Doc: Has Tommy Tuberville advanced UC Bearcat football?

In Perfect College Football World, every coach would be given a five-year contract that neither side could violate. Successful coach couldn't leave before five years. Unhappy school couldn't fire him.

Five years is one complete recruiting cycle, enough for a coach to prove his worth and a university to flex its loyalty. It would slow the Hot Young Coach phenomenon, aided and abetted by fans, alums and boosters. It would ease the pressure on presidents and athletic directors to do something goofy. It might actually reassure players that they'd get to play for the guy that brought them to the school in the first place.

That makes too much sense ever to happen. And college football isn't perfect. In reality, striving places like UC have big-dreaming programs that commit $85 million to renovate a dowager stadium, in an effort to make the football program more attractive to big-boy conferences. They can't afford to be down 51-3 at halftime, to a team they were favored to beat, in a league they were supposed to win.

Tuberville apologizes for UC 'disaster'

Tommy Tuberville does, in fact, have a five-year contract. And his team made some amends Saturday, winning at mediocre East Carolina on a last-second field goal. The win made UC 7-5. The Bearcats, like about half a million other schools with "university'' or "college'' in their names, will play in a bowl game.

That doesn't fix the notion that last week at South Florida was a disaster, and this season, Tuberville's third here, has been a disappointment. How can UC look like two different teams when playing Miami (Oxford) and Miami (Miami)?

How can Tuberville some weeks look as if he were shot from a cannon on the sidelines, and other weeks look as if he were shot by one? How can his junior quarterback, Gunner Kiel, keep making bad decisions? (Saturday excluded; Kiel was even keel against ECU.)

Kiel is arguably the best NFL prospect at the position since Greg Cook. He has four senior wide receivers. The offense has rolled up the yards and points, but has also shot off some of its own toes.

The defense has played hurt. Saturday it played hurt and well. But it's still not good enough, three years in. The program as a whole has the look of an American Athletic Conference lifer. That doesn't excite anyone working in the Lindner Center.

Tuberville has the full support of his bosses. "Resounding'' support, athletic director Mike Bohn declared Friday. And indeed, the coach does have a brand and a style all his own. Tuberville is affable and good with the media. It's easy to see him charming boosters and would-be corporate partners. His teams are exciting, if also maddening. Attendance at Nippert Stadium has never been higher.

Has he advanced UC football?

Tuberville had a tough act to follow. Actually, three tough acts. Mark Dantonio and Brian Kelly each left the program in better shape than he found it. Kelly showed what was possible at UC. Butch Jones maintained the high level of his predecessors. (A tip of the helmet, too, to Rick Minter, who made UC a place where Mark Dantonio would consider coaching.)

And Tuberville?

To believe that UC football could ever be as good as it was in Kelly's last two seasons is more wishful than real. Believing that UC should be a king in the AAC is not.

The Bearcats followed the Xavier basketball model when they hired Dantonio, Kelly and Jones: Bright, young, ambitious coaches who came with the idea of going. Xavier has watched Thad Matta and Sean Miller do the same, and it worked perfectly. Chris Mack is on that track, though his roots might keep him here.

Former UC athletic director Whit Babcock hired Tuberville for his pedigree and the stability he'd provide. Tuberville will be 62 in September. This is his last big-time job. That's good and bad. Coaching college football is a young man's game, for the energy it demands. Unless you have assistants on the fast track, you need to put in monstrous time, all the time.

At the moment, Navy is better than UC. Memphis, Temple and Houston are better. The Bearcats did beat the Miami Hurricanes. They should have lost to the Miami RedHawks. Their passion and focus comes and goes.

If the expectations weren't what they are, this wouldn't be an issue. Are the expectations too big?

Regardless, $85 million is no joke. Nor was 51-3. Tuberville has had three years to reach the Dantonio-Kelly-Jones bar. Very likely, he will get two more, given his contract.

Doc's TML: Something's wrong with UC football

There's a bit of work to be done.