- Joined
- Nov 19, 2011
- Messages
- 5,687
- Reaction Score
- 15,154
Simply put, this is not the same athletic department I grew up watching. Perhaps for a variety of reasons. I started following UConn athletics in the early 90s. By the time I was a student ('99-03), I'd say we had the best overall athletic department in the 13 team Big East along with Notre Dame and West Virginia. Our bread and butter was strong fall sports (men's and women's soccer, field hockey) with obviously UConn men's and women's basketball to follow. All of these teams were national title contenders year in and year out. The football upgrade was underway with Orlovsky getting the first big wins of the program. Later that decade we watched the baseball program improve due to an alum taking over. 2011 was arguably the watershed year. Men's bball title. Football BCS. Women's bball 90 game win streak. Baseball super regional. 2014 also strong with our 2nd time double win for the men and women. Compared to now, all the years were strong. Some more than others.
Fast forward to 2018.
1. We have by far the worst football program in Division 1. A historically bad defense giving up 50-60 points a game to garbage teams. Likely 3 bad coaching hires in a row. No recruiting. No sign of it ending anytime soon. There are no words I can write here to describe how bad this situation is. Everyone can see it.
2. We just had the 2 worst men's basketball seasons since pre Calhoun with some of the worst losses in 30 years. Obviously that coach is now gone and we are all optimistic about Hurley. We all feel hopeful this situation will improve.
3. The women's soccer program just had it's worst season in history. Benedict hired a coach with no head coaching experience. She was a player here and an assistant under a long time coach. Sound familiar? This was at a time the 2nd best women's soccer program in America. That program appears to be gone and not coming back.
Again, these are historically bad results for these 3 programs. Core programs. Obviously Hurley is off to a promising start and I am confident he will fix men's bball.
4. The men's soccer program hasn't made the College Cup since 2000. Pissed away most of their best chances to return. They sneaked into the NCAA Tournament this year and didn't even belong on the same field as Indiana today. Again it's not just losing it's how we lose. That's what is so disturbing. Our men's athletics teams during these years can't even compete with mid level Power 5 anymore let alone strong Power 5. They usually get annihilated.
5. Obviously women's bball, field hockey, and baseball have seemingly survived this stretch. For now.
6. The big upgrade the last years has been Warde's dream of Hockey East. I've watched it and 6 years in I'm not seeing many things to be excited about. The team plays sloppy hockey. Give up short handed goals. Can't hold leads late. Commit a lot of penalties. Just generally soft. No postseason wins yet. A lot of listless performances like both games this weekend with UMass-Lowell. I'll give Cav a year or 2 with his highly ranked recruiting class. But again, he better have his version of the Dream season soon if this was worth it. Especially with the arena drama.
So, that's where we currently are. Women's bball and field hockey are pretty much shielding the athletic department's general historically bad stretch. Again, there are reasons to be optimistic due to Hurley. But I can't even image the dread that will sink in if he isn't successful.
Blaming the conference is not an option for results this poor. It may be a factor but it can't do what we are seeing. Or could it? I think more likely we have a coaching problem in some of these programs. Or in the case of men's bball had one. If Penders can take the baseball team to NCAA tournaments when he plays the first 2 months on the road than I tend to believe our problems are caused by some really bad or uninspired coaching hires. That would also lay blame on the AD's that made those hires.
Is David Benedict bearing the brunt of a gigantic mess that was left for him? Has he failed to provide a clear vision going forward? What are his expectations for each of these programs? Are they being met? As a fanbase what can we do? Just sit around and hope it gets better?
Fast forward to 2018.
1. We have by far the worst football program in Division 1. A historically bad defense giving up 50-60 points a game to garbage teams. Likely 3 bad coaching hires in a row. No recruiting. No sign of it ending anytime soon. There are no words I can write here to describe how bad this situation is. Everyone can see it.
2. We just had the 2 worst men's basketball seasons since pre Calhoun with some of the worst losses in 30 years. Obviously that coach is now gone and we are all optimistic about Hurley. We all feel hopeful this situation will improve.
3. The women's soccer program just had it's worst season in history. Benedict hired a coach with no head coaching experience. She was a player here and an assistant under a long time coach. Sound familiar? This was at a time the 2nd best women's soccer program in America. That program appears to be gone and not coming back.
Again, these are historically bad results for these 3 programs. Core programs. Obviously Hurley is off to a promising start and I am confident he will fix men's bball.
4. The men's soccer program hasn't made the College Cup since 2000. Pissed away most of their best chances to return. They sneaked into the NCAA Tournament this year and didn't even belong on the same field as Indiana today. Again it's not just losing it's how we lose. That's what is so disturbing. Our men's athletics teams during these years can't even compete with mid level Power 5 anymore let alone strong Power 5. They usually get annihilated.
5. Obviously women's bball, field hockey, and baseball have seemingly survived this stretch. For now.
6. The big upgrade the last years has been Warde's dream of Hockey East. I've watched it and 6 years in I'm not seeing many things to be excited about. The team plays sloppy hockey. Give up short handed goals. Can't hold leads late. Commit a lot of penalties. Just generally soft. No postseason wins yet. A lot of listless performances like both games this weekend with UMass-Lowell. I'll give Cav a year or 2 with his highly ranked recruiting class. But again, he better have his version of the Dream season soon if this was worth it. Especially with the arena drama.
So, that's where we currently are. Women's bball and field hockey are pretty much shielding the athletic department's general historically bad stretch. Again, there are reasons to be optimistic due to Hurley. But I can't even image the dread that will sink in if he isn't successful.
Blaming the conference is not an option for results this poor. It may be a factor but it can't do what we are seeing. Or could it? I think more likely we have a coaching problem in some of these programs. Or in the case of men's bball had one. If Penders can take the baseball team to NCAA tournaments when he plays the first 2 months on the road than I tend to believe our problems are caused by some really bad or uninspired coaching hires. That would also lay blame on the AD's that made those hires.
Is David Benedict bearing the brunt of a gigantic mess that was left for him? Has he failed to provide a clear vision going forward? What are his expectations for each of these programs? Are they being met? As a fanbase what can we do? Just sit around and hope it gets better?
Last edited: