Reviewing ESPNU All Access: 2014 Cincinnati Bearcats Football

For a second straight year, ESPN sent their All Access crew to Clifton to go inside the Cincinnati Bearcats football program for the 2014 season. If you recall, the Worldwide Leader in Sports provided a behind-the-scenes look at UC around this time last year when they were preparing for UConn.

These are one of the highest quality programs ESPN produces. The kind of inside look we’re privy to in these 30 minute segments are only available to those closest to the program itself. For those of you who are obsessed with Cincinnati Bearcats football as I am, the only negative part of ESPNU All Access is that they aren’t nearly long enough to satisfy my thirst for all things UC.

This year’s segment aired tonight at 6 pm EST. If you didn’t catch it or weren’t able to record it, I’ve thrown together a recap of the show. ESPN’s cameras followed the team in the days leading up to their game with the Miami (OH) RedHawks last Saturday.

• The segment started with a slow motion panning of the Nippert Stadium construction while audio clips of coaches yelling at players played in the background. And just like that we were off to the races.
• The next few minutes followed Tommy Tuberville as he showcased the progress of the renovation while digital flyovers of the renderings appeared on screen. Just another remind of what awaits us in less than a year.
• Then they jumped into the coach and staff meeting. The camera panned over a daily schedule that lays out like this:
  – 6:30 am: Training room opens with lifting assignments provided by Coach Walker
  – 9:00 am: Staff meeting
  – 1:00 pm: Team meeting
  – 1:20 pm: Unit position meeting
  – 2:30 pm: Walk thru, presumably of the upcoming game
  – 2:55 pm: Practice
• Blake Reid, director of athletic equipment then took us on a tour through the training room and showed how expandable Cincinnati’s tech-fit jerseys truly are. The same jersey that fits a guy the size of Ralph David Abernathy can apparently fit Brandon Mitchell. Maybe that’s an exaggeration but you get the picture; they’re stretchy.
• The equipment managers basically customize everything for every player, from helmets to shoulder pads to cleats.
• After the first break, the weight room was up and basically a showcase of several players lifting iron.
• Then they highlighted Munchie Legaux’s knee injury in which he tore his ACL, MCL, and PCL. All this segment did was further illustrate how confident, motivated, and mature Cincinnati’s senior quarterback truly is.
• That segued into Darin Hinshaw’s quarterback’s meeting who was going through tape of the Bearcats’ game with Miami last year. He really likes the bubble screen.
• Steve Clinkscale’s cornerbacks meeting was next. Hindsight’s 20-20 but with the way the RedHawks’ passing attack torched them on Saturday, maybe they should have gotten more “depth”.
• The other position group meetings such as special teams, offensive line, defensive line, and running backs followed with more good clips of the day-to-day life of the players and coaches.
• The full team meeting kicked off with a ringing of the Victory Bell, which as of last week was in Cincinnati’s possession for the previous eight years. That of course extended to nine on Saturday night.
• After the second break, All Access put the spotlight on Gunner Kiel and his journey from high school to Notre Dame to LSU to Indiana to Cincinnati and his first collegiate start against Toledo two weeks ago.
• Darin Hinshaw actually recruited Kiel when he was at Tennessee. The two have developed an excellent rapport over the last year.
• I love watching Hinshaw work with his quarterbacks at practice. He’s so engaging that his players just feed off of that and you can tell they strive to improve because of him. I’ve said it before but I still believe a head coaching job is in Darin Hinshaw’s future.
• The next few minutes went through some of the other position drills. Tuberville and Shaq Washington joked with each other about him being afraid to return punts.
• After the final break, shots from Cincinnati’s practice continued as Eddie Gran and Jeff Koonz displayed unreal energy as the first teams went at each other.
• Just from the handful of clips of Gunner Kiel’s reps in practice, it’s pretty clear why he’s UC’s starting quarterback.
• Tuberville ended practice with a speech on how Miami wasn’t going to lay down against the Bearcats, reminding them how they thought last year’s game, which ended in a close 14-0 UC win, was going to be easy. He stresses that the RedHawks would be extremely focused. Boy was he ever right.