Interview with Jim Kelly Jr. (UC Radio Announcer) Part 1

[JasonS]

Jim Kelly Jr. played wide receiver at Cincinnati in the Mid-70's and has been broadcasting UC football for nearly 20 years. Bearcat Insider caught up with the UC legend to get his thoughts on the transformation of the UC football program, and how he views the 2010 football season in part one of this Q&A.

BCI: What do you think of all the changes that have taken place at UC since you played in the 70s?

JIM KELLY: There’s obviously been a lot of good changes take place since the mid 70’s. We actually had some good teams. We were not in a conference, so one of the biggest things that’s happened was Conference USA, then of course the Big East. That in my opinion is the biggest change in where the football program has gone.

They’ve been largely successful obviously the last couple years, but also over the last 15 years really. The facilities have improved tremendously, the fact of getting into to the Big East, a BCS conference; I think that’s the biggest factor. They’re able to attract the big athletes that they need to compete at that level.

BCI: Did you ever think when you were playing at UC that it would ever get to the level it is now?

KELLY: I think you always think it can. You never know when you’re 20-21 years old what the formula is, you just want to play hard and have good players around you. But I don’t think I ever doubted that it couldn’t get to that level.

When Cincinnati entered the Big East, it’s arguably not the strongest football conference in the BCS, but at that point in time I knew, and that was before Brian Kelly was hired, but you had the feeling that they were going to be in the mix pretty soon. If the Big East exists in three years, can UC win the National Championship? Yeah, they can. You saw how close they came last year to playing for it.

BCI: Do you think with how UC has performed in the BCS bowl games they went to the last two years has hurt at all?

KELLY: No, I don’t think so. Last year with everything that was going on I think a lot of people are chalking that up to there being way too much going on. You were playing a great football team and for the circumstances they were definitely overmatched.

The year before in Miami at the Orange Bowl they just didn’t play their best game, they could have won that game. I don’t think it has a stigma that goes with like they can’t win the big one; they can’t win the bowl game, because they can. I think you just keep fighting on and sooner or later you overcome that. I mean they hadn’t beaten Pittsburgh prior to last year since joining the Big East and I always looked at that (situation) as hey this is a different year.

Could there be a mental block? Yeah, but as you can see they overcame that and were able to knock off Pitt.

BCI: As far as that can’t win the big one stigma goes, how important do you think the Oklahoma game this year is for this program?

KELLY: I think it’s big. When the Oklahoma series was scheduled and UC went to Oklahoma a couple of years ago, I thought they really had a chance to beat that team. As they found out that was a very solid team. Not that this one won’t be, but you’re catching them in a little bit of a transition as well.

You lose Sam Bradford, even though he didn’t play a whole lot, and you lost (Jermaine) Gresham and two or three linemen in the early rounds of the draft. So you lose a lot, but they just kind of reload but the key part is playing them kind of early, they’re not at quite full stride yet. Now that doesn’t mean that you can just walk on to the field and beat them but you do have an opportunity.

BCI: You’ve been broadcasting UC football for a while now, do you think the teams the last two years were the best two UC teams you’ve seen?

KELLY: Yeah, I would say so. I would say I’ve seen better defenses, particularly over the Minter years and Dantonio years there were some really good defenses. And even along the way, I’m trying to think back to some of the teams I was on; we were at one time ranked No. 2 in the country in defense. We had four guys off our defense that played in the NFL so we had a pretty good defense, but we were primarily a running team and didn’t score a whole lot.

But I would say overall, particularly this past year, even though the defense gave up a lot of points and a lot of yards, they found a way to win. And that was probably the most incredible thing about last year’s team. They were fun to watch, they really were.

BCI: What do you think about the season coming up?

KELLY: Well that’s always a tough one because you have a new coach, a whole new staff, a new offense. It’s a similar offense on paper, but the terminology is all different and a new defense. I honestly think from watching the defense, I think that personnel wise a lot of the guys are back so they’re going to be better there. They have a different scheme in moving back to the 4-3 defense and they seem to have a little bit of depth of defense so I think they’ll be better there.

On offense I think they’re going to move the ball and score a lot. It’s a little bit different offense and I don’t know that they’re going to need to score as much as they did last year. There’s some real depth at wide receiver, a little bit of a lack of depth at offensive line and I think they’re real solid at quarterback, one and two, but beyond that it’s hard to say.

So I think they have some real depth. I just wish you had a real solid 10 guys you could rotate in at offensive line. Through the spring they were kind of playing with that right tackle spot, trying to sure that up, but all in all I think they are positioned to be good.

The schedule is tough. You have some tough road games at Fresno State and at North Carolina State before you get to the conference schedule. Then you have Oklahoma at home as well. Every game is winnable but every game is going to be tough as well.

BCI: How do you see the conference shaking out?

KELLY: I think Connecticut will be in the mix, obviously Cincinnati will be in the mix and Pittsburgh, and everyone is picking them to be strong again. You do have new staffs at South Florida and Louisville so those are a bit of unknowns, just like you don’t know with Cincinnati so it’s hard to pick. And of course West Virginia will be right up there.

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[JasonS]

Part II

In the second installment of our Q&A with Jim Kelly, we get his thoughts on Butch Jones, conference realignment and Nippert Stadium expansion.

BCI: What are your early impressions of Butch Jones?
Kelly: I like him a lot. He’s very, very down to earth. He’s not as much of a sizzle guy as Brian Kelly was. Brian Kelly first of all is a very gifted speaker, he has a political background, and is very good at it. Now Butch is not a bad speaker, but he doesn’t have the years of being a head coach that Brian Kelly does. The comparisons (between Jones and Kelly) will be there because they’ve coached at the same schools and have similar offenses, so there’s a lot of similarities there.

But what I’ve found about Butch Jones is that he’s very down to earth and very sincere. All of the messages he carries to the team about family and getting along as teammates, he really lives that. He’s direct, he doesn’t beat around the bush.

In the little bit that I’ve worked with him in the spring, I’ve gotten to meet with a couple of times , he’s very honest with me. Not that other coaches aren’t, it’s just that in the coaching industry when the media is involved sometimes you are purposely kept out in the cold. I like him a lot and I think he will be very successful at UC.

BCI: What do you make of all the potential conference realignment talk?

Kelly: I guess I had just hoped it all would go away. Maybe there is a traditional part of me, like I had said earlier, that getting into the Big East was a big part of what helped turn this program around. Obviously there was a lot of hard work and sweat by people(to turn the program around). I think you have to make sure that you are in one of those BCS conferences, if it comes down to there being four 16-team conferences, or however it lines up after it’s all over.

I would be fine with (UC going to) the ACC. If the ACC were to lose some teams to the SEC, I think if you put some Big East teams in there with North Carolina, the North Carolina State and Virginia, Virginia Tech and Maryland I think you have a real nice conference. And I think it would be just like the Big East in that you have a chance every year to compete for the championship. Now that is assuming that Miami leaves and Florida State leaves for the SEC.

BCI: Do you think the potential formation of “super conferences” is good or bad for college football?

Kelly: I don’t think it’s good, I don’t. If you look at the Big 12, the ACC, the SEC currently have championship games anyway for football. If you do get super conferences it would be great football, but I don’t know college football needs it or not. Part of it is exciting, part of it is that I don’t like the fact that it’s taking away from a lot of the traditional college football setups.

BCI: Should you go to four super conferences, or whatever it winds up at, does that almost necessitate going to a college football playoff?

Kelly: I think you could do it. If you look at the playoff systems that have been put out there. It’s always been a matter of how do you set it up. One vs. eight, two vs. seven and how many teams you let in. In this particular case you would have four conferences and four conference winners. You could have one vs. four and two vs. three with the winners playing the next week, that way you keep it short.

I know that’s been one of the problems with football vs. NCAA basketball where they can play on Thursday and again on Saturday while with football you can’t do that. But then you could have that team from say a Mountain West where they have that great year and go undefeated and then they have their argument for getting into the playoff.

I do think someday there will be a true playoff championship (in football). Whether that includes two teams, four teams, eight teams I’m not sure.

BCI: Are you in favor of a playoff?

Kelly: I am.

BCI: What are your thoughts on the BCS?

Kelly: Everyone knows it’s flawed, but I do think they do the best job they can with the way that it’s set up, but I would like to see a playoff.

BCI: There’s been a lot of talk about expanding Nippert Stadium, clearly it needs to happen, but what is your take on it?

Kelly: The big issue is obviously money, and making the right decision. Don’t just add seats for the sake of adding seats. There has been a couple of things written about it and it’s all about revenue streams.

I know they took the entire athletic department out to Oregon State last year to take a look at what they had done with their addition and the club seating as well as the premium seating and corporate boxes and that is where the money is.

So it’s not just about adding seats, it’s about adding seats that will make you money. I think it’s great that they play a game every now and again at Paul Brown Stadium, but I think that takes away from the mystique (of playing on campus). That is, in my opinion, and I’m a little bit bias, but Nippert is the greatest stadium in the world. The sightlines are perfect, you can sit almost anywhere and not miss a play.

It’s a shame that it’s not at 42,000 (capacity) right now but a few years ago they were drawing 12,000 fans it looked empty. It wasnt that long ago when there were a lot of empty seats but it’s really cool to see it full. I know that brings a lot of issues with it like trying to get people in and out of the stadium and trying to get to the restrooms and those are all things they have to work on. But architects are amazing, they can do a lot of things in little spaces.

What I suspect will happen is that the whole west side where the press box is now, there will be a deck of some sort there. Whether it ties into Tangeman (University Center)or not, it would include club seats, press box and the private suites. But regardless of where you build there will be cost involved. The other factor is they need to keep winning. Not to say people will turn and run the other way if you have an 8-4 season, but it took a while to get them (fans) here and you want to keep them.

BCI: On to a lighter subject, you’ve been around the program a long time, who do you think is the best player you’ve ever seen at UC?

Kelly: Wow, that is hard to say. I don’t know that I could pick one. I look at a Gino Guidugli who played for four offensive coordinators in four years and he had a great career, but what would he have been had he been in say Brian Kelly’s system. Tinker Keck was outstanding, as was Robert Tate.

But I’d have to put Mardy Gilyard up there. If you look at that Pittsburgh game, they don’t win that game if he doesn’t return that kickoff for a touchdown before the half. He may not be the best pro, might not be the biggest guy but he’s a guy who made things happen.

BCI: Aside from Nippert, what is your favorite stadium either from your playing days or from announcing games?

Kelly: One of my goals is to visit all of the Division I stadiums and I’m currently at 89, but I haven’t been in the press box of all of them or seen all of the amenities. I’ll tell you what, if you ask me who has the best overall stadium, and I might make people mad by saying this, but Louisville. Kentucky’s is awfully nice too.

I’ve seen games at Penn State and that is very impressive. I’ve done a couple of games at Army and that is very impressive as well, same with Ohio State. All of those are impressive, but Louisville, it’s a little newer stadium with some ambiance to it and the features to it are really nice.

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