Are we better off sticking to the plan, or...

[crazyUCfan23]

I imagine it does @ some percentage but I can only speak to football and baseball on personal knowledge.

We need to stay “friends” with the Lackawannas and Prep schools of the world.

the only other thing I'm gonna say is in regards to academics and athletes at uconn, is that I took Bio 1100 over the summer summer 2013. There were only 45 kids in a large lecture hall and only like 3-5 people (including myself) were non D1-athletes (men's and women's basketball, football, volleyball). The class finished the summer session with about 20. That many people took W's LOL

 

[Stainmaster]

Fair enough. Part of it is that I’m just pissed at RE’s schtick. I also don’t think this rule is as strictly applied for basketball...there’s no way it could be if we want to be competitive

With a smaller roster, it shouldn't matter as much, no?

 

[DAC17]

Does the fact that the "always in the mix" ridiculous CT Ethics Board is still pursuing the hiring of Edsall's son tell you anything about the overall culture that we're dealing with here? The deck is stacked against football (and top D1 competition, for that matter) from the top down. You think this would happen in a state that has good football teams??

As in most areas, we can't get out of our own way.

 

[Dooley]

I am thoroughly shocked that Crocker is still employed, to be completely honest. I can see Edsall staying - Benedict sounds like he's committed to a long haul rebuild with Randy. That's fine. But how the hell are we still employing Crocker after this past year?? We had the all-time worst defense in the history of this sport and we won't be playing his preferred 3-3-5 any longer.

We need to get into the $500K/yr DC pay scale at the very least. An extra $200K to 2019's football coaching budget is a small price to pay for a defense that might be able to tackle.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

I also don’t think this rule is as strictly applied for basketball

Perhaps, but hoops also only offers the potential to apply similar standards to roughly 15% of a maximum gridiron scholarship roster (13 vs 85 max total). That said, IIRC JC previously referenced admissions challenges resulting in moving on from potential recruiting targets.

 

[Irishfan]

Maybe a hot take, but I think the whole admissions standards thing doesn’t actually exist and is just a convenient excuse. We’re not Stanford lol and I’ve seen plenty of basketball and football players at UConn who aren’t exactly scholars

Many of the higher rated academic institutions understand that there will always be top athletes who will not qualify for enrollment in their schools. Most of them Stanford, Duke, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, ND, will use their academic repution as a selling point for the top athletes who are also good students. It works especially well with the athlete’s mothers.

 

[RSTuthill]

A good topic for its own thread. Are UConn's academic standards an impediment to the FB program? There WAS a high profile kid who wanted to come here awhile back but they could not get him in. He was a star at Temple. How many more like that have we given up on?

 

[Stainmaster]

A good topic for its own thread. Are UConn's academic standards an impediment to the FB program? There WAS a high profile kid who wanted to come here awhile back but they could not get him in. He was a star at Temple. How many more like that have we given up on?

Are you referring to Matakevich or Marchi? If the latter, these aren't star numbers: Logan Marchi

 

[hardcorehusky]

Here is the problem with looking at Buffalo. They sucked for ever from Turner Gill's 2 good years until Leipold got there.

The academic problem was asservated by becoming a member of the AAC where the only academic peer is Tulane. And look how their athletics have done. Notre Dame sucked for years until they lowered the standards and now they are in the mix. Vandy has never been able to compete in the SEC and Virginia has had a rough time in the ACC for years.

Every program has a down turn unless they cheat well. The key is how quickly do they recover. Pasqualoni and Diaco were program killers. Randy has a 5 year plan because its UConn and conference realignment matches up with year 6 and 7!!

 

[hardcorehusky]

Not starting another one of these just to rile people up... believe me I would have faught someone for suggesting it. But we are where we are and incremental changes are not going to pull us out of this death spiral.

Do we fix things faster if we pull a UAB - shut it down, clean house from AD on down, and see about rebooting it in two years? Edsall’s plan will admittedly take years to execute... to reach what sort of up side? Would we be any worse off?

I am sure the AAC would just love this idea!!

 

[Exit 4]

The look at Buffalo is merely to point out that a cold weather school with little football history can succeed from time to time. Buffalo is 43-53 vs 28-69 for UConn since Edsall 1.0 left us. Yeah, the Buffalo talk is all about their current momentum.

 

[uconnbill]

I know that UConn has a JUCO that wants to commit right now and can't because of the clearinghouse.

This has to change. I am not saying take anyone, but make the standards a little more competitive

 

[John Greene]

"play ball", eh? Looking askance at pitifully low, anyone's admitted academic standards is reasonable, e.g., Louserville CC, Memphis JC, and Houston High, but UAB doesn't even need to "play ball". Almost anyone with even the weakest of a pulse is admitted. Not to UAB Hospital's Level 1 trauma center, but to the undergrad school. Yup, football players included!

UAB is an anamoly , on the undergrad level it is a commuter community college. The graduate level, including the med school is a research powerhouse which will do 500million of sponsored research this year. As the primary public university in CT UConn must never compromise undergraduate education.

 

[#1 PA Husky Fan]

I know that UConn has a JUCO that wants to commit right now and can't because of the clearinghouse.

This has to change. I am not saying take anyone, but make the standards a little more competitive

Clearing house is governed by the NCAA not UConn. Sounds like this recruit will have an issue with every school.

 

[Palatine]

Are Edsall's methods sound?

 

[crazyUCfan23]

Clearing house is governed by the NCAA not UConn. Sounds like this recruit will have an issue with every school.

I know for a fact that Sean McQuillan couldn't pass clearinghouse after high school, which is why he went to AOF for a semester or a year, can't remember. But the inability to pass clearing house after high school is why kids tend to PG and/or go to JUCO.

 

[RSTuthill]

Are you referring to Matakevich or Marchi? If the latter, these aren't star numbers: Logan Marchi

Actually the former rings a bell. I don't remember a lot of details because, while I care, I do not care that much.

 

[RSTuthill]

I know for a fact that Sean McQuillan couldn't pass clearinghouse after high school, which is why he went to AOF for a semester or a year, can't remember. But the inability to pass clearing house after high school is why kids tend to PG and/or go to JUCO.

Yeah, and AOF is the perfect place for them.

 

[crazyUCfan23]

Yeah, and AOF is the perfect place for them.

haha I'm pretty sure prep schools have different academic requirements for PG's (post grads).

 

[Dooley]

Buffalo is an excellent example of what UConn could/should be.

Buffalo is an AAU university stuck in a mediocre academic conference who recruits the same 2 star under-recruited kids from the same geographic territories that we do.

I would gleefully renew my tickets after the last 2 years if someone guaranteed me that UConn would be 10-2 in 2020 (same timeline as Buffalo's 2018 trajectory). But nobody at UConn can or will. Instead, we get excuse after excuse and 5-year rebuild plans that start today...forgetting about the last 8+ years of mediocre-to-God awful football that we've already been force fed.

 

[DAC17]

Going to be very interesting to see what the count is for season tickets renewals this year. As well as what incentives will be floated. 30 minute longer tailgates?? Haha.

 

[gioff2323]

Can't set records for defensive futility if you don't play any games.

I like what you're on to Mike!

Fair point. Can one set a record for BY postings futility?

 

[CTMike]

Going to be very interesting to see what the count is for season tickets renewals this year. As well as what incentives will be floated. 30 minute longer tailgates?? Haha.

Season tix going to be a disaster next year.

 

[CTMike]

Fair point. Can one set a record for BY postings futility?

That’s the Carl Spackler Memorial.

 

[Dooley]

Unless they're going to give current season ticket holders a "freebie year" in 2019, the only sections that will have people in them will be the UCMB and player families sections.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Going to be very interesting to see what the count is for season tickets renewals this year. As well as what incentives will be floated. 30 minute longer tailgates?? Haha.

30 minute shorter games??? That might work!

 

[uconnphil2016]

This thread makes me sad for @CTMike . UConn football has finally beaten down the most positive of us all. It's just not fair

 

[uconnfan68]

I am thoroughly shocked that Crocker is still employed, to be completely honest. I can see Edsall staying - Benedict sounds like he's committed to a long haul rebuild with Randy. That's fine. But how the hell are we still employing Crocker after this past year?? We had the all-time worst defense in the history of this sport and we won't be playing his preferred 3-3-5 any longer.

We need to get into the $500K/yr DC pay scale at the very least. An extra $200K to 2019's football coaching budget is a small price to pay for a defense that might be able to tackle.

Not sure why you blame Crocker for not being allowed to coach as he saw fit. It’s all on Edsall, and if Edsall wants to keep him, nothing you can do about it.

 

[CTMike]

This thread makes me sad for @CTMike . UConn football has finally beaten down the most positive of us all. It's just not fair

We’ll be in big trouble if @UConnDan97 doesn’t predict an undefeated 2019 season.

But yes. The fun and joy of UConn Football is gone for me and that is indeed sad. I will pick spots for a few games next year but I won’t be able to convince anyone to pay full freight for season tix.

I know we aren’t shutting down football even for a bit (yet), and I know we aren’t canning Edsall. He can probably get us to be mediocre with enough time, though he hasn’t shown one bit that he can recruit for the AAC like he could for the Big East. We aren’t convincing kids to come play here - yes he’s the coach and bears responsibility but frankly a generation of suck and bad decisions has done us in moreso. We will not improve fast enough while waiting for frosh and sophs to turn in to juniors and seniors. We need that depth to compete.

Meanwhile the last breaths of the program are being squeezed out of us. Season tix will fall further. If the D improves next year, maybe what, bottom third of D1? We are breaking in a new QB. We’ll still sorely lack depth. The negativity will continue and drumbeat to drop football entirely will get louder. Not sure how we pull out of the death spiral.

 

[Scrutineer]

I've watched a few of their games this year. They play loose, they play reckless, they play football...sometimes sloppy, but it looks like fun and the guys are playing hard.

You mean like the UConn men are playing now?
I'd say hire Leipold, except he's probably waiting for the next P6 opening with upside.