Scott Satterfield returns for his fourth season after a 7-6 campaign (5-4 in the Big 12) that included a Liberty Bowl appearance. Georgia Southern transfer QB J.C. French makes the jump to the Power Four level, and it will be interesting to see if he can fill the shoes of former starter Brendan Sorsby. The Bearcats’ running back room has a new look, as their top options from a year ago are no longer with the program. It will be a tough ask for injury-riddled Zion Johnson to fill the shoes of Tawee Walker. Louisiana transfer Zylan Perry missed time in the spring, so his status is in question. The Bearcats lost their top six receiving options from a year ago and currently have nobody on the roster who has over 20 career catches. The Bearcats will have a tough time replacing the services of Cyrus Allen, who led the Big 12 in catches last year with 51 and 13 touchdown catches. The offensive line returns three starters and will need to do their part to protect their new QB and open up lanes for the running game. New co-offensive coordinators Nic Cardwell and Pete Thomas will be put to the test early and often.

Nate Woody takes over as defensive coordinator and will look to rebuild a defense that lost four of its top five tacklers from a year ago, including top tackler Jake Golday, who is now with the Vikings. Woody will deploy a 3-4 scheme that will focus more on pass rushing than the previous 3-3-5 scheme did. All of the transfers the Bearcats brought in this year are from lower conference schools; it remains to be seen whether they can compete at this level. The Bearcats’ 2-deep in the secondary has zero logged interceptions at the Power Four level.

Stephen Rusnak returns as the placekicker along with punter Max Fletcher.  Kent State transfer Cade Wolford is projected to take over both the punt and kick return duties. The Bearcats have a lot of fresh faces on their roster, alongside two new coordinators. With heavy roster turnover, two new coordinators, and questions in the backfield, climbing in the Big 12 will be a steep challenge in 2026.