What to expect from Cincinnati’s offense with Gino Guidugli as its offensive coordinator

CINCINNATI — In many ways, Gino Guidugli’s promotion to Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator position was more of a destination than a new beginning.

“Was it hard for me to wait my turn? No,” Guidugli said last week. “I thought we had a great offensive staff, we worked really well together, we won a lot of games. At the end of the day, that’s why you get into it, to help the kids and to win. We were doing all those things. I felt like I had input, and like (head coach Luke) Fickell said, when I took the job here, there was a plan from day one, and I trusted him that he was going to follow through with that. And when the opportunity came, he did.”

Fickell described elevating Guidugli to OC as “the plan and process for a long time,” with Guidugli’s role in the offense consistently evolving during his five seasons as a position coach for the Bearcats. He added the title of passing game coordinator ahead of the 2020 season and (quietly) took over play-calling duties last year.

Officially taking over as the coordinator won’t spark a significant transitional period or overhaul of Cincinnati’s offense, but Guidugli will have more comprehensive control of the philosophy and game plan. And combined with the talent drain at the skill positions off of last year’s roster, there will be some necessary adjustments and personnel changes.

Guidugli offered some insight into what those might look like when he spoke with the media last week, including the all-important (and suddenly more fascinating) outlook at quarterback.

QB competition

This will be the headliner all offseason, and it elicited plenty of discussion from Guidugli.

“It’s going to be a great competition,” Guidugli said. “You have Ben Bryant coming back, you have Evan Prater, the hometown kid here. I can’t wait to see those two compete here in the spring and the fall.”

Desmond Ridder’s expected departure was going to have a major impact on the quarterback position regardless, but the assumption entering last season was that Prater, the former four-star recruit, would be the heir apparent entering his third season in 2022, perhaps with a veteran quarterback added via the portal. Instead, that veteran addition turned out to be Bryant, who transferred back to UC after a season at Eastern Michigan, and the position battle instantly became far more intriguing.

Bryant had a lot of admirers within the program during his initial three seasons with the Bearcats, including Guidugli, who helped recruit Bryant in the 2018 class and served as his position coach. But from a playing-time perspective, Bryant had the misfortune of being a year behind Ridder.

“(Ben) came into a situation where he was a year behind the guy who won the third-most games in college football history as a quarterback. I can’t think of a worse situation for a guy to be stuck in,” Guidugli said. “Ben was talented. Our offensive coaches felt great about him, confident in him to execute the offense. I think the guys in the huddle felt the same way.”

Bryant competed for the starting job ahead of the 2019 and 2020 seasons, losing out to Ridder both times. Once Ridder led the Bearcats to a 9-0 regular-season record, a Peach Bowl berth, won AAC Offensive Player of the Year and elected to return for his senior season in 2021, it made sense for Bryant to move on.

“I think finally after we went to the Peach Bowl, it was like, ‘All right Ben, this isn’t going to work out,’” Guidugli said. “But throughout the whole process, there was an open dialogue of communication. This was before the portal was a thing and you could transfer wherever you wanted (and play immediately). Our plan was for him to graduate so he could go play somewhere (right away). So Des comes back, and we help Ben transfer to Eastern Michigan, which he chose over a lot of other schools that were interested in him.”

At the time, it felt like that was that for Bryant’s time in Cincinnati. He led Eastern Michigan to a 7-6 record and bid to the Lending Tree Bowl in 2021, throwing for 3,121 yards (with a 68.4 completion percentage), 14 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions. But he re-entered the transfer portal after the season and wound up right back where he started.

“Obviously he went there and had a great season last year, but Ben’s heart was always in Cincinnati,” Guidugli said. “This is where his teammates were, the class he came in with, his girlfriend is here, his dad grew up in Deerfield Township. He didn’t want to leave Cincinnati. It was just a situation he got stuck in and he wanted to play football. Which, I don’t think you can blame the kid.”

Nor should one blame him for wanting to come back, although it does make for a more compelling offseason storyline. Fickell and the Bearcats always want to foster competition at each spot on the depth chart. But instead of Prater — the former Ohio Mr. Football and Cincinnati’s highest-rated recruit of the 247Sports era — battling a fresh-faced veteran transfer, he’s now going up against a veteran transfer who had three years in UC’s offense, understands the system and culture, is familiar with many of his teammates and coaches and has a year as a starter under his belt. Despite being his second transfer, Bryant is immediately eligible due to academic guidelines for graduate transfers and technically has as many as two seasons of eligibility remaining, should he choose to use the extra pandemic year.

None of that changes the fact that either Bryant or Prater still will have to earn the job. As Guidugli also pointed out, the team made Ridder compete every offseason save for last year, even after he won double-digit games as a redshirt freshman and a sophomore. It would be wrong to suggest or assume anyone’s mind is already made up. But considering Bryant’s history with the program and newfound experience, it would be surprising if he came back to Cincinnati only to be a backup yet again.

And if Bryant does win the job, the next and obvious question will be about Prater’s role and future in the program. Either way, there’s quite a bit at stake.

“Those two know each other. Our quarterback room is a great room. Those guys all respect how each other work and are going to compete, and then when it’s all said and done in the fall, understand, ‘OK, this guy beat me out, so I have to be ready to be the best at my role, whatever that is, whichever way the cards fall,’” Guidugli said. “Those guys know. I feel like at quarterback, you know — this guy won the job, right? ‘I competed my butt off, he competed his butt off, he got the nod, I have to be ready to go because I know at any given time, those other 10 guys could be looking at me in the huddle, and I’m the one who will be leading this team.’”

Stylistic changes

Any offensive adjustments likely will be subtle, progressive during the season and largely dependent on personnel changes.

“You’ll see some similarities. I’d like to play with a little bit more pace. We’ve gotta find some ways in the run game to continue to get the ball on the perimeter. Our screen game, we need to call it more, but in order to feel confident about it we have to rep it more and get better at executing it,” Guidugli said. “Those are the things more so than wholesale changes. We’re not gonna all of a sudden become Josh Heupel and run wide splits and go tempo. I think we’re built for what we do. We’re going to rely on our offensive line, particularly next year with all those guys back and running the football.”

Returning tight ends

The position that could see some potential tweaks without a change to the depth chart is at tight end. Cincinnati has the fortune of getting both Josh Whyle and Leonard Taylor back in 2022 — Whyle electing to return for his senior season instead of declaring for the NFL Draft and Taylor using his added year of eligibility.

Both of those decisions turned what could have been a massive question mark into a position of strength for the Bearcats and one Guidugli intends to capitalize on.

“Whyle and Lenny have to be a huge part of the offense, and I think we have to do a better job of personnel and some things with playing to those guys and their strengths, not asking them things that are outside of that,” Guidugli said. “I think our 12 personnel package last year gave people some fits, and those guys’ ability to run and catch the ball is obviously a matchup issue.”

When both are in the game in that 12 personnel, expect Whyle to continue to split out wide in more of a hybrid receiver role and Taylor to play more in-line. The departure of wide receiver Alec Pierce could also give Whyle more opportunities on the outside, particularly in the red zone.

Wide receiver addition

The loss of Pierce to the NFL also takes away the Bearcats’ most productive receiving target and over-the-top threat, someone who reliably could win those 50-50 balls. But the addition of Hawaii transfer Nick Mardner should help to fill at least a portion of that void. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound wideout hauled in 46 catches for 913 yards and five touchdowns at Hawaii in 2021 and has a frame and skills Guidugli believes will translate well for the Bearcats under receivers coach Mike Brown.

“Nick Mardner was really productive at Hawaii. Obviously, we have a lot of production in Alec Pierce that’s walking out the door, which is why we thought we needed a guy into the boundary that can help us,” Guidugli said. “I can’t wait for coach Brown to get his hands on the kid, because I think coach Brown has a chance to really improve him, and I think he has a chance to really help us on offense.”

Guidugli to stay in the booth

Speaking of Brown, he takes over the role of passing game coordinator from Guidugli, one the new offensive coordinator believes Brown is well suited for considering how closely the two worked together last season.

“Coach Brown is a great coach. I enjoy every day I get to work with him,” Guidugli said. “He and I last year, for the most part, did most of the passing game, so his role will be very similar. He’ll probably have some more scripting duties when it comes to practice and whatnot.”

Guidugli, who has been in the booth on game day the past four seasons as the quarterbacks coach, also plans to stay there as the offensive coordinator.

“To our credit, it’s worked out, me being in the booth the last four seasons,” he said. “Des had a lot to do with that, his maturity and our relationship. But I think it’s a little easier to collect your thoughts, get a plan together from up there.”

The offseason will continue to dictate the nuances of Cincinnati’s offense under Guidugli, and frankly, much of that will be determined by who wins the job at quarterback. There are some similarities between Bryant and Prater in terms of skills and strengths, but Prater is much more athletic and prone to scrambling and running, whereas Bryant is more of a gunslinging pocket passer with the ability to take off when needed. All the more reason the quarterback battle will be such a crucial piece of Guidugli’s offense in 2022.

(Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Bearcats Athletics)