A tweet went viral on Sunday morning highlighting the Cincinnati Bearcats head coaching vacancy when Luke Fickell decided to go to Wisconsin and be the next head coach of the Badgers.
Cincinnati Bearcats Athletic Director John Cunningham interviewed James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti for the job, who brought the Dukes to a 8-3 record in 2022 and a 11-2 record in 2023 before heading to Indiana. Cunningham opted to hire Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield because of his proven track record in the power 4. Cignetti was hired by Indiana ahead of the 2024 college football season and brought them to their first ever playoff on the way to winning College Football Head Coach of the Year.
Passing on Cignetti ultimately set the Bearcats back for years with Satterfield not being the solution to the issues in Cincinnati. Satterfield is under contract through the 2028 season with a buyout being at $8 Million. Moving on from Satterfield while he is still under contract in unlikely and Bearcat fans will likely have to deal with him for the foreseeable future.
In December of 2022, James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti interviewed for the open head coach position at the University of Cincinnati following Luke Fickell’s departure.
— The Bad Bearcat (@thebadbearcat) September 21, 2025
AD John Cunningham ended up telling Cignetti no due to the fact he had “no Power 4 experience”. Instead,… pic.twitter.com/vcvPs2rOkp