tackles, where Cincinnati could roll with any pairing from that quadruplet and maybe another younger wild card name as well.

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