NEWPORT, R.I. — Gunner Kiel arrived on Cincinnati's campus in the winter of 2013 with baggage, tugging along the reputation built during a tumultuous recruitment and a high-profile transfer after a single season at Notre Dame.
"We recruited him (as a transfer), but he had to recruit us too," Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville said. "Most positions you don't worry about as much. Quarterback you do. You want somebody that's all in. You want somebody at quarterback that understands the situation, that when things go bad you're not going to abandon. And that's what he did at Notre Dame, now.