Cincinnati Bearcats College Football Pregame Quote, 12/05/2021

On his first reactions to seeing his team in the College Football Playoff:

My first reaction is similar to what Coach Fickell’s was. It’s so important to those young men that they had an opportunity to be able to play for a National Championship. They believed the whole time. As adults, we can get cynical about which way things are going to go, but because of Coach Fickell and the way he approached this entire year, those players believed that if they went out there and won every single game, they’d be able to play for a National Championship. It’s so perfect that it is coming to fruition, especially after a really tough year with COVID-19 last year.

On how valuable this is for the entire university and athletics as a whole:

It’s where we want to be. We want to win championships. We want to continue to grow, and this is part of that growth. I believe that we have the coaching staff and student-athletes to be able to do that. This is just another step along that path and when we’re in the Big 12 in a few years, we’ve got to be ready from day one to be able to compete in that league.

On what it means that Coach Fickell stayed:

It speaks to him and his character. When he talks about the importance of the relationships in that locker room, he really means it, that’s family. When you look at opportunities that he’s had, he said that this family’s more important right now than those other opportunities. We continue to talk about growth, and he knows that that’s what I believe in, that we shouldn’t take a back seat to anybody. It says a lot about his character.

On if this year’s success will help in terms of fundraising and upgrading facilities:

Absolutely, it drives the brand of the university and the city. We have Cincinnati across our chest, and I think that means a lot to this city, those that have connections to UC or not. When you’re getting the attention that we’re getting, it absolutely helps with fundraising. We’re going to utilize that and capitalize on that and make sure that we grow.