Aresco talks more about the new American deal with ESPN

[CL82]

The way this has broken for us, makes me want to jump in the ditch football and beg the Big East wagon. It's not like we've shown a commitment to fund football at a level where were going to rise to the top of this conference.

We have among the top (if not "the top") facilities in the league. And we are deficit funding football. What do you feel is missing? I'd like to pay assistants a bit more and maybe up the coaches salary up a bit form the 1.7M Diaco was getting (I think) but other than that what do feel we are missing? Serious question.

 

[CL82]

Agreed. Which is why UConn bitching about SNY likely falls on deaf ears. If football gets back to being .500 or so, and basketball gets back to Top 25, then we'd have an argument.

Nah, the reason it will fall on deaf ears is that current deal only really sucks for us, and there are 12 of "them" and only one of "us."

 

[noeynox]

We have among the top (if not "the top") facilities in the league. And we are deficit funding football. What do you feel is missing? I'd like to pay assistants a bit more and maybe up the coaches salary up a bit form the 1.7M Diaco was getting (I think) but other than that what do feel we are missing? Serious question.

You're gonna have to pony up for a head coach and assistants. Bringing Randy back on the cheap has us looking at 3rd consecutive disaster of a season. 3 seasons is what the previous 2 coaches got before being shown the door.

 

[UConnNick]

It was also a very bad look for Edsall to offer to pay an assistant extra money out of his own pocket, but the assistant leaves anyway. Part of the reason for the revolving door of assistants is the pay. There's way too much movement, plus Edsall made a catastrophically bad hire when he got Crocker from Villanova. We don't seem to learn any lessons from our mistakes when it comes to hiring football coaches.

 

[CL82]

You're gonna have to pony up for a head coach and assistants. Bringing Randy back on the cheap has us looking at 3rd consecutive disaster of a season. 3 seasons is what the previous 2 coaches got before being shown the door.

Maybe, but there's no way you don't give him at least 3 years and probably s/b 4. REv2 coming back on the cheap for us seemed to be a good deal given the desolation left by first the idiot twins and then by Red Pants. Last season was really ugly, but hopefully he turns it around... which means at least having a vaguely effective defense.

If RE doesn't get it done, I'm not sure, barring a miracle P5 admission, we'll keep playing big boy football. I'm rooting for the guy, though I'm obviously worried.

 

[noeynox]

Maybe, but there's no way you don't give him at least 3 years and probably s/b 4. REv2 coming back on the cheap for us seemed to be a good deal given the desolation left by first the idiot twins and then by Red Pants. Last season was really ugly, but hopefully he turns it around... which means at least having a vaguely effective defense.

If RE doesn't get it done, I'm not sure, barring a miracle P5 admission, we'll keep playing big boy football. I'm rooting for the guy, though I'm obviously worried.

To have any hope, they're going to have to pay the staff in the top 4 of the league. If you're hoping to pay the HC a million and fill the staff out with FCS coaches can you honestly say you're shocked at the results?

This year could be worse than the last

 

[CL82]

To have any hope, they're going to have to pay the staff in the top 4 of the league. If you're hoping to pay the HC a million and fill the staff out with FCS coaches can you honestly say you're shocked at the results?

This year could be worse than the last

Randy was worth more than a million when we took him (whether he is now is a different question.) It's not like we got a HS coach and took a million dollar flyer on him. Two DI head coaching gig and NFL experience. Diaco gutted this program. There aren't many coaches who could have done better with what we had in the cupboard.

 

[noeynox]

Randy was worth more than a million when we took him (whether he is now is a different question.) It's not like we got a HS coach and took a million dollar flyer on him. Two DI head coaching gig and NFL experience. Diaco gutted this program. There aren't many coaches who could have done better with what we had in the cupboard.

You asked what i thought they needed. I think they need to spend like a big boy program. If we simply can't afford to, then what's the point. I'm not saying the have to spend like an SEC school, but they have to find a way to get a legit staff all around to compete with the likes of Houston, UCF, USF, Memphis.

 

[CL82]

You asked what i thought they needed. I think they need to spend like a big boy program. If we simply can't afford to, then what's the point. I'm not saying the have to spend like an SEC school, but they have to find a way to get a legit staff all around to compete with the likes of Houston, UCF, USF, Memphis.

Yep and then you talked about Randy's deal but that is more a prior coach doing us a solid than us cheaping out, IMO. UConn's facilities are first class and we're upgrading refreshing the locker room. It's not like we've doing football on the cheap. Burton and Shenkman are first class facilities and the Rent (though off campus) is a really nice place to see a game.

I'm concerned about Randy as well, and time will tell, but I disagree with the line here that UConn didn't invest enough in football. It committed to the upgrade and gave it a good a shot. Timing sucked. It is what it is.

 

[noeynox]

Yep and then you talked about Randy's deal but that is more a prior coach doing us a solid than us cheaping out, IMO. UConn's facilities are first class and we're upgrading refreshing the locker room. It's not like we've doing football on the cheap. Burton and Shenkman are first class facilities and the Rent (though off campus) is a really nice place to see a game.

I'm concerned about Randy as well, and time will tell, but I disagree with the line here that UConn didn't invest enough in football. It committed to the upgrade and gave it a good a shot. Timing sucked. It is what it is.

Oh no, yes the committed to the upgrade. That's not what i meant. We tried for and missed out the P5 boat. What now though, hope to catch lightning in bottle? Randy doing us a solid? Eh, he wasn't getting another HC job in FCS. That solid went both ways when his kid got a job on the staff.

They have to figure this out going forward. Cheaping out on a staff is no way going forward. Crocker and others were complete busts.

 

[CL82]

Oh no, yes the committed to the upgrade. That's not what i meant. We tried for and missed out the P5 boat. What now though, hope to catch lightning in bottle? Randy doing us a solid? Eh, he wasn't getting another HC job in FCS. That solid went both ways when his kid got a job on the staff.

They have to figure this out going forward. Cheaping out on a staff is no way going forward. Crocker and others were complete busts.

Don't disagree with that, but who do think had a better resume and was available that we passed over when we took Randy.

 

[Slick]

They won't be getting $5 a month from me.

Fire Aresco.

Maybe you should start a Go Fund Me page so you can watch the games?

 

[J187Money]

As a fan, I love this take but it has long been grilled into me that football >>>>>>>> men’s basketball >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> woman’s basketball.

The notion that a single woman’s basketball program has more value than the best of the conference in any other sport doesn’t make sense to me. I know big time UConn WBB games have drawn well nationally. Do you have any other data that supports your position?

That's not what he means. It is that UCONN WBB is something that has a specific draw that might cause someone to pull out their wallet. It is the most unique property in the AAC.

 

[UConnNick]

Maybe you should start a Go Fund Me page so you can watch the games?

It's got zero to do with the money. I'm NOT going to help support the bastards at ESPN that deliberately helped consign us to mid major conference hell, while lining their own pockets and extorting tax concessions from the state of CT. Everybody at ESPN can rot in hell.

 

[Guapo]

We have among the top (if not "the top") facilities in the league. And we are deficit funding football. What do you feel is missing? I'd like to pay assistants a bit more and maybe up the coaches salary up a bit form the 1.7M Diaco was getting (I think) but other than that what do feel we are missing? Serious question.

There's nothing to be done about it now, and honestly I'm not sure if anything could have been done about it then, but the Rent being in East Hartford hurts the facilities advantage.

(playing half the basketball schedule in Hartford doesn't help either)

 

[Chin Diesel]

It's obvious that the overall conference perspective is not "What's good for UConn is good for the conference" or "What's good for the conference is good for UConn". No man is an island by himself but UConn is on an island in the AAC.

 

[UConnNick]

It's obvious that the overall conference perspective is not "What's good for UConn is good for the conference" or "What's good for the conference is good for UConn". No man is an island by himself but UConn is on an island in the AAC.

It's not surprising. The only school in the AAC we have anything in common with is maybe Temple. Otherwise look at a US map. Almost every other school is southern. Ironically, we have a lot in common with BS College. We're both officially the red headed stepchildren of our respective leagues. Remember when the ACC consigned them to the Potato Bowl in Boise? The difference is they get to bank way more coin than we do.

 

[Chief00]

It was also a very bad look for Edsall to offer to pay an assistant extra money out of his own pocket, but the assistant leaves anyway. Part of the reason for the revolving door of assistants is the pay. There's way too much movement, plus Edsall made a catastrophically bad hire when he got Crocker from Villanova. We don't seem to learn any lessons from our mistakes when it comes to hiring football coaches.

I wonder if that was genuine or all for show knowing Dunn was leaving anyways? You notice he did not offer money out of his own pocket for Dunn’s OC replacement. Instead he promoted internally on the cheap.

 

[BlueDogs]

I wonder if that was genuine or all for show knowing Dunn was leaving anyways? You notice he did not offer money out of his own pocket for Dunn’s OC replacement. Instead he promoted internally on the cheap.

I think it may have been more along the lines of making UConn look as cheap as it is to force them to pony up more money. Then when none was given, he went with “you want cheap? I’ll show you cheap.” Sadly, our football program is now an underfunded pile of garbage and there are powers in the state that want it to go away, and will choke it to kill it if they can’t do so outright. Who goes to the mat over Corey Edsall? Who allows the state to go to the mat? Why did the former President play to the Olympic sports crowd? Your answers are in Hartford.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

We have among the top (if not "the top") facilities in the league. And we are deficit funding football. What do you feel is missing? I'd like to pay assistants a bit more and maybe up the coaches salary up a bit form the 1.7M Diaco was getting (I think) but other than that what do feel we are missing? Serious question.

The Head Coach offered to pay out of his own pocket to retain an assistance coach. What further evidence do we possibly need?

UConn wants to fake hustle football and unless they want to fully commit (and no, buying new sofas at the complex doesn't count), then we should drop the sport and petition for an ACC or Big East hoops invite.

What's the end game at this point? Hope and pray Edsall can make us a 6 win team in a league that nobody cares about?

 

[CL82]

The Head Coach offered to pay out of his own pocket to retain an assistance coach. What further evidence do we possibly need?

To show that UConn wasn't seriously committed to football? No training facilities. No stadium. We have first class training facilities and really nice stadium that happens to be 30 minutes too far West.

What's the end game at this point? Hope and pray Edsall can make us a 6 win team in a league that nobody cares about?

End game? A P5 (or successor) spot. I should think that's fairly obvious. Will we actually get there? I hope so but I don't see a clear path.

 

[weyuo]

UConn needs to work on dominating this league before they can realistically ask to be invited to another. Right now the only cache UConn has in the AAC is with women's basketball and that's including the fact that the only National Championship in either men's basketball or football is by UConn, though that head coach was dismissed in disgrace for rules violations. How fun will life be when the Huskies do dominate the American in football and Boneyard complaints shift from losing records to playoff seeding. It's coming. It happened in basketball back in the late 80's when the mountain UConn had to climb seemed just as ominous. It "WILL" happen in football because that's the next mountain to climb.

 

[CL82]

UConn needs to work on dominating this league before they can realistically ask to be invited to another. Right now the only cache UConn has in the AAC is with women's basketball and that's including the fact that the only National Championship in either men's basketball or football is by UConn, though that head coach was dismissed in disgrace for rules violations. How fun will life be when the Huskies do dominate the American in football and Boneyard complaints shift from losing records to playoff seeding. It's coming. It happened in basketball back in the late 80's when the mountain UConn had to climb seemed just as ominous. It "WILL" happen in football because that's the next mountain to climb.

Disagree. "UConn needs to work on dominating this league" because that's the whole point of sports, competing at the highest level.

UConn needs to work on meeting a broad range of metrics to make themselves as desirable as possible, including on the field performance, academic performance, attendance, endowment, AAU membership, etc. It's long been show that athletic performance alone isn't the always the deciding factor (though it was for Louisville.)

 

[ConnHuskBask]

To show that UConn wasn't seriously committed to football? No training facilities. No stadium. We have first class training facilities and really nice stadium that happens to be 30 minutes too far West.

End game? A P5 (or successor) spot. I should think that's fairly obvious. Will we actually get there? I hope so but I don't see a clear path.

UConn has the biggest athletic budget (by far) of the G5 schools and they refuse to fund the football program at a level that can compete in the AAC. Those facilities and stadium were all done damn near 20 years ago, that's not relevant today in the support UConn is giving football.

What has UConn done lately to shows that it is willing to commit the requisite funds necessary to compete in the AAC.

I don't think the P5 is expanding anytime soon and the further the football program sinks into the abyss the more and more people (self included) are going to want to at least still compete at the highest level of hoop in the Big East.

 

[CL82]

UConn has the biggest athletic budget (by far) of the G5 schools and they refuse to fund the football program at a level that can compete in the AAC. Those facilities and stadium were all done damn near 20 years ago, that's not relevant today in the support UConn is giving football.

What has UConn done lately to shows that it is willing to commit the requisite funds necessary to compete in the AAC.

I don't think the P5 is expanding anytime soon and the further the football program sinks into the abyss the more and more people (self included) are going to want to at least still compete at the highest level of hoop in the Big East.

Help me out here. What does "refuse to fund the football program" mean? Kids not getting pads? Do teams have to uber to games?

If you are complaining about REv2 that's fine, but why do it in code. Same for upgrading assistants, if that's your beef say it. I don't see anything else. What else am I missing? Let me know and I'll agree or not.

 

[UConnNick]

UConn has the biggest athletic budget (by far) of the G5 schools and they refuse to fund the football program at a level that can compete in the AAC. Those facilities and stadium were all done damn near 20 years ago, that's not relevant today in the support UConn is giving football.

What has UConn done lately to shows that it is willing to commit the requisite funds necessary to compete in the AAC.

I don't think the P5 is expanding anytime soon and the further the football program sinks into the abyss the more and more people (self included) are going to want to at least still compete at the highest level of hoop in the Big East.

The idea that the NBE is "the highest level of hoop" is a complete fantasy. This past season UCF, Houston and Cincinnati were all as good if not better than ANY team in the NBE. Additionally, we and Memphis are on the rise, and Marshall will have Wichita St. much improved next season. There is no longer any real difference between the AAC and NBE in BB, and there's certainly no reason to take less TV payout money to make what would be a lateral move at best, and likely a downgrade long term. Just look at FOX's TV ratings for the NBE. They absolutely suck. It's a bunch of small catholic schools we never had much of anything in common with in the first place, other than geography. Even that's a thing of the distant past now that Xavier, Butler and Creighton joined the new league. Along with DePaul and Marquette, it's a half midwestern conference now.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Help me out here. What does "refuse to fund the football program" mean? Kids not getting pads? Do teams have to uber to games?

If you are complaining about REv2 that's fine, but why do it in code. Same for upgrading assistants, if that's your beef say it. I don't see anything else. What else am I missing? Let me know and I'll agree or not.

How am I talking in code? I said above it's ridiculous that the Head Coach is offering to pay assistants out of his own pocket. What we pay our staff is ridiculous given the size of our budget. I, unlike others, was happy to bring Randy back at a discount, but they've taken the "savings" from that hire and instead of beefing up the staff, have continued to pour money into sports that mean very little to anyone besides friends and family.

Someone needs to justify why our budget is as high as it is, but our football budget isn't even one of the highest in the AAC.

The idea that the NBE is "the highest level of hoop" is a complete fantasy. This past season UCF, Houston and Cincinnati were all as good if not better than ANY team in the NBE. Additionally, we and Memphis are on the rise, and Marshall will have Wichita St. much improved next season. There is no longer any real difference between the AAC and NBE in BB, and there's certainly no reason to take less TV payout money to make what would be a lateral move at best, and likely a downgrade long term. Just look at FOX's TV ratings for the NBE. They absolutely suck. It's a bunch of small catholic schools we never had much of anything in common with in the first place, other than geography. Even that's a thing of the distant past now that Xavier, Butler and Creighton joined the new league. Along with DePaul and Marquette, it's a half midwestern conference now.

You are absolutely clueless. The only place where the Big East isn't leaps and bounds ahead of the AAC is in the minds of about 8 Boneyard posters.

We have nothing in common with these schools except we've been playing them in sports for decades and they a quick drive away. Do you go to a basketball game to pray or watch hoop? Who cares about the religious affiliation of the school?

Fox's TV ratings are going to look like the Super Bowl compared to a UConn ECU game on ESPN+ 4pm on an NFL Sunday.

If football is resigned to being a 2,3,4, win program and the school won't put money into it, nobody cares about the product, we should at least aim to keep men's basketball at the highest level possible.

 

[Palatine]

My guess is that Eastern Carolina is somewhere near the ocean in North Carolina.

I have no idea where Creighton or Butler are located.

 

[UConnNick]

How am I talking in code? I said above it's ridiculous that the Head Coach is offering to pay assistants out of his own pocket. What we pay our staff is ridiculous given the size of our budget. I, unlike others, was happy to bring Randy back at a discount, but they've taken the "savings" from that hire and instead of beefing up the staff, have continued to pour money into sports that mean very little to anyone besides friends and family.

Someone needs to justify why our budget is as high as it is, but our football budget isn't even one of the highest in the AAC.



You are absolutely clueless. The only place where the Big East isn't leaps and bounds ahead of the AAC is in the minds of about 8 Boneyard posters.

We have nothing in common with these schools except we've been playing them in sports for decades and they a quick drive away. Do you go to a basketball game to pray or watch hoop? Who cares about the religious affiliation of the school?

Fox's TV ratings are going to look like the Super Bowl compared to a UConn ECU game on ESPN+ 4pm on an NFL Sunday.

If football is resigned to being a 2,3,4, win program and the school won't put money into it, nobody cares about the product, we should at least aim to keep men's basketball at the highest level possible.

I'm clueless, but you argue that Creighton, DePaul, Marquette, Butler and Xavier are all "a quick drive away"? Even Philadelphia and Washington DC don't exactly qualify as quick drives. That leaves three schools out of 10 that are. If driving distances have anything to do with it we should join the America East.

The NBE schools have small numbers of alumni and relatively small fanbases. The only schools in the AAC that are comparable are Tulsa, SMU and Tulane. The rest of the AAC consists of schools with huge alumni numbers and fanbases, which generate far better interest and TV ratings. The NBE has been losing ratings battles with women's games in the same time slots. You "back to the new Big Leasters" just don't get it and apparently never will. I'll agree to disagree, and I'm done responding to nostalgic fantasies.

 

[CL82]

Someone needs to justify why our budget is as high as it is, but our football budget isn't even one of the highest in the AAC.

I agree with this but that doesn't mean that we aren't committed to football. It means that our admin is way too high (above average for P5 programs.)