Brian Kelly may have told a radio station this morning he’s not going anywhere, but he’s still on every Notre Dame coach-poach list. With all that attention comes some for one of his most faithful assistants.

Cincinnati offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Jeff Quinn is up for the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant.

It’s common to spotlight a coach of a very successful team – and this year’s four other finalists are indeed all from undefeated teams too – but Quinn really is a guy continually on the cutting edge of offenses. He’s been with Kelly 21 years (that’s loyalty), he’s obviously had a ton of success with the offenses they’ve run together and then he opened the season with something new. He went way up-tempo, he stunned Rutgers with his Bearcat Formation (and tight end Travis Kelce taking direct snaps) and he unveiled a fast-break, five-wide set in bursts. Cincinnati racked up 564 yards in that first game in Piscataway, Quinn’s offense – with a supposedly rusty QB – hung 420 yards on Illinois this past weekend and as the Bearcats’ defense has bowed, the offense hasn’t.

It’s a reason to like Cincinnati Saturday, down at Heinz Field.

The other finalists are Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, Boise State offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin, Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong (who is being advocated for the Louisville job by his head coach Urban Meyer), and Texas Christian defensive coordinator Dick Bumpas.