Who are the Cincinnati Coaches?

Time to get to know the coaching staff of the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bulls have faced several first year coaches, but Skip Holtz will face a coach that is in the same situation as him, entering his second season at the helm.

Head Butch Jones is entering his second season as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats. In his first season as the head coach, the Bearcats led the Big East in scoring, averaging 27.1 points per game (taking over after Brian Kelly left for Notre Dame). They also averaged 417.3 yards of offense per game and 265.7 yards passing per game, so expect to see a spread offense a ball flying all over the place.

Before his time at Cincinnati, Jones was the head coach of Central Michigan (Brian Kelly's old stomping ground). During his time there and after his first season at Cincinnati, Jones amassed a win total of 31-21, 22-8 in conference play (before this season). While at CMU, he led them to 3 bowl games and 2 conference championships (in just 3 seasons). Jones is a very energetic coach that gets his players ready for any opponent.

He likes the spread offense, using the zone-read scheme and putting the ball in the hands of the quarterback. The Bearcats can hang a lot of points on anyone and the coaching of Jones is the big part of it.

Mike Bajakian is entering his second season as the offensive coordinator at Cincinnati. He came with Jones from CMU when he took over the job, bringing that spread offense to Ohio. Bajakian likes to get the ball in open space and looks to find as many receivers that he can. Isaiah Pead is the top tailback for the Bearcats as well and continues to have a big season, showing the versatility of his offense. Mark Snyder dealt with this last season and the team was able to swarm to the ball at times, but will have to improve if the Bulls want to win the game at home on homecoming.

Tim Banks is the co-defensive coordinator with the Bearcats, coming over from CMU with Jones. Banks runs a different defense than most teams, using a nickel package as his primary coverage. This means he uses 4 down linemen, 2 linebackers, 3 cornerbacks and 2 safeties. The extra corner can be a blitzer or patrol the middle of the field and cover anyone underneath or coming out of the backfield, giving Todd Fitch something new to think about. Banks worked at Maryland before his time at CMU and Cincinnati, showing his ability to work with top programs. John Jancek is the other defensive coordinator (also the recruiting coordinator and linebackers coach). Jancek spent time at Georgia, coaching the linebackers for the last 5 seasons before coming over in 2010. Georgia was one of the better teams in the conference during his time on the staff, so he bring an aggressive style of coaching despite the 2 linebacker look the defense gives.

So the Bearcats have a solid coaching staff that is entering its second season together like the Bulls are. USF was able to get a big win on the road against the Bearcats last season so with the Cats coming to town, the Bulls will have to be ready for a team looking to deal some revenge.