Cincinnati Football: Bearcats coaching staff continues to focus on transfer portal

In the aftermath of early signing day, the Bearcats new-look staff led by first-year head coach Scott Satterfield will continue to focus on the portal after adding four transfers in recent days.

Cincinnati announced commitments from 15 recruits on Wednesday to kick off the early signing period including four players from the portal, highlighted by senior quarterback Emory Jones.

The former Arizona State starting quarterback joined a pair of Louisville transfers in offensive lineman Luke Kanda and linebacker Dorian Jones, plus Penn transfer center Trevor Radosevich.

Despite missing out on a few targets, the Bearcats have brought in four potential starters and hope to add another as Florida State transfer linebacker Amari Gainer will commit December 30.

Cincinnati Football: Arizona State transfer quarterback Emory Jones commits to Bearcats

Arizona State transfer and former Florida quarterback Emory Jones signed with the Bearcats on early signing day and is expected to compete for the starting quarterback job next season!

After four seasons at Florida, Jones transferred to Arizona State last year and started the first seven games before going down with an injury and eventually entering the transfer portal.

Jones appeared in 37 games including 12 starts with the Gators and showed off his elite dual-threat ability with 4,620 total yards, 26 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns.

The Bearcats quarterback battle should be exciting this offseason as Jones prepares to compete with Ben Bryant, Brady Drogosh and Evan Prater, barring any more transfer announcements.

Cincinnati Football: Louisville transfer linebacker Dorian Jones will join the Bearcats

After entering the transfer portal last week, former Louisville linebacker Dorian Jones will follow head coach Scott Satterfield and join the Bearcats with at least two years of eligibility left.

Jones was a 3-star prospect coming out of high school and originally committed to Appalachian State under Satterfield before heading to Louisville when the head coach was hired in 2018.

The 6’0, 236-pound linebacker played in 36 games during four years at Louisville and racked up 83 total tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, three fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.

Despite being a reserve for most of his time at Louisville, Jones has plenty of experience because he was thrust into a starting role due to an injury and started the last six games in 2021.