Corners Coach Steve Clinkscale Will Be Bearcats Defensive Coordinator

On the heels of the news that Auburn’s Kenny Ingram was taking over defensive tackles duties from Robert Prunty, it appears Tommy Tuberville has elected to promote cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale. The news was confirmed by the Enquirer’s Tom Groeschen yesterday.

With Clinkscale receiving this promotion, it’s assumed that he will serve as a co-defensive coordinator alongside Prunty. It’s unclear as of now if he will continue to work with the corners but Prunty will probably manage the defensive ends considering Ingram is overseeing the tackles.

Clinkscale joined Tuberville’s staff during his first year at Cincinnati. He manage the defensive backs in 2013 but split duties with Jeff Koonz last season, who coached the safeties. Clinkscale was left to oversee the cornerbacks.

It was far from an easy task, what with Cincinnati losing Deven Drane to graduation and senior Adrian Witty being lost for most of the season due to an injury. With Howard Wilder the lone upperclassmen among the corners, Clinkscale was forced to lean on former walk-on Grant Coleman and true freshman Linden Stephens to shoulder the load. As a result, the Bearcats struggled to slow down opposing passing games for much of the first half of the season.

To their credit, though, Clinkscale seemed to right the ship during AAC play. Interceptions, yards allowed, and passing touchdowns were down in the second half of the season. Like the rest of the defense, the cornerbacks made noticeable improvements over the course of 2014 and likely impressed Tuberville enough to earn this promotion.