▁a ▁football ▁program . ▁ ▁Luke ▁F ick ell ▁is ▁the ▁current ▁head ▁coach ; ▁he ▁replaced ▁Tommy ▁T uber ville ▁following ▁the ▁latter ' s ▁res ignation ▁at ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁ 2 0 1 6 ▁season . ▁ ▁The ▁program ' s ▁current ▁nick name , ▁" B ear c ats ", ▁was ▁first ▁used ▁in ▁ 1 9 1 4 ▁and ▁was ▁formally ▁adopted ▁in ▁ 1 9 1 9 . ▁Prior ▁to ▁then , ▁common ▁terms ▁like ▁" V ars ity " ▁or ▁" Red ▁and ▁Black " ▁( the ▁team ' s ▁colors ) ▁had ▁been ▁used ▁to ▁refer ▁to ▁the ▁football ▁team . ▁The ▁Bear c ats ▁have ▁played ▁in ▁more ▁than ▁ 1 2 0 0 ▁games ▁during ▁the ▁program ' s ▁ 1 2 9 ▁seasons ▁( through ▁the ▁ 2 0 1 7 ▁regular ▁season ). ▁In ▁that ▁time , ▁nine ▁coach es ▁have ▁led ▁the ▁Bear c ats ▁in ▁a ▁post - season ▁bow l ▁game , ▁eight ▁have ▁won ▁a ▁conference ▁championship , ▁and ▁four ▁have ▁been ▁induct ed ▁into ▁the ▁College ▁Football ▁Hall ▁of ▁Fame . ▁ ▁Rick ▁M inter ▁currently ▁holds ▁several ▁records ▁among ▁C inc inn ati ▁coach es , ▁including ▁most ▁games ▁co ached ▁( 1 1 7 ), ▁seasons ▁co ached ▁( 1 0 ), ▁games ▁won ▁( 5 3 ), ▁games ▁lost ▁( 6 3 ), ▁conference ▁wins ▁( 2 3 ), ▁and ▁conference ▁losses ▁( 3 0 ). ▁M inter ▁also ▁holds , ▁along