Bearcats Beat: Jerrod Calhoun Will Not Be A Bob Huggins Clone – And That’s Good For Bearcats Basketball In The Big 12

CINCINNATI — Bob Huggins was sitting in his front-row seat inside Fifth-Third Arena Wednesday, waiting for the press conference to begin, welcoming Jerrod Calhoun as the 29th head coach in the history of Cincinnati Bearcats men’s basketball.

He then decided to lift himself out of his seat and went over to wrap his arm around the neck of Calhoun, just like he would have with one of his own players back in the 1990s or early 2000s. Calhoun was a student assistant coach under Huggins in the 2003-04 season. Calhoun would go on to earn his bachelor’s degree at UC and then took Huggins’ advice to spread his wings and look for coaching opportunities elsewhere.

That elsewhere turned out to be at Walsh University, close to his Cleveland roots in North Canton. As an assistant coach with Walsh, he won the 2005 NAIA national championship. He moved onto West Virginia, where he was re-united with Huggins in 2007 as a full-fledged assistant. He was on Huggins staff for the Final Four run in 2010. His first head coaching gig came at Division II Fairmont State for five years. He took over Youngstown State for seven seasons in 2017 before moving onto Utah State in 2024.

After 55 wins in 70 games as head coach and two NCAA appearances, Calhoun is coming back home to Cincinnati.

“He has always wanted to coach,” Huggins told me after the 35-minute press conference and welcoming party.

Huggins had a reputation of coaching a relentless style on the court, offense, defense and most dramatically on the glass and in the paint. While Calhoun certainly isn’t imposing physically on the court, his style off of it is.

“He was in my office pretty much every day… He studies film. He’s done a great job all the way around,” said Huggins, who added that Calhoun “works like crazy, loves basketball” and has “earned everything he’s gotten”.

Huggins most appreciates the fact that Calhoun hasn’t taken any shortcuts, coaching at Fairmont State, Youngstown State, and Utah State.

“He knows how to build a program. I’ve enjoyed watching his growth over the years and I’m proud of what he’s accomplished,” Huggins said. “He wants to be one of the good ones and he certainly has made himself one. He may end up being one of the great ones.”

Restoring the “Fear” in Fifth Third Arena:

In his own words, Jerrod Calhoun has laid out a clear vision for the program: a return to the defensive identity and home-court advantage that defined the Huggins era. With that, Calhoun wants to bring back the intimidation factor.

“When you look at Cincinnati basketball, the best teams here, people feared us,” Calhoun said. “People feared coming into Fifth Third Arena. You have to get the fear into your opponents by really getting after them.”

Beyond the Tournament:

While the program hasn’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2019, Calhoun’s goals go further. “We should not be just wanting to get into the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “We should be wanting to advance week by week and get back to a Final Four.” This line is really the crux of what Bearcats donors and alumni are expecting from Calhoun. It’s one thing to be in the NCAA tournament on a regular basis. It’s another to become a serious player and a team that can be expected to be atop a Power-4 conference and go deep in the NCAA tournament year after year. Yes, it may seem like Mt. Everest to climb into the conversations with Duke, Arizona, Michigan, Michigan State, Kansas, UConn and Villanova. But that’s where the loyal Cincinnati fan base believe this proud basketball program belongs. Louisville is going through the same climb with Pat Kelsey and a lot of people close to the program thought AD John Cunningham missed a huge chance in not bringing him back in 2021. Now, those same supporters are hoping they’re getting another chance with Calhoun.

“The University of Cincinnati deserves a winner. People need to fear us in the state of Ohio. If you look at the best teams here, people feared us. People feared coming into Fifth Third Arena. You have to get the fear into your non-league opponents and your league opponents by really getting after it. It’s the best basketball job in the state of Ohio. I think it truly is”.

Commitment to Players:

Calhoun intends to build around the current roster and the advantages of the Big 12, declaring, “The most important guys are the guys in your program… I think we’ll be able to attract some of the best players in the country.”

The approach:

This is where Calhoun’s style will vary from his mentor Bob Huggins. Huggins admittedly wanted to use bruisers up front to intimidate the opposition. Calhoun wants to create an offensive style that is not only pleasing to a fan base that has tolerated much less in the last five seasons, he wants to create what Travis Steele built with his Miami RedHawks in Oxford. That is to say, a team that has five, six or even seven legitimate scoring threats, only with a lot more size to compete in the Big 12.

Calhoun’s offensive style is defined by a high-octane, “attack-first” mentality that prioritizes speed, spacing, and player freedom. Calhoun has consistently built offensive machines that rank among the most efficient in college basketball. His philosophy centers on a simple yet effective mantra: “Find an advantage, create the advantage, keep the advantage.”

Speed and Transition

The hallmark of a Calhoun-led team is its relentless pace. He emphasizes a “hurry-up” offense designed to catch defenses before they can get set. At Utah State, his teams were known for high-speed transition and a goal of scoring in the 80s. That doesn’t mean defense won’t have its place. Calhoun plans to implement a high-pressure style. “One thing we’ll do is we’re going to steal the ball,” Calhoun proclaimed Wednesday. “We want to have that style.”

Calhoun describes his vision for the game as one that is modern and aggressive: “My style is pretty simple. We want to play the right way. We want to stay connected and find advantages on the floor. We want to be on the attack. We want to score in the 80s. We want to have a fun style to play.”

Structure vs. Freedom

While the pace is fast, the offense is not chaotic. Calhoun utilizes a “conceptual” approach that relies on basketball IQ and reading the defense rather than a rigid set of plays. He often compares his system’s structure to the classic triangle offense, noting that the structure actually provides the freedom:
“The thing about the triangle… is that it gives you a structure. And within that structure, you have complete freedom… the sequence that we’re executing, we have counters to it. Counter everything.”

This “accidental basketball”—where players play instinctively within a set framework—makes his teams incredibly difficult to scout.

Key Tactical Elements:

Calhoun’s half-court offense is built on modern principles that stretch the floor and manipulate defenders.
5-Out Spacing: He frequently uses 5-out structures to maximize floor spacing and create driving lanes.
Ball Screen Heavy: The system relies heavily on versatile screeners, using actions like “backcourt twists,” “handoffs,” and “Horns” sets to create mismatches.

Efficiency and Analytics

Despite the high speed, Calhoun places a premium on ball security and shot selection. He instructs his teams to “minimize turnovers by valuing the possession”. His 2024-25 Utah State squad was a masterclass in this efficiency, ranking 11th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.60) and 20th in field goal percentage (.484). He uses analytics as a “tool in the toolbox” to refine these results, though he warns against letting data dictate every move. For Calhoun, the ultimate goal is a style that wins and attracts talent. “No one talks about defense when recruiting a player,” he noted, emphasizing that his offense-first mindset is a primary advantage in the transfer portal.

The “Right Leader” at the “Right Time”

This all came together so fast, suggesting Cunningham had Calhoun in his sights all along, knowing that Calhoun could be a leader who intrinsically understands the high expectations of the Cincinnati fan base. Cunningham described the hire as “finding the right leader at the right time for this historic basketball program”. He noted that Calhoun is “someone who understands what Cincinnati is all about,” specifically citing “the pride, the edge, the expectations, and the responsibility of wearing the city’s name across our chest.”

Bob Huggins left his mark on Cincinnati as a hall of fame coach. Jerrod Calhoun now follows in those footsteps three coaches removed and hopes to simply restore the fear and respect people once had for Bearcats basketball.