It was a very simple request that’s now grown into a mini legend of new Bearcats head coach Brian Kelly by some in the media.  On Monday University of Cincinnati SID Kelby Siler and I was talking about media day and asked if there was anything I needed him to prepare.  I told him I wanted head shots of all the players and had a story idea and wanted to know if I could get all the players from what I call the Tri-State area of Cincinnati.  This included those from Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and parts of Southwest Ohio.

Well I got my head shots, all 104 of them as the players got ready for the team photo.  Kelby said my special shot would take place after all the position shots were done and he’d make sure everyone would stay around.  While many of the players who were asked questioned why they were staying around, Brian Kelly was sitting over on a bench talking with Tim Adams and a few other reporters.  Then it was time and Kerry Coombs watched what was forming in front of him and he now understood what was going on.

While these players were lining up, Kerry shouted to several others in the media, “Now that is what you should all be taking a picture of and talking about.  All of these guys are local guys who stayed home to play here at UC.  Do we recruit Cincinnati or what?”  And as I turned to ask the former Colerain coach to also be in the photo, he turned and told Brian Kelly to join them.  As Brian Kelly stood you could see the wheels turning and the switch had been turned.  Brian Kelly saw a great chance to sell his program, and my simple request will now find its way to a billboard near you if the Bearcats head coach has anything to say about it.

Here is the photo missing one of my favorite Bearcats Mike Mickens who skipped out instead of staying for the photos request as the others did.

Coming to a billboard near you!

Another request came while at Media Day from a few of the local guys.  Colerain and Elder both have their share of State Championships (Elder = 2, Colerain =1) and their share of players on the UC roster.  Here are three photos of the guys from these programs.  One is of them being teammates, the other is of them still at odds with each other and the last is the sign of Champions with the Colerain guys holding up one finger with the Elder guys holding up two.

Colerain & Elder Bearcat Teammates

Face-Off

Cincinnati Prep Champions Colerain 1 / Elder 2

This was the third time I’ve been to UC for the team photo.  This is the first there was a media day attached to it during this time.  To Mike Harris and Kelby, great job on making this like all the other college programs across the country.