The 2023 Cincinnati Bearcats football team represented the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bearcats, members of the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

, played home games at

Nippert Stadium James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Primarily used for American football, it is the home field of the Cincinnati Bearcats football team. The stadium has ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. 2023 was the program's first season under head coach

Scott Satterfield Fredric Scott Satterfield (born December 21, 1972) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at the University of Cincinnati. Satterfield previously served as the head football coach at the Universi ...

. In September 2021, Cincinnati,

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and UCF accepted bids to join the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

. On June 10, the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

and the three American Athletic Conference schools schools set to depart from the league (Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF) announced that they had reached a buyout agreement with the conference that will allow those schools to join the

in 2023. BYU had previously operated as an independent prior to accepting a membership invitation to join the Big 12 conference. Two years removed from their appearance in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

, the Bearcats failed to qualify for a bowl game for the first time since

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

after a loss to UCF.

Offseason

Entered NFL Draft

Coaching changes

On November 27, 2022, head coach

Luke Fickell Luke Joseph Fickell (born August 18, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He will be the head coach for the Wisconsin Badgers starting in December 2022. Previously he was the head football coach at the University of Cincinnati, ...

, who had been the Bearcats head coach the last six years, left the school to take the same role at

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. On December 5, 2022,

, who had been the Louisville Cardinals head coach the last four years, left the school to become the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

head coach. On December 6, 2022, it was reported that

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include ''Breaker Morant'' (1980), ' ...

would follow Satterfield to Cincinnati as defensive coordinator. On December 14, 2022, Satterfield announced additions to the coaching and support staffs. Joining the Bearcats are Nic Cardwell,

Derek Nicholson Derek Nicholson (born November 30, 1986) is the inside linebackers coach at Miami (FL) and a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Florida State Seminoles Football and previously coached at Southern Miss and Louisvi ...

, De'Rail Sims and Pete Thomas. Official titles and responsibilities will be announced at a later date. On January 4, 2023, Satterfield announced further staff additions, which included Greg Gasparato and Josh Stepp as well as his strength and conditioning staff led by Niko Palazeti. On January 9, 2023, Satterfield announced the hiring of Tom Manning as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. Other staff announced were Zach Grant as general manager, Jack Griffith as director of player personnel, Cass Simmons as director of recruiting strategy, and Carolina Tart as director of recruiting. On February 20, 2023, Manning was reported to be leaving the Bearcats to become the next tight ends coach for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. After departures of Manning, Nicholson, and Gasparato in February, Satterfield announced the hiring of Brad Glenn as offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach, Nate Fuqua as co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach, and Cortney Braswell as inside linebackers coach. Josh Stepp, previously named wide receivers coach, was named the tight end coach.

Offseason departures

Transfers

=Outgoing

=Incoming

Recruiting

Schedule

Game summaries

No. 24 (FCS) Eastern Kentucky

at Pittsburgh

Miami (OH)

No. 16 Oklahoma

at BYU

Iowa State

Baylor

at Oklahoma State

UCF

at Houston

at West Virginia

Kansas

Personnel

Roster and staff

References

{{Cincinnati Bearcats football navbox

Cincinnati Bearcats football seasons

Cincinnati Bearcats football The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the Big 12 Conference. They have played their home games in h ...