The University of Cincinnati introduces John Cunningham as next AD

The University of Cincinnati officially has its new athletic director. 

John Cunningham, previously deputy athletics director for administration at the University of Minnesota, was introduced Wednesday during a press conference at Fifth Third Arena, filling the vacancy left from Mike Bohn's departure for Southern Cal in early November.

"He is the right leader at the right time to lead our Bearcats into the future," said UC President Neville Pinto. 

Cunningham joined Minnesota department of athletics, where his responsibilities included overseeing day-to-day administrative operations, in 2016. He previously served as deputy athletics director at Syracuse and in a variety of roles at Boise State, Texas Christian University and Maryland. He graduated from TCU in 2001 and returned to his hometown of Lincoln and earned a law degree from the University of Nebraska in 2005. 

“As I went to law school and realized at some point that I didn’t want to practice law, I wanted to take that passion that I built from a young age and find a way to use my law degree in college athletics, that had a big impact on me," Cunningham said. 

At Cincinnati, Cunningham will lead an athletics program that includes 19 varsity sports and over 500 student-athletes. He’ll supervise a staff of approximately 166 and manage an annual budget of $64 million. 

“Right away, from an outsider’s view, you just see all the success," Cunningham said. "Fifteen bowl games since 2000 and 14 NCAA Basketball Tournaments. That’s the revenue sports. We’ve also done amazing things with the Olympic Sports as well – Sweet 16 in women’s volleyball this year. From the outside, that’s obviously what attracts you.

“As I started the process, and I got to know President Pinto, that’s really what sold me. I saw his vision, and I could very quickly see how people were rallying around his vision.”

Cunningham inherits recently hired coaches for the most high-profile sports programs on campus: Luke Fickell (football), John Brannen (men's basketball) and Michelle Clark-Heard (women's basketball). 

According to documents obtained by The Enquirer via an open records request, representatives of search and consulting firm Collegiate Sports Associates (CSA) met with Fickell, Brannen and Clark-Heard, among other coaches and UC officials, on campus in mid November to, "discern what type of leadership values and attributes," key stakeholders wanted in the hire.  

"I didn't have a ton of input, other than we want someone who is really energetic, enthusiastic and is dying to grow as an individual and as a program," said Fickell earlier this week. "Not somebody who says, 'hey, these coaches have a pretty good thing going, let's keep riding this thing out.' No, it's who is going to come in here and, just like a coach, who is going to motivate and push and allow us to take this entire program to the next level." 

According to the documents, UC agreed to pay CSA $70,000, plus expenses for all approved travel, materials, background checks, etc., in assisting with the hire. Per CSA's proposal sent in early November, the firm pledged a hiring target date of Dec. 18. 

Indeed, Cunningham was announced on that date, the same day Brannen's Bearcats took on No. 21 Tennessee at Fifth Third Arena and Fickell's program began accepting signed letters-of-intent from class of 2020 recruits. 

During his opening statements at his introductory press conference, Cunningham revealed three core principles that guide his work:

• Lead an athletics department that connects with the community. "Every fourth grader in Cincinnati should have a Bearcats t-shirt," Cunningham said. "We need more Bearcat t-shirts and fewer Buckeye t-shirts."  
• Use athletics to enhance and propel the university. "Many say that athletics is the front porch of a university, and we will do our part to open the world to the University of Cincinnati," he said. 
• Strive to change the lives of student-athletes as they prepare to change the world. "I've heard it once said by an athletic director that student-athletes do not disrupt our business," he said. "They are our business. I will work hard to make sure our athletics department are at the core of everything that we do.

"Cincinnati athletics will win and will win the right way with an emphasis on the development and education of the student-athlete," Cunningham said.