After looking up the details on the FCS Northern Colorado Bears, I have to believe we backed off because of others we liked better or the Bears' HC, Ed McCaffrey convinced him he knows what it takes to make it in the NFL.
Sure UConn has been a mess, but dropping the opportunity to play for a former NFL HC at an FBS school with a challenging schedule to play at an FCS school with a former NFL player as the coach doesn't quite add up.
The Bears play in 8533 seat Nottingham Field, average 4,000 to 5,000 per game, with the ten highest attended games ranging from #10 in 1998 with 7135 fans to #1 in 2005 with 9145 fans there to see Cal Poly.
McCaffrey had two years experience coaching a HS team in CO and was hired by the Bears for the 2020 season but they didn't play because of Covid. In 2021, his first season actually coaching in college, the Bears were 3-8 so there's probably lots of playing time.
It's also a real family affair at Northern Colorado.
McCaffrey's oldest son, Max, is the
WR Coach at Northern and his third son, Dylan, a 4 star and the highest rated QB in CO in 2017, went to Michigan where he played very little and
transferred to Northern where he started as QB and had a so-so year for the 3-8 Bears in 2021.