Former Cincinnati Bearcats receiver Mardy Gilyard remembers putting UC football on map

There was a time in 2006 when you could wander into Nippert Stadium and see young men throwing and catching footballs and practicing routes. While some would have had cleats and proper gear, you may have noticed one in street clothes and construction boots.

It wasn't any form of combat training. Chances are it was a cornerback-turned-receiver named Marshwan Gilyard. A recruit of former UC coach Mark Dantonio's, Gilyard played as a freshman in 2005, then was banished in 2006 for not going to class and owing the University money.

Teammates, like former quarterback Dustin Grutza and receivers Dominick Goodman and Marcus "Bones" Barnett would eventually gather some cleats and gear for "Mardy". Gilyard was working as many as four jobs at the time, one of them in construction, thus the boots. With the help of former UC assistant coach Tim Hinton, who stayed on from Dantonio to new coach Brian Kelly, Gilyard was welcomed back to the team.

Moved to receiver, Gilyard would become UC's leader in reception yards, all-purpose yards and kickoff return yards under Kelly as the Bearcats would eventually reach New Year's Bowl status with appearances in the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl.

Gilyard returns this weekend to be inducted into the James P. Kelly Athletic Hall of Fame Friday and be introduced Saturday at the Big 12 opener with Houston. As he would during his playing days, he's vowed to make a return to the student section.

Gilyard could be temperamental as he once told coaches, "Do you want Mardy on Tuesday or do you want Mardy on Saturday?" when questioned about missing practice. He reflected that brutal honesty speaking to The Enquirer this week.

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"It kind of takes away from the loyalty of the game and the whole recruiting process," Gilyard said. "If you've got a dream man, you've got to have it, finish where you start it. Use my story. I was just so happy to be a Bearcat when I became one. Funny story, I didn't even know where Cincinnati was."

Gilyard was from Bunnell, Florida in Flagler County where he was a running back. He claims he couldn't even point out Ohio on a map. He credits Hinton and Dantonio for bringing him north. Despite Dantonio revoking his scholarship, he still sees him as influential in his life.

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Before his unplanned absence in 2006, Gilyard thought he was coming back to start as one of the Bearcats cornerbacks. That would have given UC an NFL player in Mike Mickens on one side and Gilyard on the other. It was Kelly who moved Gilyard to receiver. Just as moving Travis Kelce from quarterback to tight end and moving Connor Barwin from tight end to a pass rusher, it was the right move.

But, Gilyard still has ill feelings over several things, including when word leaked out at the team football banquet at The Westin that Kelly was leaving for Notre Dame.

"I still can't stand him," Gilyard said. "There was a lot of stuff behind the scenes with us and a lot of stuff that I found out later on. Did we win under him? Yeah. But, we were going to win regardless, that's how I felt. We had great leadership and a great core of Dantonio kids."

As for Kelly, he recalls Hinton advocating for Gilyard strongly and the struggle to get him back into school.

"Emotionally, there were days when he could end up on the far end of the spectrum," Kelly said. "But he loved to play the game. I can work with somebody who loves the game. There were days where we had to work some things out here or there but to me, the easy guy to work with is someone who loves to play and that was Mardy."

Mark Dantonio's 2005 class was the Cincinnati Bearcats foundation

"We were the best class I think the school could ever have gotten," Gilyard said. "Me, Dominick Goodman, Terrill Byrd, Connor Barwin, Jeffrey Linkenbach, Mike Mickens. Haruki Nakamura--Byrd I think was the USA TODAY National Player of the Year. We could have played anywhere to be honest."

Dantonio's second season was a 4-7 finish, but many of the recruited freshmen played, laying the groundwork for the years to come.

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"Those two teams (2008,2009) are the best teams," Gilyard said. "I don't care about that damn playoff system. I think we got screwed out of the national championship (2009) because we were the only undefeated team that year. Florida had already lost, so it was like why are we playing them? Everyone else in front of us lost when we were the No. 3 team."

Had Nebraska knocked off Texas (Longhorns won 13-12) the Bearcats would have made the title game vs. Alabama which Kelly says he would have coached, making Notre Dame possibly wait.

Gilyard believes the old Big East football conference was much stronger than UC's 2021 through the American Athletic Conference. Many of the teams were ranked. UC beat No. 24 Oregon State on the road, No. 21 USF on the road, No. 23 West Virginia at home and No. 14 Pitt on the road before falling to No. 5 in the Jan. 1, 2010 Sugar Bowl to No. 5 Florida and Tim Tebow on a mission.

The 2021 squad did win at No. 9 Notre Dame over Kelly and beat No. 21 Houston for the AAC title before losing to top-ranked Alabama in the Cotton Bowl 27-6. Along the way were close games at Navy (27-20) and a 28-20 win over Tulsa when ESPN GameDay showed and the Golden Hurricane was threatening late in the game.

"Look I know you guys love Sauce (Gardner) and the playoff team but they wouldn't have been able to do nothing with us," Gilyard said. "None of their linemen was going to block Terrill Byrd. Nobody was going to take care of Connor Barwin on the outside. They weren't going to be able to deal with Curtis Young. Sauce was good but I don't think he covered any true, good wide receivers. Mike Mickens had his hands full every week!"

He notes the Bearcats also had DeAngelo Smith and Brandon Underwood who both logged NFL time.

If not for eye surgery, Mardy Gilyard might not be in UC record books

"I couldn't really see the ball," he said. "When it would leave Grutza's hands, I used to lose it. That's why I didn't catch that many balls that year (36 in 2007). I just dropped the hell out of the ball. I couldn't see it 'til it was right in my face at the last moment."

LASIK surgery helped. At first, he was sensitive to the light, but in late summer all was well and Gilyard could see the laces. In the next two years, he would haul down 168 passes.

Remembering the Cincinnati Bearcats/Pitt game in 2009

Many UC fans remember the Tony Pike-to-Armon Binns pass which later became a bobblehead, but Gilyard had 381 yards of total offense in the game. He returned a kickoff just before halftime when UC was down 31-10 to cut the lead to 31-17.

In the second half, he had a touchdown pass to cut it to 31-24 and later another big kick return that cut the lead to 38-30.

"I don't even know what in the hell was going on with us in the first half, but I remember telling the guys, 'If ya'll quit, that's it for us! I'm going to make a *****play!'" Gilyard recalled. "At that point, the football gods had shifted in our favor," Gilyard said. "We just kept telling our defense, 'Just get us the ball!'"

Mardy Gilyard returns to Nippert

Gilyard lives in Worcester, Massachusetts now and coaches high school ball. He had brief NFL stints with the Rams, Jets and Eagles as well as some CFL and Arena ball experience. He misses playing and wishes he would have been in Oxford to ring the Victory Bell. If you're in the student section Saturday, don't be surprised to see a 37-year-old man in a No. 1 jersey coming in for a crowd surf.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Former Cincinnati Bearcats receiver Mardy Gilyard remembers putting UC football on map