Cincy on the Prowl
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Cincinnati Football: Defensive Coordinator Steve Clinkscale Heading To Kentucky

By Chris Bains

Oct 31, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Tommy Tuberville looks on from the sidelines in the second half against the UCF Knights at Nippert Stadium. The Bearcats won 52-7. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 31, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Tommy Tuberville looks on from the sidelines in the second half against the UCF Knights at Nippert Stadium. The Bearcats won 52-7. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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Evidently Cincinnati Bearcats defensive coordinator Steve Clinkscale will be joining Eddie Gran and Darrin Hinshaw at Kentucky and will serve as the Wildcats’ secondary coach.

"Clinkscale would replace Derrick Ansley, who left UK for a position at Alabama. Clinkscale has served as the defensive backs coach and co-defensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati. His prior coaching experience includes stops at Illinois, Toledo, Western Carolina and Ashland University."

When Jim Turner bolted for Texas A&M, I didn’t think much of it. I mean, it was poor timing and put Tommy Tuberville in a tough spot two months before UC’s Spring Game but replacing a running backs coach is nothing like a defensive coordinator, especially an up-and-coming one like Clinkscale.

Tuberville could very easily promote Robert Prunty to the full time DC position but what if he hires from outside again? That would essentially hit the reset button at defensive coordinator for the fourth straight year, further throwing a wrench in his plans to create stability and consistency on that side of the ball. Plus, this late in the game, we’re staring straight at another lost year on defense if it happens that Cincinnati has to completely change the schemes and nuances on defense with a new man at the helm.

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So whether it’s his ideal option at this point or not, Tuberville might just have to give Prunty the gig just to ensure his young but talented defensive players don’t have yet another disappointing year because they continue to struggle to communicate assignments between one another.

In the bigger picture, I hope losing Turner and Clinkscale like this is merely a coincidence, speaking more so to their abilities as coaches, and not indicative of a deeper issue within Cincinnati’s football program. We noted in early January that the Bearcats rank in the middle of the AAC in terms of paying their assistant coaches. For a team positioning itself as the power of the Group of Five, the school’s lack of investment in the coaching staff doesn’t exactly back up that claim.

Could these two bolting be indicative of salaries that are less than the market rates? I mean, they’re bound to earn proportionally in Power Five conferences. That’s just how the economic of college athletics works nowadays. But if Kentucky is paying Clinkscale to only coach the secondary and it’s more than UC did to have him coordinate their entire defense, that’s a problem.

UPDATE: Per Football Scoop, current co-defensive coordinator Robert Prunty will call the plays in the Spring Game and defensive graduate assistant Kenyon Blue will coach the secondary. It remains to be seen if they will have the same roles this Fall.