Cincy on the Prowl
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Cincinnati Football: UC Bearcats Fill “Final” Openings On Coaching Staff

By Chris Bains

Nov 28, 2015; Greenville, NC, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Tommy Tuberville talks to referees about a call in the 3rd quarter against the East Carolina Pirates at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The Cincinnati Bearcats defeated the East Carolina Pirates 19-16. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Greenville, NC, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Tommy Tuberville talks to referees about a call in the 3rd quarter against the East Carolina Pirates at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The Cincinnati Bearcats defeated the East Carolina Pirates 19-16. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /
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The immediate fallout from UC’s spring practices is that Tommy Tuberville, or more aptly offensive coordinator Zac Taylor, has made some adjustments to his coaching staff, according to Coaching Search.

"Cincinnati: Per source, tight ends coach / special teams coordinator Ty Linder has moved to running backs coach / special teams coordinator, and graduate assistant Nick Grimes has been promoted to tight ends coach. Grimes is entering his third season on the staff, and his father JB Grimes joined the staff recently as offensive line coach. This fills the last opening on the UC staff."

The announcement of Ty Linder assuming the role of running backs coach along with special teams coordinator isn’t especially surprising. It was assumed earlier this spring when Jim Turner bolted for Texas A&M after only a month with the Bearcats that he would take over the gig as his replacement. Now Tuberville is making it official.

What is a bit of a surprise, and a pleasant one, is that graduate assistant Nick Grimes will be working with the tight ends on a permanent basis. He’s been working with the unit under Ty Lindner for the past two seasons. I had figured he would take a supporting role with the offensive line under his father JB. But the fact that he’s been promoted to ownership of an entire position group is good news for his career path and hopefully means UC is grooming an up and coming star coach.

Also surprising, but this time potentially concerning, is that sentence I bolded above. With Cincinnati’s staff in place and apparently finalized for the 2016 season, it’s curious that we haven’t heard any rumblings about Steve Clinkscale’s replacement. After he followed Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw to Kentucky, co-defensive coordinator Robert Prunty took over calling plays in the spring while Tommy Tuberville found a permanent replacement. By the looks of it, Prunty is going to be that guy.

It obviously hasn’t been officially announced yet but that’s just what we’re going to have to surmise. I’d be curious about the dynamics at defensive coordinator this fall. Tuberville has decades of experience coaching up that side of the ball and this season will be the first in which Prunty is calling plays. Will Tuberville give him full reign over managing and coordinating the defense or will he have Prunty on a short leash?

Hopefully those responsibilities and boundaries are established early such that it doesn’t become a mess in a few months. Here’s where we’re at with the coaching staff given these changes.

  • Tommy Tuberville: Head Coach
  • Zac Taylor: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
  • Robert Prunty: Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line
  • J.B. Grimes: Offensive Line
  • Ty Linder: Running Backs/Special Teams
  • Blake Rolan: Wide Receivers
  • Nick Grimes: Tight Ends
  • Jeff Koonz: Linebackers
  • Kenny Ingram: Defensive Tackles
  • Mike Gillhamer: Defensive Backs