Zac Taylor is at the epicenter of the recent football successes in the city of Cincinnati whether he fully accepts it or not.
The Cincinnati Bengals head coach not only has the city's NFL team sitting at 3-1 and in first place of the AFC North, Taylor also is the man responsible – at least in some respects – for the genesis of the University of Cincinnati football program's successful run over the past three-plus seasons.
UC Football:Luke Fickell, Desmond Ridder leading Cincinnati Bearcats' football program to new heights
UC head coach Luke Fickell is no doubt the person who deserves the credit for the Bearcats' 35-6 record since 2018 and their current No. 5/6 ranking in the polls (Associated Press/Coaches). But the player who is the common denominator in this record stretch for the UC program is fifth-year senior quarterback Desmond Ridder.
Ridder is at Cincinnati because of Taylor.
Ridder enters Friday's game against Temple with a 34-5 record as a starter. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound 2020 American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year is the winningest active quarterback in college football.
Ridder is the No. 2 passer in UC history with 7,950 career yards and 66 touchdowns. Ridder trails only UC passing game coordinator, quarterbacks coach and UC Athletics Hall of Famer Gino Guidugli's 11,453 yards and 78 passing scores.
Through the first four games of the 2021 season, Ridder has passed for 1,045 yards and nine touchdowns against only two interceptions. He also has run for three more scores, bringing his career total to 25 rushing touchdowns, the most by a quarterback in program history.
Ridder's play has propelled him into the conversation for every major college football award, including the sport's ultimate individual honor, the Heisman Trophy. That's something Ridder admitted Tuesday he couldn't imagine happening more than five years ago when the only scholarship offer he had was from Eastern Kentucky University.
"To be here, it's really honestly just a blessing," Ridder said. "The position we've put this team, this program and university in, it's just a blessing. I think it's really just a testament to all of our hard work."
In 2016, Ridder was a little-known junior at Louisville's St. Xavier High School who caught the eye of the UC coaching staff. That staff included Taylor.
"The biggest thing that stood out with Desmond was just his leadership," Taylor said Monday. "You saw a big guy who was athletic and strong and he had tremendous leadership."
Taylor, who is in his third season as Bengals head coach, served as Bearcats offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2016 under then-head coach Tommy Tuberville.
Taylor gives then-UC wide receivers coach Blake Rolan credit for being the first Bearcats assistant who spotted Ridder. Rolan went down to Louisville to see Ridder. Two weeks later, he took a second trip. This time, Rolan brought Taylor with him.
"My offensive coordinator, he brings me up in the middle of lunch and says, 'Hey, Coach Rolan and Coach Taylor want to come back down and watch you throw again," Ridder said. "So, I remember getting the guys together to come throw on that morning. I told them to be there at 7:30.
"We had a quick workout. We had never met before, me and Coach Taylor, but I kind of just clicked with him off the bat. I liked who he was, just who I saw in that quick 30 minutes. We connected and chatted a little bit. ... He liked everything that he saw from me and believed in me."
Ridder's workout wowed Taylor.
Taylor said he wasn't just blown away by Ridder's physical traits, but more by Ridder's ability to lead.
"I went to all those quarterback workouts. I went to probably 20 of them, and most of them had a private quarterback coach or a coach running the workout," Taylor said. "That wasn't really what I wanted to see. (Ridder) might have been the last one we went to, and he ran the workout. He had seven or eight guys show up, he ran it, he told them what routes to run, and I remember asking the coach, 'What am I missing here?' The coach said, 'You're not missing anything. Somebody needs to offer this kid.'
Somebody did. Eastern Kentucky offered, and so did Taylor and the University of Cincinnati.
Ridder committed to the Bearcats in May 2016, a few months before the start of his senior season at Louisville St. Xavier.
Seven months later, after Cincinnati finished 4-8 (1-7 in the AAC), Tuberville (and Taylor) was out and Fickell was in as UC head coach.
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One of Fickell's first decisions at the helm of the Bearcats program was to honor Taylor's scholarship offer to Ridder.
"We didn't sign (Ridder)," Taylor said. "He committed to us, and then Luke came in with his guys and they re-recruited him and decided that they wanted him. And so, they signed him. They've developed him. All the credit goes to that staff and Desmond for his work ethic. But it's just been really fun to watch, just knowing him for what little bit I knew him and just watching that whole program take off."
Fickell, Guidugli and now-UC offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock developed Ridder from the scout-team quarterback in 2017 into the 2018 AAC Rookie of the Year as a redshirt freshman and now the standout performer and leader of a top-five team.
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Though Ridder has blossomed into an undeniable star and is on national television seemingly every other day, he insists he's still that same guy who had to win the starting job from incumbent starter Hayden Moore at the beginning of the 2018 season.
"Life for me hasn't changed that much," he said. "Maybe other than when I walk to my car and hear a few more people pass me and say, 'Is that Desmond Ridder?' But for me, life hasn't changed that much. I'm still working every day to be the best I can be, to be the best teammate, the best leader I can be."
