Benedict and Mora

[HuskyAlum012]

Just curious where you think Penn St falls in the hierarchy. I've been to State College when every person in the Stadium is on their feet chanting "We are Penn St", people show up on Wednesday in their RV's to set up for tailgating, its isolation makes it "different", they have plenty of money. Win there and you are a God. Michigan, Ohio St, Alabama, where else do you think there is a better situation? Florida should be, Georgia maybe??

From a coaches perspective, I would prefer Michigan, Ohio St, UGA, Bama, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Florida, Ole Miss, LSU, Notre Dame. And I would put it a on similar tier as Clemson, Auburn, Oregon, Wisconsin, FSU

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Ole Miss is a higher tier than Penn St?

Clemson, Auburn, Oregon, Wisconsin & FSU are on a similar tier?

Maybe you should go back on your meds.

 

[UConn2SF]

Stanford is the perfect fit. Checks all the boxes. As I’ve remarked he’s not winning any national championships and has a ceiling, but he’s an exceptionally good representative, does the right things and has done wonders for this program. It’s precisely why a Stanford would want him.

From On3
Stanford: Sources have indicated to On3 that general manager Andrew Luck is closing in on a hire and an announcement could be made by the end of the 2025 regular season.

 

[UConnJim]

I think Stanford would be a good fit if it was the old PAC10/12. Stanford in the ACC is a different story. The travel is awful. I know its just a handful of games each year…but it’s a competitive disadvantage.

Actually, I agree the travel in the ACC is awful for Stanford (more so for sports outside of football). But in 2026, Stanford has 4 games outside of California: 2 in North Carolina, 1 in Indiana, and 1 in Kentucky so the travel isn't bad.

The problem with Stanford is that it has to be primarily a development program as you are not going to do a massive turnover of the roster in the portal so you need a coach that will be there longer term and I don't think that fits Mora's career.

 

[HuskyAlum012]

Ole Miss is a higher tier than Penn St?

Clemson, Auburn, Oregon, Wisconsin & FSU are on a similar tier?

Maybe you should go back on your meds.

What has Penn St ever accomplished to make me think otherwise? Other than having a big stadium that is

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I'm guessing that you're valuing the shared national title that Ole Miss can claim from 1960, before they integrated the school more than the two national titles that Penn St won outright two plus decades later.

Once Lane Kiffen moves on they’ll be back in the bottom third of SEC.

 

[Nameless]

Ole Miss is a higher tier than Penn St?

Clemson, Auburn, Oregon, Wisconsin & FSU are on a similar tier?

Maybe you should go back on your meds.

I know they cancelled it but the fact that Ole Miss even scheduled a home and home with us as we were going Indy demonstrates they are not on Penn State's level lol. We're pretty local to PSU and I can't imagine them scheduling a home and home with us, even after our success the past 2 years

 

[Kolumbo]

I could see why a coach would consider Penn State one of the top head coaching jobs even if it isn't a consensus top coaching job:

1. Football is king and isn't infringed upon at all by basketball
2. Northeast weather - hot, cold, and winters are great. Not everyone wants to sweat their balls off in Georgia, Texas, Alabama
3. People in the midwest are so friendly and College Station is close enough
4. Penn State is, or should be, top 5 in the conference most years
5. The SEC currently has 9 ranked teams which does not even include LSU, Florida, Auburn. . . We are seeing they all want to win and have short leashes. Yes, Penn St just fired Franklin but it was coming
6. Penn State is the big brand in the entire Northeast which could give you somewhat of a geographical advantage for recruiting

 

[UCTitleTown]

What has Penn St ever accomplished to make me think otherwise? Other than having a big stadium that is

Getting 100,000+ fans to see them play non-conference games against the likes of Northern Illinois, Western Michigan etc. for a start. We get 38K for our biggest sports rival and pound our chests. Penn State's in another galaxy.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Getting 100,000+ fans to see them play non-conference games against the likes of Northern Illinois, Western Michigan etc. for a start. We get 38K for our biggest sports rival and pound our chests. Penn State's in another galaxy.

What else is there to do in State College?

 

[uconnyankee]

Yes let’s attack Cignetti again. Yes we get it Cignetti is a hard ass and you do not like him. I like Jim Mora but Cignetti is a better coach.

so what’s your point?
Saban is a better coach too. As is Urban Meyer.

Neither are coaching UConn.

 

[JwittersPAC]

so what’s your point?
Saban is a better coach too. As is Urban Meyer.

Neither are coaching UConn.

You’re the one bad mouthing Cignetti. For what purpose? I have never said anything negative about Mora.

 

[ArtTheFan]

This is a takeaway from the post back it it was announced that he might be the coach...

59 isn't even that old. If this is true, say we have him for 5 years and he manages to right the ship. He moves on and we can get a high profile up and comer that wants to sling shot his career. It's actually a pretty good hire considering where he coached.

Now, who would've thought that this hiring would lead us to 3 bowl games (hope it will be 3) in 4 years, and who thought that we would have an Also Receiving Votes this year?

I hope Dave and Jim can get together and give Jim and his coaches more money.

We need to keep Jim so we can continue to improve. Next year, we might take a step back, yet with NIL money, we should get some transfers.

Realistic, when I heard Jim Mora was being looked at, I thought he wouldn't be here, yet I'm glad he did. Now to keep him...

 

[ArtTheFan]

I mean I hope he stays, he's said this is his last job, but I don't blame him if a blue blood comes calling. He will leave the program in the best is has been in almost 2 decades and will have made it a fairly attractive job for some young up and comer.

IF, and that's a big if, he leaves, I just hope that AD David Benedict won't hire Edsall 3.0!! 😀 However, I'm not going to worry about any new hires, since I think Jim will stay.

 

[Kolumbo]

What else is there to do in State College?

Happy Valley Indeed

 

[FfldCntyFan]

What else is there to do in State College?

You aren't trying to claim that nearly all of the 100+ thousand fans at their games are locals, are you?

 

[cellocgg]

I haven't heard Mora's name come up at all in the coaching carousel

 

[UCTitleTown]

What else is there to do in State College?

It's bigger than Storrs and a couple hours from Pittsburgh and a few hours from Philadelphia. No better or worse than Storrs.

 

[JwittersPAC]

It's bigger than Storrs and a couple hours from Pittsburgh and a few hours from Philadelphia. No better or worse than Storrs.

Penn State undergraduate population is double UConn undergraduate population on the main campus. Also never heard any Penn State alumni complain about going to a football game on campus due to traffic concerns. Lol

 

[CTBballfan243]

Penn State undergraduate population is double UConn undergraduate population on the main campus. Also never heard any Penn State alumni complain about going to a football game on campus due to traffic concerns. Lol

What is your point? Who said Penn State student complain about going football games.

 

[Jetskies]

I have confidence in AD Dave. He will make sure we offer Mora a very competitive package to keep him at UConn. If that works, great! If not, AD Dave will have the money and backing to land a good coach - thanks to Mora's outstanding work resurrecting the program.

if AD Dave is around....

 

[JwittersPAC]

What is your point? Who said Penn State student complain about going football games.

You made a bizarre comment about Penn State. Just coming back with a funny comment. By the way it is UConn alumni not students that complain about driving to campus for 6 home football games a year if there was an on campus stadium.

 

[CTBballfan243]

You made a bizarre comment about Penn State. Just coming back with a funny comment. By the way it is UConn alumni not students that complain about driving to campus for 6 home football games a year if there was an on campus stadium.

Bizarre comment……………….. I must have missed it.

 

[huskymedic]

Mike Anthony: UConn football was 'written off' six years ago. Under Jim Mora, the Huskies are back.

-> … Football's future was discussed, too. I’ve never seen Benedict more cranky or defensive, explaining that moving football from the American Athletic Conference and into independence was not akin to waiving a white flag while the basketball programs were essentially surrounded by a color guard. “I was cranky because that wasn’t what the plan was,” Benedict said. “It’s not that I sat there and called my shot and guaranteed that this was going to happen, but it’s certainly not the expectation we had, or the desire. … I don’t know of a world where you could have asked our fan base or others around this university or program, ‘Is this what you could have expected in year four?’ I certainly feel good about the fact that we identified the right person to come in and run this program.” <-

-> The Huskies aren’t exactly hurting for support. Benedict hired Mora, a bold move that wasn’t a cost-cutter. The university has remained on board with investing in the program to a respectable level. Changes to the college landscape have opened up new roster-building doors, and UConn has been proactive in areas of revenue-sharing and name, image and likeness — making sure football is armed sufficiently to meet potential and expectations. UConn was sick of losing in the sport. It wanted to be good. It decided to be good. The university took it seriously and Benedict took it personally. Now the Huskies are, in fact, good. Heck, one media member even gave UConn a vote in the most recent Associated Press national poll. <-

 

[freescooter]

I heard Mora one time on some national sports talk show talk about this idea of focusing on the next game only. He called it 12 1 game seasons and said we don’t talk about “the biggest game of the year”. This Mike Anthony piece sounds like the same idea.