May 15, 2026 • 10 mins
The Director of Athletics at UC joined Mo as part of his 513 Day broadcast from UC's campus.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And joined now by the director of Athletics at the
University of Cincinnati, John Cunningham.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
How are you good. Oh, good to have you guys here.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
It's good to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah, celebrate five one three day. We love it.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Yeah. Last time you and I talked was about two
months ago, and you had just wrapped up a coaching
search and I'm sure big sire relief that day. When
you think back to that process, what sort of things come.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Up, Well, I mean, they're all unique in their own way,
and this one was obviously the speed at which we
had to move. We obviously were interested in coach Calhoun
had identified him, but we wanted to allow him to
have his time with his Utah State team that was
going to compete and obviously did a great job in
the tournament, beating a great Villanova team and then and
(00:43):
then going toe to toe with Arizona and almost getting
that one. But then we knew that the transfer portal
was right around the corner, so we had to move
extremely fast to get him here, and he wanted to
get started, and so I think what was unique about
this one was just the whirlwind of the speed at
which it all had to happen.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
What what's a part of that process? And this question
isn't necessarily specific to Jared Calhoun, but what are parts
of a coaching search like that that that take place
beyond public view that might surprise an average fan?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
You know, I don't know if it would surprise anybody.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
You're certainly doing a lot of background work and background
phone calls about the person. That was something that I
really wanted to spend some time calling the basketball people
that I knew. We have somebody on our staff named
Brad Pike that was that was at Syracuse for fifteen
years with coach Beheim, and so we use a lot
of those connections, and so maybe that would surprise some
(01:37):
people on the breadth of the people that we called
to talk to them about coach Calhoun and basketball styles
and and how it might be a fit at Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
That might surprise people.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, and then he, you know, he goes and hits
the portal and it's it's a it's a whole new team.
Right When when kids come in from other universities, do
you get a chance to sit down with them? Do
you talk with him as a whole How does that work?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
It depends some I do it happened so quick. They
call it speed dating. I mean, that's that's the world
that we live in. You really you bring them in
for you know, twenty four to forty eight hours, and
then there's usually a decision that's made at that time.
You know, certainly, if I'm around, I met with several
as they came through. Sometimes I'd bump them to them
in the hall. Sometimes I'd meet with them up in
my office if it work. But you know, I'm there
(02:18):
if they need me and if I can be of help.
But it does happen so fast sometimes that that's not
part of the equation.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
It's it's an interesting time this time of year because
you did a coaching search. The spring sports are kind
of winding down. I know men's golf next week in
the NCAA tournament is going.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
To be awfome.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So like walk me through, like your your calendar, your
to do list during the summertime as we ramp into
the fall sports.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, certainly still going part with all of our spring sports.
You know, tracks had a tremendous year, so they've got
their outdoor track season winding up, and then like you said,
men's golf down at A and M competing in the
national tournament there and then obviously what our baseball program
is doing. So we've got a significant focus on some
really great things happening late in the spring, which is
always fun, but you do start to shift and start
(03:04):
to think about next year. You start to set some
goals for your department, some goals for each individual coach,
and you're having meetings with individual coaches and talking about
what they need to do to get better and be
better than they were the year before. And then you
really start to focus in and Zach stipes in the
room here on our staff, but you start to focus
in externally on the game day experience, and you know,
(03:25):
we have six football games and obviously going right into
a basketball season with a new coach, so a lot
of heavy work gets done thinking about our fans, how
we improve our fan experience, and just trying to get
better that way.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
What's the most It's it's such a you know, everybody
says it a strange time for college athletics, men's, women's,
whether it's Olympic sports, football, we're expanding the NCAA tournament,
nil and revenue sharing are such big topics. What's what's
the biggest challenge as an administrator at this level right
now that that consumes you day to day.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
It's the lack of clear understanding of the rules. Lack
of clear rules. You know, you're you're you know, I
think you live kind of in the world of trying
to make sure that you're structuring things so that you're
as competitive as possible, especially within the Big twelve Conference,
but there's no clear understanding of where that line is,
so you're you're constantly trying to get benchmarks, You're constantly
(04:20):
trying to understand what everybody else is doing so that
you can stay as competitive as possible in this really
you know, zero sum game that is college athletics. You
want to win every game. You want to you want
to beat other teams for recruits and have the best
nil program and the best approach. So it's it's just
trying to structure that and then also understanding sort of
where this thing is going or you know, what what's
(04:41):
next around the corner, trying to be ahead of it
a little bit and just make sure that we have
a plan going forward. We know we're going to have
to change it because college athletics continues to adjust and change,
so we've got to be able to pivot. But we've
got to build a plan going forward over the next
three five years.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
How do we get to a place where things are
quite as chaotic? And I say that as somebody who
loves chaos.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah, I believe I've come to the conclusion. I think
there's really one or two paths, one being something through Congress.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
You know, we we have what we call.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
The Score Act, which I think is going to come
before the House here in a couple of weeks, gets
through the House, and obviously.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
You know it has to go through the Senate.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
How a bill becomes a law the hole, yeah, the cartoon, right,
So we've got to I've had I've had to go
back and refresh myself on that class.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, but we've got to get we've got to try
to get some sort of protection what they call it
anti trust protection, meaning that the NCAA isn't gonna get
sued every time it tries to put a rule on
the place, which which is the environment that we've lived
in over the last couple of years post the Austin case.
So we we've really had to work hard to get
that through. We'll see if that gets through that. I
(05:47):
think to your point, that's the one thing that brings
some calmness to the situation. And I think another one,
alternatively or in conjunction with it, would be some sort
of you know, working with the student athlete on a
collective bargaining agreement, almost like they have in the in
Major League Baseball.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Or the NBA.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Is that realistic?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
I think it is.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
You know, we've had a lot of experts talking about that.
It's complicated, but I think there is some potential that
that could happen down the line. But first and foremost,
we got to get the protection from congressional protection so
that we don't get sued every time we try to
have a rule in place.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Student athletes have things in front of them that are
unique to this age. Right, student athletes didn't have some
of the same temptations. Sports wagering is one of them. Right,
I can do it. I'm allowed to do it, as
student athlete cannot. I'm not asking this in reference to
any individuals specifically, but if you're a student athlete, you're
not allowed to wager on certain things. You're not allowed
(06:45):
to wager on professional sports. That there's a championship event
in college sports. And I'm putting that very inarticulately. You're
not allowed to bet on games involving your school, not
allowed to make wagers on games that you be involved in.
Walk me through what's done to educate student athletes as
to what they are specifically not allowed to do.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
We do a lot, and we've we've got a whole
education program that that you know, Obviously, gambling is at
the very top of the list, and it has been
for a long time. As these state laws have opened
up sports gambling. You know, we we bring in speakers,
Our student athletes know the rules, they can recite the rule.
I had one recite it to me the other day.
(07:27):
They said, you can't gamble on college sports. You can't
gamble on a pro sport with a corresponding college championship.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
That's the that's the way, the way.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Yeah, And you know, so they know the rules, we
teach those rules. They understand if they have any questions
at all, they need to talk to compliance.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
But but we also as a society of really in
my mind, made some strategic cares here. I mean, we've
we just opened up sports gambling so quickly, and I
just remember as I drove outside of Knippert Stadium and
outside of Clifton. I remember seeing a billboard for a
long time. That was one of the sports gambling sites
that had a billboard facing the university and it was
(08:04):
directed at students, college students, not just student athletes, but
college students. They say seventy percent, seventy five percent of
males in college are on the apps, they have a
casino in their pocket. It is a lot and just
the society. We've got to figure out how this all operates,
because it's going to be a continuous problem, not just
in college athletics, but just just in general.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I'm glad. I'm glad I'm not a college student now
for that reason. I mean, i'm glad. I'm not forget
student athlete. That was never gonna happen, but I'm glad
I'm not a college student now for that specific reason.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
It's just made it too easy.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
It's so easy, and we know we have a lot
of issues social media and things, but when you put
a casino in every college student pocket, it's, you know,
it's we've got to really work on that.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
What have you come to know about the football team?
The specific football team for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Well, you know, I really like our defensive coordinator, coach Woody.
I love what he's bringing to the table and his
energy level, and you know, kind of watching him early on,
you know, forty four new players, so I had a chance,
like everybody else to pay attention to spring ball and
see how they performed. You know, I think it was
(09:15):
a great mix of some days offense dominated, in some
days defense dominated, and that's exactly what you want to see.
But I think our defensive backfield has had been improved incredibly.
I love our receivers that we brought in, and I
think J. C. French really showed what he's capable of
in the spring, which is throws a great ball, throws
a great deep ball, can really move the ball, and
(09:39):
controls the game really well, can make calls at the
line of scrimmage. And then of course we have one
of the best offensive lines in the twelve and maybe
best offensive lines in the country, and that, as we
all know, is so important to winning. So all those
things kind of fitting together, and the specialties improvements that
we made last year and having that having that same
coach come back, and so just a lot of things
working in our face. We know Big twelve is a
(10:01):
tough league. We're gonna have to be ready to go
come September.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
No question can thank you enough. As always always great
to be with you. John Cunningham, the director of Athletics.
Here at U See it's five to one, three day
from the University of Cincinnati, broadcasting from the Defensive Meeting
Room inside the football practice facility. We are here till
six o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports station.
And joined now by the director of Athletics at the
University of Cincinnati, John Cunningham.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
How are you good. Oh, good to have you guys here.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
It's good to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah, celebrate five one three day. We love it.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Yeah. Last time you and I talked was about two
months ago, and you had just wrapped up a coaching
search and I'm sure big sire relief that day. When
you think back to that process, what sort of things come.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Up, Well, I mean, they're all unique in their own way,
and this one was obviously the speed at which we
had to move. We obviously were interested in coach Calhoun
had identified him, but we wanted to allow him to
have his time with his Utah State team that was
going to compete and obviously did a great job in
the tournament, beating a great Villanova team and then and
(00:43):
then going toe to toe with Arizona and almost getting
that one. But then we knew that the transfer portal
was right around the corner, so we had to move
extremely fast to get him here, and he wanted to
get started, and so I think what was unique about
this one was just the whirlwind of the speed at
which it all had to happen.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
What what's a part of that process? And this question
isn't necessarily specific to Jared Calhoun, but what are parts
of a coaching search like that that that take place
beyond public view that might surprise an average fan?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
You know, I don't know if it would surprise anybody.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
You're certainly doing a lot of background work and background
phone calls about the person. That was something that I
really wanted to spend some time calling the basketball people
that I knew. We have somebody on our staff named
Brad Pike that was that was at Syracuse for fifteen
years with coach Beheim, and so we use a lot
of those connections, and so maybe that would surprise some
(01:37):
people on the breadth of the people that we called
to talk to them about coach Calhoun and basketball styles
and and how it might be a fit at Cincinnati.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
That might surprise people.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, and then he, you know, he goes and hits
the portal and it's it's a it's a whole new team.
Right When when kids come in from other universities, do
you get a chance to sit down with them? Do
you talk with him as a whole How does that work?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
It depends some I do it happened so quick. They
call it speed dating. I mean, that's that's the world
that we live in. You really you bring them in
for you know, twenty four to forty eight hours, and
then there's usually a decision that's made at that time.
You know, certainly, if I'm around, I met with several
as they came through. Sometimes I'd bump them to them
in the hall. Sometimes I'd meet with them up in
my office if it work. But you know, I'm there
(02:18):
if they need me and if I can be of help.
But it does happen so fast sometimes that that's not
part of the equation.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
It's it's an interesting time this time of year because
you did a coaching search. The spring sports are kind
of winding down. I know men's golf next week in
the NCAA tournament is going.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
To be awfome.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So like walk me through, like your your calendar, your
to do list during the summertime as we ramp into
the fall sports.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, certainly still going part with all of our spring sports.
You know, tracks had a tremendous year, so they've got
their outdoor track season winding up, and then like you said,
men's golf down at A and M competing in the
national tournament there and then obviously what our baseball program
is doing. So we've got a significant focus on some
really great things happening late in the spring, which is
always fun, but you do start to shift and start
(03:04):
to think about next year. You start to set some
goals for your department, some goals for each individual coach,
and you're having meetings with individual coaches and talking about
what they need to do to get better and be
better than they were the year before. And then you
really start to focus in and Zach stipes in the
room here on our staff, but you start to focus
in externally on the game day experience, and you know,
(03:25):
we have six football games and obviously going right into
a basketball season with a new coach, so a lot
of heavy work gets done thinking about our fans, how
we improve our fan experience, and just trying to get
better that way.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
What's the most It's it's such a you know, everybody
says it a strange time for college athletics, men's, women's,
whether it's Olympic sports, football, we're expanding the NCAA tournament,
nil and revenue sharing are such big topics. What's what's
the biggest challenge as an administrator at this level right
now that that consumes you day to day.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
It's the lack of clear understanding of the rules. Lack
of clear rules. You know, you're you're you know, I
think you live kind of in the world of trying
to make sure that you're structuring things so that you're
as competitive as possible, especially within the Big twelve Conference,
but there's no clear understanding of where that line is,
so you're you're constantly trying to get benchmarks, You're constantly
(04:20):
trying to understand what everybody else is doing so that
you can stay as competitive as possible in this really
you know, zero sum game that is college athletics. You
want to win every game. You want to you want
to beat other teams for recruits and have the best
nil program and the best approach. So it's it's just
trying to structure that and then also understanding sort of
where this thing is going or you know, what what's
(04:41):
next around the corner, trying to be ahead of it
a little bit and just make sure that we have
a plan going forward. We know we're going to have
to change it because college athletics continues to adjust and change,
so we've got to be able to pivot. But we've
got to build a plan going forward over the next
three five years.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
How do we get to a place where things are
quite as chaotic? And I say that as somebody who
loves chaos.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah, I believe I've come to the conclusion. I think
there's really one or two paths, one being something through Congress.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
You know, we we have what we call.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
The Score Act, which I think is going to come
before the House here in a couple of weeks, gets
through the House, and obviously.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
You know it has to go through the Senate.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
How a bill becomes a law the hole, yeah, the cartoon, right,
So we've got to I've had I've had to go
back and refresh myself on that class.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Yeah, but we've got to get we've got to try
to get some sort of protection what they call it
anti trust protection, meaning that the NCAA isn't gonna get
sued every time it tries to put a rule on
the place, which which is the environment that we've lived
in over the last couple of years post the Austin case.
So we we've really had to work hard to get
that through. We'll see if that gets through that. I
(05:47):
think to your point, that's the one thing that brings
some calmness to the situation. And I think another one,
alternatively or in conjunction with it, would be some sort
of you know, working with the student athlete on a
collective bargaining agreement, almost like they have in the in
Major League Baseball.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Or the NBA.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Is that realistic?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
I think it is.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
You know, we've had a lot of experts talking about that.
It's complicated, but I think there is some potential that
that could happen down the line. But first and foremost,
we got to get the protection from congressional protection so
that we don't get sued every time we try to
have a rule in place.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Student athletes have things in front of them that are
unique to this age. Right, student athletes didn't have some
of the same temptations. Sports wagering is one of them. Right,
I can do it. I'm allowed to do it, as
student athlete cannot. I'm not asking this in reference to
any individuals specifically, but if you're a student athlete, you're
not allowed to wager on certain things. You're not allowed
(06:45):
to wager on professional sports. That there's a championship event
in college sports. And I'm putting that very inarticulately. You're
not allowed to bet on games involving your school, not
allowed to make wagers on games that you be involved in.
Walk me through what's done to educate student athletes as
to what they are specifically not allowed to do.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
We do a lot, and we've we've got a whole
education program that that you know, Obviously, gambling is at
the very top of the list, and it has been
for a long time. As these state laws have opened
up sports gambling. You know, we we bring in speakers,
Our student athletes know the rules, they can recite the rule.
I had one recite it to me the other day.
(07:27):
They said, you can't gamble on college sports. You can't
gamble on a pro sport with a corresponding college championship.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
That's the that's the way, the way.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Yeah, And you know, so they know the rules, we
teach those rules. They understand if they have any questions
at all, they need to talk to compliance.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
But but we also as a society of really in
my mind, made some strategic cares here. I mean, we've
we just opened up sports gambling so quickly, and I
just remember as I drove outside of Knippert Stadium and
outside of Clifton. I remember seeing a billboard for a
long time. That was one of the sports gambling sites
that had a billboard facing the university and it was
(08:04):
directed at students, college students, not just student athletes, but
college students. They say seventy percent, seventy five percent of
males in college are on the apps, they have a
casino in their pocket. It is a lot and just
the society. We've got to figure out how this all operates,
because it's going to be a continuous problem, not just
in college athletics, but just just in general.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
I'm glad. I'm glad I'm not a college student now
for that reason. I mean, i'm glad. I'm not forget
student athlete. That was never gonna happen, but I'm glad
I'm not a college student now for that specific reason.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
It's just made it too easy.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
It's so easy, and we know we have a lot
of issues social media and things, but when you put
a casino in every college student pocket, it's, you know,
it's we've got to really work on that.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
What have you come to know about the football team?
The specific football team for twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Well, you know, I really like our defensive coordinator, coach Woody.
I love what he's bringing to the table and his
energy level, and you know, kind of watching him early on,
you know, forty four new players, so I had a chance,
like everybody else to pay attention to spring ball and
see how they performed. You know, I think it was
(09:15):
a great mix of some days offense dominated, in some
days defense dominated, and that's exactly what you want to see.
But I think our defensive backfield has had been improved incredibly.
I love our receivers that we brought in, and I
think J. C. French really showed what he's capable of
in the spring, which is throws a great ball, throws
a great deep ball, can really move the ball, and
(09:39):
controls the game really well, can make calls at the
line of scrimmage. And then of course we have one
of the best offensive lines in the twelve and maybe
best offensive lines in the country, and that, as we
all know, is so important to winning. So all those
things kind of fitting together, and the specialties improvements that
we made last year and having that having that same
coach come back, and so just a lot of things
working in our face. We know Big twelve is a
(10:01):
tough league. We're gonna have to be ready to go
come September.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
No question can thank you enough. As always always great
to be with you. John Cunningham, the director of Athletics.
Here at U See it's five to one, three day
from the University of Cincinnati, broadcasting from the Defensive Meeting
Room inside the football practice facility. We are here till
six o'clock. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports station.
Mo Egger News
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