Cincinnati Bearcats football reflects on first week of Camp Higher Ground training

WEST HARRISON, Indiana – Cincinnati Bearcats football has wrapped up its first full week of training at Camp Higher Ground. Following this week UC will play a scrimmage with itself at Nippert Stadium on Saturday, then head back to Camp Higher Ground for its second and final week of training.

Reciprocated around the facilities in Indiana is that training at Camp Higher Ground, thus far, has been all business and a successful venture.

Players old, young, and everything in between go to Camp Higher Ground to find ways to thrive on and off the field.

Cincinnati is having fun

Higher Ground has been known for 25 years in the Bearcats community as a way to formulate the bonds necessary to propel the team through the season. With an overhaul of both staff and player personnel, there was a lot of work to be done in the preseason this year. Only a select few Bearcats have multiple Higher Ground experiences to their names, anyway.

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One of those names is defensive end Malik Vann, who is amid his sixth appearance at the preseason camp. Vann reflected on the first week of the 2023 camp on Friday. Notably, the Cincinnati native said the lowest of the lows during the first week of training camp was the d-line losing in the cornhole tournament.

“Coach Stew got swept by Satt, it was a 12-0 skunk,” Vann said, referring to defensive line coach Walter Stewart and head coach Scott Satterfield.

Vann said Satterfield walked all the way across Higher Ground's campus from the offensive meeting room to the defensive side, just to trash-talk and ask Stewart, “are you ready to lose?”

“That was bad,” Vann said, laughing.

The high point? The Kona Ice truck that came.

In his sixth experience at Camp Higher Ground, Vann said every year has been different. Having new personnel and new leadership, it’s an adjustment, he said. “But we’re having fun with it.”

Leadership is being built

An emphasis on finding leaders has been engrained into the minds of the UC football collective since Satterfield and company joined the program. Veteran guys such as Vann, or running back Ryan Montgomery, two of the most tenured guys on the team, have stepped up to be a voice to the new talent in Cincinnati.

Every evening players and coaches take their turns sharing their stories as part of team bonding. Thursday night, it was Montgomery’s turn. Montgomery said he shared his experiences in football, with Cincinnati, and that he is here for the team as a friend and as a leader. Being personable can be a defining feature of leadership, and Montgomery’s experiences give him the trait.

“My favorite memories, mostly, throughout my life are from football. When I get down, maybe feel alone sometimes, I remember that there are new memories to be made.

“My biggest goal (coming into Camp Higher Ground) was to be a leader. Not only in the running back room, or the offense, but the whole team. I’ve seen throughout this week people coming to me with questions that I had when I was searching for a leader as a younger player, so I think that was my main goal– taking on the role as someone who’s been here through this transition and for as long as I have,” Montgomery said.

Vann, too, has taken a route of leadership so far in the week of camp. Vann said his leadership has been about getting guys in line, reminding them of what got them here, and making sure everyone knows what they are doing. Anything Vann does off the field at Camp Higher Ground he hopes the younger, newer guys replicate and take it in, whether it’s in the film room, training room, or studies, he said.

New challenges, new goals

One of the biggest challenges that Vann and company intended on facing this week was getting to know what everybody can and can’t do and learning the strengths and weaknesses of their new teammates.

Vann feels like Cincinnati is “definitely” finding success in working towards those goals.

While just at face value it seems like a lot has changed in the last couple years, Montgomery pointed out that there are only three players on Cincinnati’s roster remaining that were here when he initially joined the team. The running back said it can be a “struggle relating to people sometimes,” but regardless feels that in just a week of training the offense as started to click and find its groove.

Both Vann and Montgomery credited the first week of Camp Higher Ground training to the building of comradery throughout the team. And even though most of the players have never experienced anything like the isolation of this camp, Vann said everybody has been adjusting, adapting, and knowledgeable that it’s “all business” when they step on the field.

“It’s something that comes with being a Bearcat,” Vann said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UC football wraps up first week of training at Camp Higher Ground