The new mailbag is here!
I’m as excited as Navin Johnson in “The Jerk” but he was all worked up over the phone book. So, to start, many of you will have to Google Navin Johnson and the term “phone book,” and the rest of this should go swimmingly.
A few weeks back, The Enquirer asked for your Cincinnati Bearcats questions. Some of you have responded, so as per the agreed-upon rules, I shall now bang out the replies.
The ever-popular art of “ghosting” is somewhat unmannerly anyway. Here goes your first batch of Bearcat “viewer mail.”
Question: If UC makes the ‘Big Dance’ and Miami doesn’t, will that tell you how sad NCAA March Madness has become?
Answer: As college basketball changes hourly, Travis Steele’s Miami RedHawks should be in after finishing 31-0 by taking down Ohio University in overtime. Call it luck or grace under pressure, Miami has escaped several games and deserves to be the underdog.
What could hurt any team on the bubble is a Miami loss in the MAC tournament. It seems the RedHawks are in regardless, but another MAC team stealing a bid would mess up many bracketologists.
As for UC, they need to at least win two in the Big 12 tournament in my opinion, then hope some other bubbles burst. A third win in Kansas City would mean they knocked off top seed Arizona and if that doesn’t get you in, I’m not sure what does.
Now, an unpopular question: How many games do you think Miami University would have won in the Big 12?
Question: Was UC football’s passing game under the most recently departed offensive coordinator not that good or was Joe Royer not as good as everyone thought?
Answer: Royer was at the NFL Combine and those invitations don’t get handed out like participation ribbons. Though he didn’t work out in Indianapolis, he’s slated to be on display at UC’s Pro Day March 24.
I would think the 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end who surpassed Travis Kelce’s single-season record for receptions in 2024 would generate some interest. Though his production dropped from 50 catches to 29 in 2025, he did average more in yards-per-catch at 14.3 per grab and scored one more touchdown than he did the previous season.
The problem was Royer went from an unknown to a known commodity as he quickly regained his “mojo” once he transferred from Ohio State to UC. The quarterback and play-caller were the same last season (Brendan Sorsby and head coach Scott Satterfield).
Brad Glenn was the offensive coordinator, but he called as many plays as I did. Satterfield has remained the play-caller since becoming a head coach at Appalachian State.
That said, it was curious that Royer wasn’t featured more. But, if Sorsby missed him, it didn’t bother Texas Tech much as it tapped the oil rig for him just the same.
Question: Were UC’s new offensive coordinators promoted with the intent of upgrading the passing game?
Answer: Pete Thomas was the quarterbacks coach and has added co-offensive coordinator to his title. Nick Cardwell is now the offensive line coach/co-offensive coordinator. If you look at Sorsby’s production over the past two seasons, Thomas was successful. If you see what the offensive line has done in the run game and in protecting Sorsby, Cardwell has been wildly successful.
I asked Coach Satterfield how it works. On TV, they sometimes refer to a run-game coordinator and a pass-game coordinator. While both are involved, it’s not like they submit plays and hope theirs gets selected.
“They’re the leaders of the offense,” Satterfield said. “They’re setting the tone for what the offense wants to be this year. Those guys do a great job of coming up with that plan then presenting that plan to the offensive players. In the installation in the spring, they have a huge input. Those guys have earned that right to be the coordinators of the offense.”
Translation: Both are terrific coaches who have earned promotions. But, unless Satterfield is ejected, neither will call a play.
On the passing game, it will be tough for newcomer and presumed starter JC French IV to equal Sorsby’s passing numbers, but there are again receivers looking to make a name for themselves like Cyrus Allen and Jeff Caldwell last year. Isaiah Johnson and tight end Gavin Grover return and the spring will dictate who steps up. For the record, French threw for more yards than Sorsby the last two seasons, but not as many touchdowns. French had 20 touchdown tosses at Georgia Southern and Liam O’Brien had 19 at Penn. Samaj Jones returns as a talented runner but probably has the strongest arm.
Question: What is Wes Miller’s record in Quad 1 games at UC?
Answer: I try to update such things and I have him at 12-50. The regular season ends at 3-11 in that category. Ones you’d like to have back are the Louisville game, where Baba Miller didn’t play the last 10:30, Houston at home where a 10-point second-half lead disintegrated, the Jan. 6 game at West Virginia where they couldn’t hold a late five-point lead and the first UCF game where they went ahead with 30 seconds, got down by one, then didn’t attack the rim on the final shot.
They were 5-2 in Quad 2, 2-0 in Quad 3 and 7-1 in Quad 4, including the Eastern Michigan shocker (played without current starters Miller, Celestine and James).
Question: What was Mick Cronin’s record in Quad 1 games while at UC?
Answer: The Quadrant evaluations started after Cronin’s last NCAA tournament appearance in 2019, the unfortunate, blown lead loss to Iowa in Columbus.
Going through Cronin’s seasons from 2006-2019, I counted Top 25 wins. Amazingly, even though UC was sub-.500 in his first two seasons in the Big East, he knocked off No. 19 Villanova and No. 15 Pitt. In total I have his Top 25 record at UC at 31-54 (things you do on road trips in hotel rooms).
Certainly, by today’s formula, a Top 25 win would qualify as a Quad 1 triumph.
Thanks, don’t forget to write
As it turns out, these mailbag exercises are way more effective when questions are plentiful, so please send me more at sspringer@enquirer.com or on X via @sspringersports. It can be on UC, or you can try to stump me on random trivia, or ask for advice. If it’s a good question, we’ll take a jab at it.
As always, please refrain from any Pythagorean theorem queries or anything on the periodic tables. Those weren’t really in my wheelhouse in my ascent to the Halls of Mediocrity at Anderson High School, University of Cincinnati and University of South Florida.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UC beat writer Scott Springer talks NCAA, Royer | UC Bearcats mailbag
Reporting by Scott Springer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
