Breaking: Cincinnati Bearcats Will Be Without Mick Cronin For The Rest Of The Season

Breaking: Cincinnati Bearcats Will Be Without Mick Cronin For The Rest Of The Season by Chris Bains

The rumors are true, Cincinnati Bearcats defensive coordinator Hank Hughes has accepted a position with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He has been named co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach on Mike Riley’s staff.

.@NateClouse reporting that former #UConn defensive coordinator Hank Hughes headed to Nebraska as defensive line coach/co-DC — Jim Fuller (@NHRJimFuller) January 2, 2015

Hughes was brought in from UConn to replace Art Kaufman who Tommy Tuberville, for lack of a better phrase, asked to leave the program due to his recruiting pitfalls. His first few games at Cincinnati were met with anger from Bearcats fans when the defense allowed an average of 660 yards, 46 points, and 37.5 first downs against Ohio State and Memphis. It was truly abysmal weekly performance out of a UC position group with talent at linebacker and along the defensive line.

But then Cincinnati made the transition to a more aggressive defense with simplified schemes, adjustments enacted by Hughes. The players responded incredibly well to the change, even holding opponents without a touchdown for 8 straight quarters. That would have seemed like an impossible feat in the first half of the season but a suffocating defense was becoming the norm in November and December. At that point it seemed like Hank Hughes had orchestrated enough of a 180 to save his job.

Now the UC defensive coordinator will be off to Lincoln to coach the Cornhuskers in the same capacity.

At the apex of my frustration with Hank Hughes, I put together a list of possible replacements should Tuberville give him the ax. It seems now is as good a time as any to revisit it since somebody has to coach the defense from 2015 onward.

The safe bet would be to give Robert Prunty, Cincinnati’s current co-defensive coordinator and the program’s best recruiter, the full time role. With Hughes’ departure, the Bearcats have now gone through 4 different defensive coordinator combinations in the last 4 years.

2015 could potentially be the 5th season with a new coach for some seniors. Prunty could ensure that the transition will be as seamless as possible. Schemes and verbiage on specific plays would probably be the same if not very similar, only helping Cincinnati avoid the inevitable performance drop off from coaching changes.