The Cincinnati Bearcats have hired former Indianapolis Colts secondaries coach Mike Gillhamer to coach the defensive backs at UC, according to Fox Sports.
Source tells @NFLonFOX that ex- @Colts secondary coach Mike Gillhamer was just hired for the same position with @GoBearcatsFB
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) March 5, 2016
When former UC defensive coordinator Steve Clinkscale took a positional demotion, Tommy Tuberville temporary put Robert Prunty in charge of the defense for the entirety of Cincinnati’s spring practices while he searched for a permanent replacement. He also tabbed graduate assistant Kenyon Blue to coach the defensive backs, although it was unclear if that would stick.
But, it turns out, with the hiring of Gillhamer, that was also a temporary move by Tuberville.
The former Colts secondary coach spent four years in Indianapolis to go along with his 15 years of NFL experience and 36 years of coaching experience in general. During his time with the Colts, Gillhamer’s secondary floated anywhere between decent to above average. Indianapolis ranked as high as 12th in passing defense with him at the helm. However, with how cyclical the NFL is, it’s unclear if turnover on the defensive side of the ball limited them from climbing into the top 10.
Regardless of Gillhamer’s credentials or ability to improve Cincinnati’s secondary for the 2016 season onward, it’s impressive that Tommy Tuberville has attracted so many coaches who have spent decades in the game and at the NFL level to UC. For better or worse, compiling all of these football minds on the same staff has a strong chance to make this team better going forward. Again, it’s anyone’s guess just how Zac Taylor, J.B. Grimes, and Mike Gillhamer will fare here but it’s encouraging that Tuberville is doing his best to stack the deck in his favor.