New Cincinnati Bearcats QB JC French Drops Quarterback Comparison He's Striving For At UC

CINCINNATI — JC French IV made his first public comments as the Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback this week on the "Let's Reign Podcast" with UC play-by-play voice Dan Hoard.

The veteran Georgia Southern turned UC passer is a virtual lock to be the team's starting quarterback this fall, taking the position from Brendan Sorsby after the latter posted arguably the best statistical season ever by a UC quarterback (81.5 ESPN QBR, 11th-best nationally).

French has a long way to climb up that metric to meet Sorsby's production (58.1 2025 QBR, 75th nationally), but this staff has shown they can develop passers to reach another level.

"I was definitely interested in other places," the 6-1, 200-pound talent told Hoard. "I had other visits lined up, but Cincinnati was my first visit, and you know, I fell in love with the place. The coaches just believed in me, and I felt like I could thrive here. Obviously, coach (Scott) Satterfield's offense, there's been a lot of production there, so I'm really excited for it."

French compared himself to 2017 Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield in the sense that he can run if needed, but is more of a traditional pocket passer than Sorsby is.

Mayfield and French are nearly the same height and weight (Mayfield is 15 pounds heavier at 6-1).

"I would say, Baker Mayfield. I've always liked the way he plays and the passion he has for the game. So, so I'd like to say, I strive for that," French declared.

It would be ideal if the French never even had to press for those gaudy statistics Sorsby was able to deal out across 12 games. The defense can't perform much worse than it has across the first three years of the Scott Satterfield era, and a veteran, proven coach in Nate Woody is now manning that unit for the first time in this coaching stretch.

If Cincinnati can climb from being 108th in stop rate defensively last season to around the 50-60 range among FBS teams, there will be a lot less pressure on French's offense than there was on Sorsby's.

There are 40-plus new players on the team between the Class of 2026 and the transfer portal haul, but the names that were already here have made the feelings about another season-ending five-game losing streak very clear.

"Just how hard this team works and how much they want it," French said about what stands out. "They started 7-1 hot last year, and then, you know, it got a little rough towards the end, and you could it didn't sit right with them. And everybody's just got this chip on their shoulder about next year, that we want it, and that we can achieve all the goals and dreams that we have. So I think just everybody working to the standard Coach Niko (Palazeti) setting that standard has really, really stood out to me."

Check out the full conversation below and more on French's game here.

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