UC football is turning to page to a new offseason as team leaders like Dontay Corleone, Mason Fletcher, Luke Kandra, and more return to the program.
That group among others met with the media on Tuesday and gave a vote of confidence for the staff while making it clear that incoming transfers will have to meet the right team mentality to get a slot on the 2024 roster.
"Guys like this that do things right, that will have a strong voice in the locker room. We need that," head coach Scott Satterfield said on Tuesday. "I think about some of the other guys that will be coming up here (to the podium) the same way. So, we're excited about the future of it, the program, we're looking forward to December 20, where we have over 20 high school players that will be signing with us. Excited about those guys.
"And as you guys know, we're right in the beginning of portal season. And so we're looking to add some players in that regard and certainly, these guys will be involved in that process because man this is their team, and they want to bring in quality individuals. And I think more than anything it's quality of people, individuals (that matters most), and that's what we're looking to do."
Cincinnati has roughly 20 players entering the transfer portal on their side this offseason, with only a handful of those acting as key statistical contributors in 2023.
It's a sign that the majority of this roster is ready to build on a season where they ultimately beat themselves in too many games.
Now, it's about finding the right transfer portal talent to meld things together.
"There are three things: taking coaching, wanting to buy in, and holding each other accountable," Corleone said about the ideal traits of a portal player. "And like those are the big three things you got to have if you want to be under Coach Satt, those are the big three main objectives so, we're gonna find people that want to buy in, and if not, we don't want you so we're just gonna keep, just being honest, but we're just gonna keep trying to find the best players that want to buy in."
The Godfather made it clear the decision to come back was easy, now the hard work starts ramping up to improve on a 3-9 2023 season.
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