Massillon's Vincent McConnell helps Cincinnati Bearcats realize College Football Playoff dream

Five years ago, Vincent McConnell was sold on an idea.

At the time, in the winter of 2016-17, McConnell was a senior at Massillon. Originally committed to Toledo, new University of Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell came to try and convince the big Tiger lineman to be a part of his first recruiting class.

"At the time he came and he talked about how we're going to grind and make this program a contender," McConnell recalled. "At the time, we didn't really have any conversations about going to the College Football Playoffs or anything like that, but he talked about playing for championships. The last two years, we've won the (American Athletic Conference) and we have a chance to play for another championship. It's really one of the best decisions I ever made in my life."

McConnell bought in on Fickell's vision. He decommitted from Toledo in January 2017 and signed with the Bearcats in February of that year.

Now, a little under five years later, McConnell's been with Fickell step for step on the journey that has brought Cincinnati's football program to a level of prominence it's never before achieved. The Bearcats, 13-0 for the first time in school history, will play against reigning national champion Alabama on New Year's Eve in the Cotton Bowl in a College Football Playoff semifinal.

"As a program, I don't think anybody's really talking about, 'Oh, we're playing Alabama,'" McConnell said. "I think that everybody's really confident. … We have a bunch of guys who thrive off of being underdogs. We're going into this game and we have nothing to lose. We're underdogs. I think that's just kind of when we play our best games."

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McConnell would know, having been there from the start. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound fifth-year senior redshirted during Fickell's 4-8 debut season in 2017, but has played in 43 of Cincinnati's last 50 games, starting in 21 on the offensive line.

The former Tiger's debut came in the historic Rose Bowl, in the 2018 season opener against UCLA. That also, in McConnell's eyes, was the day that a proof of concept was shown with what Fickell was telling his players.

"I think before the game, everybody kind of had a feeling we were going to win," McConnell said. "To go out there and actually do it, we didn't just win, we kind of whooped up on them a little bit. The score wasn't too bad, but we just physically dominated them. I think that just proved to everybody that was a part of it at that point that, yeah, this is the real deal."

The Bearcats beat the Bruins 26-17 that day in Pasadena. That kick-started a 44-6 run that has covered now four seasons, with back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and three seasons of at least 11 wins in that span.

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All of it starting with a promise from a coach who had, during his time as both a player and an assistant at Ohio State, seen what it was like to live in the high-rent district of college football. The last four years, that's a neighborhood that Cincinnati has forced its way into now as well.

To do so, though, it started with a promise to be physical. The only way to back up that promise, though, was to recruit physical players.

Which is why Fickell and his coaches were in Massillon trying to convince McConnell of their vision nearly five years ago.

"He was one of the first guys when we got here as a staff that we identified that we wanted to go after and recruit," Cincinnati offensive line coach Ron Crook said of McConnell. "We thought that as soon as we got here and we all had a chance to sit down and watch video and look at guys and evaluate guys, he was one of the first guys that stood out as a guy that we thought was going to fit the culture that we were trying to build. …He's been exactly what we thought he was from day one. The day he got here, he was a leader from a work ethic standpoint and how he prepared and how important football was to him."

That importance has shown throughout McConnell's career in the Queen City. While right guard has been a spot he's found to his liking, he's also played basically every spot on the offensive line.

Not only that, but he's also played through a variety of different injuries or illnesses which could've derailed others. Never has that been more true than when a bout with mononucleosis sidelined him for five games in a six-game stretch this season, including the Bearcats' signature win at Notre Dame.

"That's been all along for him," Crook said. "He's battled through injuries. He's played all five positions along the offensive line. Having a guy with that kind of experience that can see things coming. … Having guys that understand what a linebacker lining a little bit wider to the field means sometimes, that experience is invaluable. It really allows everyone else to just focus in on what they've got to do because you've got an extra set of eyes out there."

Even when McConnell hasn't been able to be on the field this season — he's started in six of the eight games he's played in this season — he's made sure his presence has been felt. It's not just in words, but in action as well.

To him, that's part of the mantle of responsibility he carries as one of the Bearcats' co-captains.

"That title kind of held me accountable through these times," said McConnell, who graduated this month with his MBA from Cincinnati and will participate in next month's Hula Bowl for NFL scouts. "There would be times where I would kind of forget about that and I would kind of be getting down or having down moments where it's like, 'Man, this really sucks.'

"I would remember that I have guys looking at me to learn from and learn how to be a good teammate and a good leader. I had to step up and put my personal wants and desires aside and really dig into the team concept, not that I hadn't done that before."

That concept, after all, is something McConnell bought into long ago. Back when all he had to buy into was a vision from his head coach of where they could, together, take Cincinnati's football program.

Reach Chris at chris.easterling@indeonline.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingINDE

This article originally appeared on The Independent: Vincent McConnell helps Cincinnati football reach college playoff