Tuberville Resigns, UC Coaching Search Begins

Tommy Tuberville has officially resigned as head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats football program the school announced this afternoon.

The announcement came just hours after reports surfaced from multiple outlets that Tuberville had made the decision to step down after four seasons as head coach.

In his final season, Tuberville oversaw UC's first losing season since 2010 and produced a record of just 4-8, far below the records he pushed the Bearcats to in 2013 (9-4), 2014 (9-4) and 2015 (7-6). He previously coached at Ole Miss, Auburn and Texas Tech before coming to UC. He is 159-99 all-time as a head coach and 29-22 as the leader of the Bearcats.

"After much thought and reflection, I have decided to step down and resign from my position here at the University of Cincinnati," Tuberville said in the school's announcement "I want to thank the board of trustees, the administration, the fans and the University for these last four years. I also want to thank our coaches, staff and anyone associated within our athletic department. Most of all, I will miss these players but know these young men will turn out to be outstanding leaders in the world and for me that is what it's all about. I am not done coaching and I look forward to my next challenge. Go Bearcats!"

In the official announcement Mike Bohn, UC's athletic director, said that Tubervill'e resignation is the first step in the process of endeavoring on a national search for the next head coach. Several names have already been floated around, including Western Michigan's P.J. Fleck, Western Kentucky's Jeff Brohm and Troy's Neal Brown.

Tuberville resigned just four days before Dec. 7, when UC's buyout of his recently signed contract extension would have dropped from $2.4 million to $1.5 million.