John Cunningham

[Lobot]

GoBearcats just announced a contract extension for John through 2028.

Based on that it would appear that the university brass is happy with the job he's doing despite some fan base detractors.

Article is ($)

https://theathletic.com/4785862/2023/08/18/cincinnati-ad-john-cunningham-contract/?source=emp_shared_article

[Lobot]

Coffee with Cunningham speaker on 9/21 will be Barry Tramel, the longtime OU beat reporter.

[GoBearcats31]

Saw some tweets about a zoom call last night with JC - I imagine a UCATS thing but maybe not.

Anyone attend and/or have insight?

[Lobot]

I was not on the call but it looks like there was a lot of discussion on how best to allocate donations now that NIL is important. That's a sticking point for a lot of donors right now. UCATS is a 501c3 organization for tax purposes. Cincy Reigns had applied for that designation but the IRS is turning down certification for NIL collectives so I'm not sure that will ever happen.

Donation suggestions were made in the amount of 3K, 6K, 12K tiers. I'm not sure which side of the fence that would be directed to but it sounds like Cincy Reigns.

[Lobot]

Also seeing that it looks like a football specific booster club might be coming down the pike.

[bearcatbret]

Also seeing that it looks like a football specific booster club might be coming down the pike.

Speaking of football specific boosters, what do the big donors think of the state of UC football in 2023?

[Lobot]

I was not on the call but it looks like there was a lot of discussion on how best to allocate donations now that NIL is important. That's a sticking point for a lot of donors right now. UCATS is a 501c3 organization for tax purposes. Cincy Reigns had applied for that designation but the IRS is turning down certification for NIL collectives so I'm not sure that will ever happen.

Donation suggestions were made in the amount of 3K, 6K, 12K tiers. I'm not sure which side of the fence that would be directed to but it sounds like Cincy Reigns.

An aside to all this, Brad Okel just left UCATS for a fundraising position at Miami U. It's a promotion so can't say that I blame him but the timing was definitely interesting.

[red_n_black_attack]

UCATS is a 501c3 organization for tax purposes. Cincy Reigns had applied for that designation but the IRS is turning down certification for NIL collectives so I'm not sure that will ever happen.

Donation suggestions were made in the amount of 3K, 6K, 12K tiers. I'm not sure which side of the fence that would be directed to but it sounds like Cincy Reigns.

not even sorry here; I cannot give to Cincy Reigns if it is a for profit organization that funnels money to players. This is simply pay-4-play and will come back to bite us. I'm a firm believer that players should be able to market their NIL opportunities; however, few NFL and NBA players make NIL cash similar to what's happening in college. All you need to know is Caleb Williams is already talking about coming back to college in '24 because he can make more money than he couod as an NFL rookie

[Lobot]

I should find out more on this issue next week. They have scheduled a second Zoom call for Wednesday.

[Lobot]

It's actually been 5 Zoom calls overall for John. I was on one last night and I'll try and give a synopsis of mine in the morning.

[Lobot]

The first thing I want to point out is that they expect to have Cincy Reigns 501c3 status cleared up in about 3 weeks. I think they're expecting good news here which surprised me a bit.

There will be a football specific booster club inside of Cincy Reigns called the Playmakers Club. It's similar to the old 1200 Club that was around in the Butch Jones era. Giving levels are 3K, 6K, 12K per year like we heard previously. There will also be a basketball specific one called Flight Club. The entry point for that one is 6 figures.

As far as where to put your donations, They need the money in Cincy Reigns. They use that money specifically for NIL with the players. NIL money is how you have to attack the portal right now to get quality transfers. More importantly that money is used to make sure we can keep the guys we have from going into the portal and leaving UC.

If you have money pledged to UCATS for future donations you will eventually have the option to flip that money over to the Cincy Reigns side if you wish to do so. They are not allowed to share money between UCATS and Cincy Reigns. The two organizations have different memberships. Not everyone donating to Cincy Reigns is a UCATS member and vice versa.

Looking forward, John Cunningham thinks this system will be in place for 2 or 3 more years and that down the road, a major overhaul of some sort will probably happen with structure of the NCAA, football, NIL, etc.

[Lobot]

Scott Springer got John to sit for an interview. I thought the mention of Twitter and mental health was kind of telling.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/university-of-cincinnati/2023/11/07/uc-bearcat-ad-john-cunningham-discusses-demandsexpectations-of-big-12/71429160007/

[Lobot]

John C. has hired John Matsko away from the Arkansas Razorback Foundation to lead UCATS.



Dear UCATS Members,




I want to inform you that in the next hour we will formally announce John Matsko as our new Senior Associate Athletics Director/Associate Vice President of Development for Athletics.

[bearcatbret]

For season ticket holders:
We are excited to invite you to our upcoming “Coffee with Cunningham” zoom call on Monday, March 11, at 7:30 a.m. The call will feature national writer for The Athletic, Justin Williams. Justin will discuss with Director of Athletics John Cunningham Big 12 basketball, football and all things Cincinnati. Justin has covered Cincinnati Athletics for several years and is now a national voice in college football and college basketball.

Coffee With Cunningham
Special Guest: Justin Williams, National Sportswriter, The Athletic

Monday, March 11, 2024
Time: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. ET

Registration will close on Sunday, March 10 at 5 p.m.

Questions in Advance?: https://cpaw.me/CoffeeQs

[GoBearcats31]

Nebraska's AD (a Nebraska alum) is expected to head to Texas A&M

Here is an excerpt from John Cunningham's UC bio: "A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, he developed his love for college athletics by following his hometown Cornhuskers as a kid." https://gobearcats.com/staff-directo...unningham/1515