University of Cincinnati football head coach Butch Jones resigned his position, effective immediately, director of athletics Whit Babcock announced Friday, Dec. 7.
 
"I would like to thank Butch Jones for his time at the University of Cincinnati,” Babcock said. “With that said, we are excited about the future of this program and this job will be extremely attractive nationally. Our search will begin immediately.”
 
Babcock did not specify a time frame for concluding the search.
 
Jones, who was named the head coach at UC on Dec. 16, 2009, holds a 50-27 career mark, a 32-12 record in conference play, has five bowl appearances and four league championships to his credit in six seasons as a collegiate head coach. He was 23-14 at UC, guiding the Bearcats to back-to-back Big East Conference Championships in 2011 and 2012 and was named Big East Coach of the Year in 2011. In 2011, UC was the only program nationally to win both its conference championship as well as the league’s team academic award.
 
UC was also the most improved NCAA FBS AQ team in 2011, finishing with a 10-3 mark and a Top-25 final ranking, as well as returning to postseason play, knocking off SEC foe Vanderbilt in the 2011 AutoZone Liberty Bowl, the program’s first bowl win over a BCS opponent.
 
"It's our job to make sure our football program continues to operate at a high level,” Babcock said. “It is also our responsibility to make sure our student-athletes, especially our 24 seniors playing in their final game as Bearcats, have a great experience in the Belk Bowl. We will do everything we can to make that happen."
 
Steve Stripling, a 30-year coaching veteran who joined the UC staff in 2010 was named interim head coach. The 2012 Belk Bowl will mark the 23rd bowl game Stripling has played or coached in throughout his career. He led Central Michigan to a 44-41 double-overtime win over Troy in the 2010 GMAC Bowl. Stripling was the Bearcats Assistant Head Coach and defensive line coach.
 
Cincinnati (9-3, 5-2 Big East) will close out the 2012 season against Duke in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 27 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. The game will kick off at 6:30 p.m. ET, be televised by ESPN and broadcast on radio by 700 WLW AM.

Link: Follow the latest in UC football news at GoBearcats.com