Three days before Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell led the University of Cincinnati soccer team to their second straight championship game at the American Athletic Conference, he announced 23 new additions to the program on the first day of the early contract signing.
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Fickell announced on Wednesday the signing of 13 defensive players, nine offensive players and one player who will serve on special teams for Australian 6-foot-7 punter Mason Fletcher, a product of Prokick Australia, the same group that helped develop AAC punter James Smith contributed to UC’s current space.
More:Cincinnati Bearcats announce soccer players on National Signing Day
“It’s a great day,” said Fickell. “Of course there is a lot going on. It’s unique when there is a championship game on Saturday (and) Wednesday. But it was urgently needed for us because we have a lot of really good things.” Senior citizens. “
The recruitment class is the highest rated class in the AAC according to 247Sports.com and ranks 34th on the Rivals.com list, beating # 39 in the 2020 class.
More:Luke Fickell is the best recruiting class in UC football history
UC’s recruiting department had 17 billboards across town on Wednesday with messages welcoming the new recruits.
Seven local high school standouts were part of the class including sniper Leroy Bowers (Princeton), offensive attacker Luke Collinsworth (East Central), defenseman Dontay Corleone (Colerain), Luke’s son, offensive lineman Landon Fickell (Moeller) and offensive lineman Mao Glynn II (Walnut Hills), cornerback Iesa Jarmon (La Salle) and linebacker Cameron Junior (Middletown).
Fickell said those seven recruits made up the entire class, especially because coaches were unable to travel and host players on campus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think it made us really creative and unique,” he said. “I think it was really beneficial to us, as you can see with the seven children we would call the ‘state’ of Cincinnati, the seven children who come from here. Our ability to build relationships before the COVID hit was really big. “”
Fickell, who has six children – five sons and one daughter – including two groups of twins, admitted that his eldest son Landon was one of UC’s primary targets and that he eventually decided to sign up with the program was weird.
“It’s definitely unique,” he said. “To be honest, if we hadn’t had the core guys here, I probably wouldn’t have been on his side. … I’m very happy to have had Coach Crook (UC offensive coach Ron Crook). Me am very fortunate to have these people that I could step back and ask not to be biased about anything, if it hadn’t been, we wouldn’t have been in our fourth year building the relationships we built ourselves within with With our program and our coaches, it would probably have been very difficult for me to take a step back and be objective. “
Other Bearcats Messages and Notes:
Defensive Coordinator Freeman has been named a candidate for the Nation’s Best Assistant: A big reason for the program’s success on the recruiting path was the efforts of Fickell’s assistant and close friend, Defense Coordinator Marcus Freeman.
More:The longstanding relationship between Luke Fickell and Marcus Freeman means success for UC football
More:Marcus Freeman: The “other” man behind the magic of Cincinnati Bearcats football
The Frank and Barbara Broyles Foundation announced that on Tuesday Freeman was named one of 15 semi-finalists for the Broyles Award, presented annually to the best assistant coach in college football.
Freeman, who also trains Cincinnati’s linebacker, has orchestrated a defense that has kept seven of eight opponents under 20 this season.
Cincinnati’s defense has enabled 13 touchdowns this year, the fewest of any FBS team to have played at least eight games.
The Bearcats lead the AAC and are nationwide 2nd in pass efficiency defense (94.74), 4th in goal defense (15.0 points per game) and 10th in overall defense (308.1).
More:Defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman agrees to a new deal with Cincinnati Bearcats
UC’s secondary player leads the American with 13 interceptions and 48 passes defended. The Bearcats have forced sales in 18 straight games, the longest active streak in the FBS.
UC had a school record of 17 players earning All-AAC honors on Tuesday, including corner first defender Coby Bryant, corner Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, defenseman Myjai Sanders, sniper Jarell White and security James Wiggins.
More:Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Desmond Ridder and trainer Luke Fickell receive the highest honors from the AAC
Ridder named Manning Award finalist: The Allstate Sugar Bowl announced Thursday that junior quarterback Desmond Ridder was named one of 12 finalists for the 2020 Manning Award, presented annually to the Sugar Bowl committee’s best college quarterback.
Manning Award 2020 finalists also include Ian Book of Notre Dame, Matt Corral of Ole Miss, Justin Fields of Ohio State, Dillon Gabriel of UCF, Sam Howell of North Carolina, Mac Jones of Alabama, Trevor Lawrence of Clemson, Grayson McCall from Coastal Carolina and Brock from Iowa State Purdy, Florida’s Kyle Trask and Zach Wilson at BYU.
More:UC QB Ridder is successful as “He just lets the game come to him”
Ridder, AAC Offensive Player of the Year, has been named Manning Award Star of the Week three times this season.
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