As Camp Opens, Tuberville Expects To Name Starting QB In 2 Weeks
Gunner Kiel 3rd on the depth chart at QB due to missing Spring practice with injury.
Earlier this Summer, I speculated that fifth year senior Gunner Kiel would be UC’s starting quarterback this Fall (despite his past struggles), and opined that Ross Trail would be the best #2 option for under center for Bearcats football. Then, head coach Tommy Tuberville came out with the surprising but not earthshaking statement Gunner Kiel would start training camp at #3 on the depth chart due to missing almost all of Spring practice with a shoulder injury. Okay, maybe that is a little earthshaking. Starting the year with a freshman or sophomore at QB instead of a senior who has been talked about in the same breath as the NFL several times over the past few years seems a bit crazy.
But if we’re totally honest with ourselves, the QB situation for the Bearcats in 2015 wasn’t the greatest. Sure, Kiel and Hayden Moore both had their moments, but they were also both extremely careless with the football. In several of the Bearcats’ biggest games last year, quarterbacks tossed interception after interception. Four against Temple, three against Memphis, two against Houston, four against USF. Bearcats football finished 2015 at a staggering minus-19 in turnover margin – much of that due to 11 INTs a piece from the QB duo of Kiel and Moore.
So it appears that Tuberville is going to open up the QB job to all comers. Kiel, Moore, and highly-recruited but unproven redshirt freshman Ross Trail. Tuberville even went as far as to say that Kiel would start camp at #3 on the depth chart and have to win his job back. Last week, I wrote that I loved the move, if only for its motivational aspect. A commenter on COTP’s Facebook page (have you liked COTP on Facebook yet?) said it best: “Whoever turns the ball over the least should play.”
Tuberville has echoed those sentiments in interviews this offseason. Most recentlym in an interview with Dan Hoard at AAC media days, Tuberville said that having a minus-19 turnover differential never gave last years’ team, which was the “most talented” team he’s coached in four years at UC, a chance. In Tuberville’s estimation, the Bearcats could’ve been a 10 or 11 win team in 2015 if they had managed turnovers.
In the same interview, Tuberville reiterated that the race for the 2016 quarterback job is wide open between Moore, Trail, and Kiel. Per Tubs, Kiel is only third because he missed Spring ball, and will have every opportunity to win the job. Tuberville also said that he hopes to pick a starting quarterback after two weeks of camp. After that, it’s important to get the player selected as #1 as many reps with the first team as possible to prepare for the season. So with camp opening today, you’d have to figure that the staff will try to make its collective mind up by about September 17 – two weeks before the Bearcats open the 2016 season by hosting the Skyhawks from Tennessee-Martin (that’s kind of like the Buckeyes from OSU-Columbus, just not as good at football).
I still expect Gunner Kiel to get his shit together and win the job. If he’s not going to step up and lead as a senior, he’ll risk losing a potential pro career. He’s got so much talent. Always has. Sometimes it just takes time for the lightbulb to come on, and I hope that it will for Kiel. The AAC East is ripe for the picking this year, with no dominant team. If UC can right the ship as far as quarterback play and turnovers are concerned, there’s no reason to believe they can’t compete for a league title.