UConn football coach Jim Mora on what it will take for his vision of the program to become a reality…

[Luna]

This took the wind out of my sails…I thought he loved it here..teaching young men who listen to every word he says, at a great university, beautiful area.. but it seems he might want to be a player in the college football landscape… then we wouldn’t have a chance at keeping him…. I don’t think we are getting into a power conference anytime soon.. but i am hoping we can be a BYU type of team

 

[Kolumbo]

This took the wind out of my sails…I thought he loved it here..teaching young men who listen to every word he says, at a great university, beautiful area.. but it seems he might want to be a player in the college football landscape… then we wouldn’t have a chance at keeping him…. I don’t think we are getting into a power conference anytime soon.. but i am hoping we can be a BYU type of team

HCJM was at UCLA for 6 seasons and left that post 5 years ago. He is now 5-5 at UCONN with a kind of lousy SOS. I'm not sure one of the P5 slots is a good fit right now for either the coach or the programs. He can be a player because the landscape is changing!

 

[FfldCntyFan]

This took the wind out of my sails…I thought he loved it here..teaching young men who listen to every word he says, at a great university, beautiful area.. but it seems he might want to be a player in the college football landscape… then we wouldn’t have a chance at keeping him…. I don’t think we are getting into a power conference anytime soon.. but i am hoping we can be a BYU type of team

As Silver stated context is an enormous question mark here. If JM began addressing this on his own it is far different from his answering questions. In that, what was asked also could lead to different conclusions on what JM is getting at.

Someone could have stated they heard on ESPN that his phone should be ringing off the hook and asked what it would take for him to remain here.

Someone may have asked him what challenges has he faced that he did not anticipate or perhaps he was asked what steps the school needs to take to legitimately compete at a level comparable to P5 schools.

 

[Patman]

You are misinformed then.

They cheaped out on PP and Diaco, who got everything he wanted shot down (crazy?).

Edsall 2.0? Cheaped out would have been welcome. Downright sabotage level. They needed a Sunday collection plate to fund the program even before Covid.

Randy raised the money for the new locker rooms himself.

The entire football apparatus collapsed after move to aac. They just stopped promoting football program on many ways. Ticket marketing would be No. 1.

To me this has more to do with the absolute lack of leadership of the athletic department. The place has always smelled rotten from the outside as a grad student. "when they won't spend a little bit of money around this hockey rink and when they won't push a little bit for the minor sports what the heck are they doing on the big ones." I didn't get to see the big boy side but to me when you slack on one or a lot of ones then you slack on them all. Early 90s mentality in a mid-2000s world. If that continued until a few years ago that ultimately wouldn't surprise me. Its not just the AD though the AD can do a lot of cleaning. That has to do with every day staff even down to the guy that licks the stamps. More to the point is it has to do with your staff lifers and if they quit then the rest of it is going to rot. This is the type of stuff I blame on Hathaway.

 

[CL82]

This took the wind out of my sails…I thought he loved it here..teaching young men who listen to every word he says, at a great university, beautiful area.. but it seems he might want to be a player in the college football landscape… then we wouldn’t have a chance at keeping him…. I don’t think we are getting into a power conference anytime soon.. but i am hoping we can be a BYU type of team

I’m not sure you can take from this that he does not love it here. I think he’s got a little momentum and he is using it to lobby for the things he believes he needs to be successful. Jim Mora doesn’t want to just phone in this coaching gig. He wants to win.

If I were going to guess I think this is mostly about adding non-scholarship players to the roster to give him additional depth. I’m sure he’ll speak more plainly when the time is right, at least Dave Benedict if not to us.

 

[Rdkid]

Critical thinking on how to make football work is always welcome - from the head coach on down. Wins on the field help, but the structural concerns remain a real issue. Bottom line is that tens of millions of dollars in athletic debt is part of the plan for the foreseeable future. As is one of the highest undergrad price tags in the country. Sports has transformed UConn in many ways since MBB took off in the 90’s. I just hope the new president, DB, and Mora stick around long enough to see a coherent and well-communicated plan through. They and the Board of Trustees, the legislature and the governor have to be part of the plan and present bottom line asks to donors and fans (hopefully one and the same) as to what it takes to sustain the athletic program and successful teams long term.

 

[Patman]

This took the wind out of my sails…I thought he loved it here..teaching young men who listen to every word he says, at a great university, beautiful area.. but it seems he might want to be a player in the college football landscape… then we wouldn’t have a chance at keeping him…. I don’t think we are getting into a power conference anytime soon.. but i am hoping we can be a BYU type of team

every last one of them has an ego. every last one of them wants to win. He's pushing the ball on funding. It needs to be pushed. If we do nothing then he will leave either to the ranch or one last football shot elsewhere. What he doesn't want to do is go 8-4 on a MAC schedule every year.

 

[ZooCougar]

I’m not sure you can take from this that he does not love it here. I think he’s got a little momentum and he is using it to lobby for the things he believes he needs to be successful. Jim Mora doesn’t want to just phone in this coaching gig. He wants to win.

If I were going to guess I think this is mostly about adding non-scholarship players to the roster to give him additional depth. I’m sure he’ll speak more plainly when the time is right, at least Dave Benedict if not to us.

I think it’s a bit more comprehensive than the roster limit. Coaches salary, recruiting budget, roster and so on.

 

[CL82]

I think it’s a bit more comprehensive than the roster limit. Coaches salary, recruiting budget, roster and so on.

Agree. I am curious what he meant by the word infrastructure. Is there a bricks and mortar element?

 

[JohnFSilver]

A third could be this is simply good salesmanship. An appreciation for the moment and not letting it pass into the offseason without squeezing all the juice you can out of it. It would seem to me — the best time to sell UConn football (donations, tickets for your last home game, merch, whatever) would be when you’re on the verge of post season play; when media and former players are creating buzz; when your casual fan starts hearing at work or in conversation what we’ve been seeing and feeling for weeks.

A bowl game isn’t certain. We could get waxed by Liberty next week, or worse, limp out of West Point to 5-7. All that’s certain is that the team has never had more attention in Mora’s tenure here than it does right now, and seemingly everyone agrees Mora is our guy and respects what he has to say. If you can get people to feel like they need to donate or pledge to buy bowl tickets (what convenient timing) by having Mora give a gut check, why wouldn’t you do it? Arguably that is part of Mora’s job as Head Coach. Fire up your players, yes - but also fire up your fans and donors. And right now he has the good will and credibility to make people listen.

And I believe Mora is completely aligned with Benedict. Benedict spent a week out on Mora’s ranch during the interview. They talked about everything. Mora is not finding out things about UConn’s resources that he wasn’t informed of. I have to imagine they’ve discussed effective ways and times to lean on donors.

Mora doesn’t have an agent.

 

[freescooter]

You are misinformed then.

They cheaped out on PP and Diaco, who got everything he wanted shot down (crazy?).

Edsall 2.0? Cheaped out would have been welcome. Downright sabotage level. They needed a Sunday collection plate to fund the program even before Covid.

Randy raised the money for the new locker rooms himself.

The entire football apparatus collapsed after move to aac. They just stopped promoting football program on many ways. Ticket marketing would be No. 1.

I’ve always believed this. And nobody will convince me that had we invested properly in the program that we would be one of the new Big12 members.

 

[Husky92]

I’m blown away by so many of the takes in this thread. I don’t see the issue. Coach laid it out in black and white. If we want to be an elite football program we have to invest in it. It’s the same things he tells the team. If you want to win, you have to put in the hard work. In respect to developing a top-notch program, that means making the $$$ investment.

He never threatened to leave.
He never demanded anything.
This is the fanbase’s insecurity coming out.

All he said was, “We’re doing pretty good. We can be better. But to rise to the next level will take commitment.”

He doesn’t want to accept mediocrity. Do you want him to?

It seems like basic logic to me.

 

[ZooCougar]

I’m blown away by so many of the takes in this thread. I don’t see the issue. Coach laid it out in black and white. If we want to be an elite football program we have to invest in it. It’s the same things he tells the team. If you want to win, you have to put in the hard work. In respect to developing a top-notch program, that means making the $$$ investment.

He never threatened to leave.
He never demanded anything.
This is the fanbase’s insecurity coming out.

All he said was, “We’re doing pretty good. We can be better. But to rise to the next level will take commitment.”

He doesn’t want to accept mediocrity. Do you want him to?

It seems like basic logic to me.

He said to be better than .500 we need investment. He also said he didn’t come here to be .500.

That’s pretty direct and not an unconditional commitment.

 

[Kolumbo]

AD Dave Benedict has had a lot of success with fundraising as highlighted in his bio. How do you have success? Have your football coach to demand it.

David Benedict - Director of Athletics - Staff Directory - University of Connecticut Athletics

David Benedict became the Director of Athletics at the University of Connecticut in March of 2016 and has had a dynamic impact on Husky athletics, fueling incredible

uconnhuskies.com

 

[Ajs120102]

He said to be better than .500 we need investment. He also said he didn’t come here to be .500.

That’s pretty direct and not an unconditional commitment.

It was more of the defeated tone that grabbed my attention more than the words. I also want to know the dang question that prompted this I hate how this is a scavenger hunt to find the press conference

 

[ZooCougar]

It was more of the defeated tone that grabbed my attention more than the words. I also want to know the dang question that prompted this I hate how this is a scavenger hunt to find the press conference

I agree. We need to know the question/context.

 

[huskymedic]

You guys might as well dissect his body language while all y’all are at it

 

[Ajs120102]

You guys might as well dissect his body language while all y’all are at it

Wasn’t good! Lol. (Kidding)

 

[Kolumbo]

I've come to the conclusion that there was no question and since no one asked, Coach Mora went and delivered his message anyway. He is not a "tomorrow" type of guy. He wants to turn this program around yesterday. And of course he looks positive.

Look, it's a top to bottom campaign.

 

[Kolumbo]

 

[RC111]

Bottom line is that tens of millions of dollars in athletic debt is part of the plan for the foreseeable future. As is one of the highest undergrad price tags in the country

This was basically the point I was trying to get at before someone started trolling me and asking me to give a dollar amount for what the budget should be, as if there is a magic number for how much one can live beyond one's means.

We've been in the red for a while, and another year won't ruin enrollment or kill any programs overnight, but at some point the structural problems you've mentioned will need to be addressed.

 

[Rdkid]

This was basically the point I was trying to get at before someone started trolling me and asking me to give a dollar amount for what the budget should be, as if there is a magic number for how much one can live beyond one's means.

We've been in the red for a while, and another year won't ruin enrollment or kill any programs overnight, but at some point the structural problems you've mentioned will need to be addressed.

Maybe, maybe not. The puppetry program probably doesn’t make money, but it is good for the university and the kids - as are a bunch of other programs/majors/services. Leadership decides what is worthy of investment and how it gets paid for. I think it comes down to this - you can lose money and you can have a losing football program, but you can’t have both. Not forever. I think a winning record at indy football will be subsidized for awhile, but will never be considered “winning”. Mora’s just getting a head start on the push and can’t do it without full support from top to bottom. In the meantime, it has restarted the conversation of big time football when last year we were in nowheresville. This stuff has to be enjoyed at some point or why bother?

 

[Slick]

This. The athletic department, including football, is hemorrhaging money.

Major expenses in the past couple years and/ or future liabilities:

AAC withdrawal - 17,000,000
Big East entry - 3,500,000
Ollie lawsuit AND buyout - 14,900,000
Big East withdrawal fee (currently) - 30,000,000

I graduated about 10 yrs ago and the cost for in-state attendance has doubled since then. Something will need to give, and as much as I enjoy going to the rent, I think the university needs to be careful before throwing lots more money at the football program. More than a little disappointed to hear this cropping up before season's end from someone who approached the school for the job. (Regardless of the context in which it was asked.)

I’m not sure you can take from this that he does not love it here. I think he’s got a little momentum and he is using it to lobby for the things he believes he needs to be successful. Jim Mora doesn’t want to just phone in this coaching gig. He wants to win.

If I were going to guess I think this is mostly about adding non-scholarship players to the roster to give him additional depth. I’m sure he’ll speak more plainly when the time is right, at least Dave Benedict if not to us.

The funny thing is when coach Mora said if Uconn doesn't invest in the program we will stay a 500 team which he has no interest in. The amazing thing is that the Uconn fans are absolutely thrilled with us winning 5 games already. They need to listen to him and do what he says and the program will develop unbelievably . He is an extremly smart guy and if we can not hold on to him the program is going to regress quickly.

 

[Waquoit]

When they jack up ticket prices and seat donations next season, I don't want to hear the whining here that I heard on the BB board. We all agree the program needs more cash. Do your part or zip it.