Nearly a year ago, Desmond Ridder and his family spent three-and-a-half hours in the office of Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell with a looming decision that held the potential to reshape the Bearcat program and the sport.
After Cincinnati’s Peach Bowl loss to Georgia, Ridder needed to figure out in short order whether he’d return to the Bearcats for a fifth and final season.
Myriad factors hovered over Ridder’s decision. His NFL projections were uneven – anywhere from the third to sixth round. He and longtime girlfriend, Claire Cornett, were expecting their first child around the draft.