According to one Texas Tech prospect, Tommy Tuberville left a dinner to accept the Cincinnati job. (US Presswire)

UPDATE: Cincinnati issued a statement denying the validity of the recruit's story.

"Those reports are inaccurate. There was no contact between Coach Tuberville and Cincinnati prior to Saturday morning. Coach said he was at the dinner, talked with everyone, ate and went home."


Tommy Tuberville's exit from Texas Tech to accept the head coaching position at Cincinnati caught a lot of people off guard, but few were as surprised as Devonte Danzey, a Texas Tech prospect from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College.

Danzey, along with two other prospects -- lineman Sunny Odogwu and receiver Javess Blue -- and "eight to 10" coaches went to dinner last weekend as part of Danzey's official visit to Texas Tech. Tuberville was included in the group, but according to the offensive line prospect, the former Red Raiders' coach did not finish his meal with the group.

"The waitress brought our food out, and we thought (Tuberville) went to the bathroom, but he never came back to dinner," Danzey told 247Sports.com. "The next thing I know, the next day, he made an announcement that he's going to Cincinnati."

Danzey also said that Tuberville did not show up for his campus tour the next morning, which is when offensive line coach Chris Thomsen -- later named the interim head coach -- told the prospects that Tuberville was set to become Cincinnati's new head coach.

"Everybody was going crazy," Danzey said. "The players were shocked, too. We still had a good time at night, but it was crazy how he just got up and left out of nowhere and left people in the dark and in the shadow."

According to Danzey, Tuberville dodged questions early in the dinner regarding how long he planned to be at Texas Tech. Instead the new Bearcats coach leaned on his long and impressive track record, mentioning time spent at Miami and Auburn.

The three-star offensive lineman told 247Sports he is now considering Baylor, West Virginia, Kansas, Auburn, and Washington State -- awaiting news on Texas Tech's hire before reconsidering the Red Raiders.

For all the latest on coaching changes around the country, cruise on over to the CBSSports.com Coaching Carousel.

Keep up with the latest college football news from around the country. From the opening kick of the year all the way through the offseason, CBSSports.com has you covered with this daily newsletter. View a preview.

Get CBSSports.com College Football updates on Facebook