guys I like at the next level
Sean Mannion from Oregon St.- questionable mobility but he is a pro pocket passer. can make all the throws
Tyler heinicke from ODU- not the strongest arm but a very smart heady QB. He will play on sundays, may make an impact in right system
and i actually liked taysom Hill. he has become very accurate, great athlete but the injuries now who knows
yes these are not your normal talked about players, i know this
Sean Mannion from Oregon St.- questionable mobility but he is a pro pocket passer. can make all the throws
Tyler heinicke from ODU- not the strongest arm but a very smart heady QB. He will play on sundays, may make an impact in right system
and i actually liked taysom Hill. he has become very accurate, great athlete but the injuries now who knows
yes these are not your normal talked about players, i know this
Was it good or bad?
Here's some of it.
Notre Dame was supposed to be Kiel's new home when he enrolled in the spring. That wasn’t the case. Kiel redshirted in 2012. He had trouble making friends. He struggled to learn the offense and was slotted behind redshirt freshman Everett Golson -- who led the Fighting Irish to the ‘13 BCS title game against Alabama -- and veteran Tommy Rees on the depth chart.
It wasn’t the right fit. Notre Dame wasn’t the haven Kiel envisioned. He changed his mind one more time, even though he hated the attention it brought with it.
“People bashing me for decisions, having bad practices, I just lost all confidence in myself,” Kiel said. “I wasn’t happy anymore. I didn’t really hang out with anybody. I stuck to myself. Especially being an early enrollee, when I’m supposed to be in high school and I’m watching kids in my high school having fun while I’m at Notre Dame.”
The decision to transfer to Cincinnati came in the spring of 2013. It was his first visit. He had a couple more trips scheduled, but opted to cancel them. Kiel had developed a prior relationship with quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw from Hinshaw’s time at Tennessee, and the fit made sense. The Bearcats’ top two quarterbacks, Munchie Legaux and Brendon Kay, were set to be seniors. Kiel would sit out in ’13 due to NCAA rules and have a chance to build his confidence before competing for the starting spot in '14.
In short: Gunner Kiel would focus on school, football and getting back to being Gunner Kiel again.
“I don’t know what happened at Notre Dame,” said Tuberville, “but when [Kiel] came in he was pretty deflated.”
Golson was suspended from Notre Dame for the 2013 season for cheating on a test, but Kiel didn’t waver. His mind was made up. After a long and public saga -- one that stretched from Bloomington to Baton Rouge to South Bend and beyond -- he was finally ready to move on.
“It’s all in the past,” Kiel said. “I don’t know why people keep bringing it up. It’s over. People love to talk about it. But it’s old. It’s just going to force me to work even harder.”
ELLIS: A way-too-early breakdown of the 2014 Heisman Trophy contenders
*****
The small-town kid has learned to love the city. Gunner Kiel relishes the culture Cincinnati’s coaching staff has created, which emphasizes having fun rather than keeping a strictly business-like mentality. For the first time in years, the pressure and attention on Kiel are minimal. He noticed a change almost immediately.
“To sit out that year was probably the best thing for me,” Kiel said. “It just taught me a lot about myself and taught me I need to sit back and relax. Things are going to happen naturally. You just have to bust your butt and overcome adversity each day.”
This fall, Kiel will have the chance to write a different story than the ones that have already been written. He isn’t guaranteed to start, but he should be considered the frontrunner after spring practice. Juco transfer Jarred Evans is gifted but acclimating to the playbook. Legaux, who was granted an extra year of eligibility after suffering a gruesome knee injury in a loss to Illinois last September, has not fully recovered.
Kiel looked loose and confident on the practice field, joking around with teammates and calmly executing the two-minute drill. He dazzled in the Bearcats’ spring game on April 5, going 17-of-22 for 300 yards, including completions of 42, 46 and 47 yards.
Drew Kiel admired Gunner’s performance, but he also saw things Gunner needed to improve. Still, he believes his brother’s journey the past few years has shaped him as a person. “It’s not always about football,” Drew said. “It’s about can you take that criticism, can you persevere from it and really build your character? Football is only going to last so long. Experiences like that are going to carry over into his life later.”
Kip said the public has the wrong impression about his son. Gunner is the guy who gets a group of teammates together when they’re homesick, bringing them to his parents’ house and welcoming them into his family. He is the guy who is always playing -- and, as roommate and Bearcats tight end Tyler Cogswell gleefully points out, losing in -- Madden.
It might be easy to write off Kiel as another five-star prospect gone bust, but he has three years of eligibility remaining. The American Athletic Conference appears wide open following Louisville’s exit to the ACC and UCF quarterback Blake Bortles’ departure to the NFL. And after two games against MAC opponentsToledo and Miami (Ohio) to open the season, the Bearcats have a real opportunity to make some noise with a matchup at Ohio State on Sept. 27.
Given Kiel’s uncommon perspective, the next chapter of his story could take on a very different feel than the last one. Now, people will discuss his play rather than the decisions he made along the way.
“It’s up to me what my destiny is going to be,” Kiel said. “I understand what happened in the past is always going to be a part of [me]. It’s overcoming that and focusing on myself, my family, my teammates, my faith and school. That’s all I have to focus on. With that, good things are going to happen.”
Notre Dame was supposed to be Kiel's new home when he enrolled in the spring. That wasn’t the case. Kiel redshirted in 2012. He had trouble making friends. He struggled to learn the offense and was slotted behind redshirt freshman Everett Golson -- who led the Fighting Irish to the ‘13 BCS title game against Alabama -- and veteran Tommy Rees on the depth chart.
It wasn’t the right fit. Notre Dame wasn’t the haven Kiel envisioned. He changed his mind one more time, even though he hated the attention it brought with it.
“People bashing me for decisions, having bad practices, I just lost all confidence in myself,” Kiel said. “I wasn’t happy anymore. I didn’t really hang out with anybody. I stuck to myself. Especially being an early enrollee, when I’m supposed to be in high school and I’m watching kids in my high school having fun while I’m at Notre Dame.”
The decision to transfer to Cincinnati came in the spring of 2013. It was his first visit. He had a couple more trips scheduled, but opted to cancel them. Kiel had developed a prior relationship with quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw from Hinshaw’s time at Tennessee, and the fit made sense. The Bearcats’ top two quarterbacks, Munchie Legaux and Brendon Kay, were set to be seniors. Kiel would sit out in ’13 due to NCAA rules and have a chance to build his confidence before competing for the starting spot in '14.
In short: Gunner Kiel would focus on school, football and getting back to being Gunner Kiel again.
“I don’t know what happened at Notre Dame,” said Tuberville, “but when [Kiel] came in he was pretty deflated.”
Golson was suspended from Notre Dame for the 2013 season for cheating on a test, but Kiel didn’t waver. His mind was made up. After a long and public saga -- one that stretched from Bloomington to Baton Rouge to South Bend and beyond -- he was finally ready to move on.
“It’s all in the past,” Kiel said. “I don’t know why people keep bringing it up. It’s over. People love to talk about it. But it’s old. It’s just going to force me to work even harder.”
ELLIS: A way-too-early breakdown of the 2014 Heisman Trophy contenders
*****
The small-town kid has learned to love the city. Gunner Kiel relishes the culture Cincinnati’s coaching staff has created, which emphasizes having fun rather than keeping a strictly business-like mentality. For the first time in years, the pressure and attention on Kiel are minimal. He noticed a change almost immediately.
“To sit out that year was probably the best thing for me,” Kiel said. “It just taught me a lot about myself and taught me I need to sit back and relax. Things are going to happen naturally. You just have to bust your butt and overcome adversity each day.”
This fall, Kiel will have the chance to write a different story than the ones that have already been written. He isn’t guaranteed to start, but he should be considered the frontrunner after spring practice. Juco transfer Jarred Evans is gifted but acclimating to the playbook. Legaux, who was granted an extra year of eligibility after suffering a gruesome knee injury in a loss to Illinois last September, has not fully recovered.
Kiel looked loose and confident on the practice field, joking around with teammates and calmly executing the two-minute drill. He dazzled in the Bearcats’ spring game on April 5, going 17-of-22 for 300 yards, including completions of 42, 46 and 47 yards.
Drew Kiel admired Gunner’s performance, but he also saw things Gunner needed to improve. Still, he believes his brother’s journey the past few years has shaped him as a person. “It’s not always about football,” Drew said. “It’s about can you take that criticism, can you persevere from it and really build your character? Football is only going to last so long. Experiences like that are going to carry over into his life later.”
Kip said the public has the wrong impression about his son. Gunner is the guy who gets a group of teammates together when they’re homesick, bringing them to his parents’ house and welcoming them into his family. He is the guy who is always playing -- and, as roommate and Bearcats tight end Tyler Cogswell gleefully points out, losing in -- Madden.
It might be easy to write off Kiel as another five-star prospect gone bust, but he has three years of eligibility remaining. The American Athletic Conference appears wide open following Louisville’s exit to the ACC and UCF quarterback Blake Bortles’ departure to the NFL. And after two games against MAC opponentsToledo and Miami (Ohio) to open the season, the Bearcats have a real opportunity to make some noise with a matchup at Ohio State on Sept. 27.
Given Kiel’s uncommon perspective, the next chapter of his story could take on a very different feel than the last one. Now, people will discuss his play rather than the decisions he made along the way.
“It’s up to me what my destiny is going to be,” Kiel said. “I understand what happened in the past is always going to be a part of [me]. It’s overcoming that and focusing on myself, my family, my teammates, my faith and school. That’s all I have to focus on. With that, good things are going to happen.”
