On Monday, Scott Satterfield officially welcomed Tyson Veidt to Cincinnati after naming him the new defensive coordinator last week.
“I am certainly excited to be back in my home state of Ohio, and about the opportunity ahead of me here at the University of Cincinnati,” said Veidt.
“Coach Veidt has played in the Big 12 for the last 8 years, and what they were able to do and accomplish during that period of time on defense has been outstanding,” said Scott Satterfield. “They were one of the best, if not, the best defense in the Big 12 during that span. He was an interval part of that success.”
Veidt comes to Cincinnati after spending the last eight seasons at Iowa State, where his leadership helped mold the Cyclones to one of the best defenses across the Big 12 dating back to 2016. Since 2016, The Cyclones defense has led the Big 12 in scoring Defense (23.2ppg), total defense (354.7), Opponent yards per play (5.3), opponent rushing (133.4) and opponent yards per carry (3.8)
For Veidt, his coaching career began here in Ohio, as the New Philadelphia native stared at division three Muskingum, where he was a two-time letterman, before graduating in 1996. Veidt, then went on to be a graduate assistant at both Indiana and West Virginia University upon graduation before his first head coaching job came knocking on his door.
Veidt spent the next six seasons as head coach for division three Bluffton University, where he led the Beavers from 2008-2013. “I’m a division three guy, and that is what I have been for most of my life.” said Veidt. “As coach Satterfield mentioned, at that level you wear many hats, you are mowing the grass, lining the field, filling up water bottles, that is really where I started as a coach. ” Veidt said. “Bluffton, is certainly a place that is very special to me. In my head, I thought I was going to be at Bluffton for 20 years, but flash forward to today, I defiantly didn’t think I would be sitting here at Cincinnati, as their next defensive coordinator.”
Veidt then spent the next two seasons right up the road at Toledo University where he joined now current Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell’s staff, before following Campbell to Iowa State following the 2015 season.
Veidt has worked with the Cyclones linebacker group for the past eight seasons, where he the Cyclones defense wreaked havoc during his time in Ames, Iowa. From 2017-2019, all three starting linebackers for the Cyclones defense received Big 12 honors, which is something that Veidt prioritized in that 3-3-5 defensive scheme.
A 3-3-5 scheme that gave opponents fits over the years, including the Bearcats this past season, where the Cyclones defense contained the Bearcats to under 200 yards of total offense on the day, which was something you didn’t see too often last season. However, the Cyclones defense lead the Big 12 a season ago in yards per play at 5.1, while the Bearcats defense gave up nearly 6.5 yards per play, which ranked last across the Big 12.
Although, having tremendous success with that specific scheme at Iowa State, Coach Veidt has a past of running other different defensive schemes throughout his coaching career, but was not quick to rule out the potential idea of a 3-3-5 defense here at Cincinnati.
“I’ve been involved with several different defenses along the way,” said Veidt. “That specific defense you mentioned, (3-3-5) is what we’ve done for several years in this conference. So, is that a structure I’m familiar with? Absolutely is. Do we need to find out what our depth looks like at all the positions, the front, the linebackers, and all those things? We do. That would be the most important thing to me, rather than saying, ‘Hey, this is exactly what we’re going to do on defense,’ just because that’s what I’ve done the last several years that that would be unfair to the current roster.”
Spring ball is quickly approaching for the Bearcats as the spring game is slated for April 13th, however, that isn’t much time for Satterfield and Veidt to sit and discuss what that defensive identity will look like following the coaching change. However, it is enough time to sit and build that relationship with the other coaches on staff, as well as the current roster. A roster that has quickly turned over after bringing in 17 new additions via transfer portal, with 10 of those coming on the defensive side of the ball. That is not including the 10 early enrollees from the 2024 recruiting class, so if you include those roster spots, the Bearcats have added 21 new faces on the defensive ball ahead of the 2024 season, with the potential to add more in the next transfer portal cycle.
Veidt expanded a little more on what his expectations are on the defensive side of the ball with spring practices looming ahead, saying the number one priority is for the defense to be fundamentally sound. “That is where any great defense starts, right there with the fundamentals. Veidt said. “In our mind we want to keep things simple so our guys can play as fast and as physical as possible. Naturally we want to be an attacking style defense, with those qualities it is easy to say, we have the right pieces here at Cincinnati.”
