Big Changes are Coming

[huskymedic]

Yes. We are the only school that pays WBB at the top. With all due respect to WBB, that needs to change if we want to position for for a P5 invite.

Wow - You agree with my statement above about not overpaying market value for a head coach, then post the same thing again? What we paying our football coach in comparison to our Hall of Fame WBB coach has absolutely nothing to do with "positioning for a P-5 invite".

Winning footballs games and having a successful athletic department that generates boodles of money does.

Oh BTW - Vivian Stringer @ Rutgers makes more than the Football Coach

 

[FDNY99]

Wow - You agree with my statement above about not overpaying market value for a head coach, then post the same thing again? What we paying our football coach in comparison to our Hall of Fame WBB coach has absolutely nothing to do with "positioning for a P-5 invite".

Winning footballs games and having a successful athletic department that generates boodles of money does.

Oh BTW - Vivian Stringer @ Rutgers makes more than the Football Coach

Medic...I think all of the high profile coaches at Rutgers make more than Flood. Unless he has got a raise recently he makes in the $900k range. Pernetti had a budget when he replaced Shady....

 

[huskymedic]

Medic...I think all of the high profile coaches at Rutgers make more than Flood. Unless he has got a raise recently he makes in the $900k range. Pernetti had a budget when he replaced Shady....

Agree - I actually think he's making $800k.

My point to Dooley was that Flood was making less than the less accomplished WBB Coach when Rutgers found the winning P5 lottery ticket under the Seaside Heights boardwalk. Who was making what had no impact.

 

[FDNY99]

Agree - I actually think he's making $800k.

My point to Dooley was that Flood was making less than the less accomplished WBB Coach when Rutgers found the winning P5 lottery ticket under the Seaside Heights boardwalk. Who was making what had no impact.

I know...and although they did hit the lotto the fact Pernetti had a budget (and it most likely prevented him from hiring his 1st choice of Christobal) was VERY telling about finances there.

 

[weyuo]

At this point I don't give a hoot who takes over this program but the biggest change I want to see is scholarship athletes not giving up on plays like I saw in the second half of the Cincy game Saturday and then being allowed to continue playing instead of growing roots on the bench. Pizz poor tackling, just plain giving up on it and letting Cincy players grab an extra 10-15 yards they had no business getting. That's more irritating to watch than the offensive line.

 

[Dooley]

Wow - You agree with my statement above about not overpaying market value for a head coach, then post the same thing again? What we paying our football coach in comparison to our Hall of Fame WBB coach has absolutely nothing to do with "positioning for a P-5 invite".

Winning footballs games and having a successful athletic department that generates boodles of money does.

Oh BTW - Vivian Stringer @ Rutgers makes more than the Football Coach

Let me be clearer, I'm all for paying $1.5M to the next coach if it's possible. I just don't think that that price point considerably improves our coaching candidate pool from a few years ago. A few years ago, we were located in a tough recruiting territory and have a football program with little/no tradition. This year, we still have those things against us but now add AAC affiliation (while our geographic rivals are all in the ACC or B1G) and three seasons of diminishing value...possibly a winless 2013 season. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think $1.6M/yr will attract the best candidates. Maybe the development of Tim Boyle and some of other younger players will help change that.

As for the WBB vs FB coaching salary debate, we're stuck in the AAC, in part, because of the perception around the country that UCONN doesn't care about football. We pay our WBB coach $2M/yr...well above industry standard. Clearly we care about WBB, probably much more than anywhere else in the country (tied with Tennessee perhaps). We need to at least be willing to pay our football coach industry standard to show that we also care about football. Football industry standard happens to be around the Geno level, possibly slightly less. But for the reasons I stated in the paragraph above, I think we need to be prepared to pay more than industry standard and that puts us more than Geno.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I heard face-to-face this week, from someone with even more clout than Herbst has with the purse strings, that the football situation will get resolved. I rate the source as having the highest degree of credibility.

I am fairly certain it means the BOT is fully aware of what it will take financially to attract the right coaching staff for the job. There are also things going on behind the scenes on all fronts to push forward on a Big 10 invite.

The cash won't be coming solely from sources the BOT has control over. From what I have heard quite a few doors have already been knocked on.

I don't think the HC salary will need to be bumped too much from what we were paying P. What we pay our assistants on the other hand will need to be addressed, I believe that this is a major reason for the door knocking.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Like I said in another post in this thread i know for a fact that Manuel hs NOT been given am edict to do this on the cheap...that means paying a salary anywhere from $1.6 mill up to $2.5 mill for the right guy. Herbst and BOT are all in on football...they know it is the only waybwe have any future shot in CR.

I suspect they realize that UConn remaining in the AAC will do massive damage to the university's reputation as a whole. Being associated academically with schools like UCF, ECU, Houston, Tulsa, etc. will only do serious harm to the image of the school over the long term. If I were them, I'd anticipate a drop in overall applications due to less notoriety, drop in donations from alums, and all of the resulting effects of that. The only way out is to not go for this on the cheap. The football program is Warde's opportunity to leave his mark on the university and overall collegiate athletic landscape and make a name for himself. Of course, the basketball programs were set up for him, and whether he liked it or not, he wasn't the one selecting the new men's BB coach. The FB program has the opportunity to be a 100% clean slate for him come December, one in dire need of repair.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

We need to at least be willing to pay our football coach industry standard to show that we also care about football.

Liked and agree with your post Dooley. I only pulled out this quote so I could co-opt it for my own purposes. The truth is I'm not interested in "industry standard." I'm interested in setting the bar. I'm interested in finding the guy who's interested in setting the bar. Part of our problem is we've already caught lighting in a bottle twice. Two times we paid "industry standard" (hell, I don't know, maybe we paid Jim and Geno below standard in the early years) and gotten Hall of Fame quality. Now there are those who seem to me to argue we should be looking for a third bite of that apple. Sorry, I've played cards, the lottery, the horses, and the casinos. I'm not that lucky. We need a surer thing. We need to pay the money that attracts not a guy who's in the Hall of Fame but the guy with Hall of Fame qualities.

I want the guy who has the intelligence, knowledge, passion, energy, ability to teach, ability to trust and be trusted, desire, determination, focus, ability to learn, ability to turn failure into success the build on that success, integrity, pride and the ability to instill it, fortitude, vision, leadership, maturity, flexibility, courage, and communications skills of a Hall of Famer. Anybody know how much that costs?

 

[Chin Diesel]

The cash won't be coming solely from sources the BOT has control over. From what I have heard quite a few doors have already been knocked on.

I don't think the HC salary will need to be bumped too much from what we were paying P. What we pay our assistants on the other hand will need to be addressed, I believe that this is a major reason for the door knocking.

The pool of money allotted for assistants is equally as important as the HC money. In order to get the HC UConn wants they're gonna have to be able to afford his desired staff.
If I were interviewing for the HC position that's one of my first questions. How much money do I have to bring in my guys?

 

[huskyrob1]

Let me be clearer, I'm all for paying $1.5M to the next coach if it's possible. I just don't think that that price point considerably improves our coaching candidate pool from a few years ago. A few years ago, we were located in a tough recruiting territory and have a football program with little/no tradition. This year, we still have those things against us but now add AAC affiliation (while our geographic rivals are all in the ACC or B1G) and three seasons of diminishing value...possibly a winless 2013 season. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think $1.6M/yr will attract the best candidates. Maybe the development of Tim Boyle and some of other younger players will help change that.

As for the WBB vs FB coaching salary debate, we're stuck in the AAC, in part, because of the perception around the country that UCONN doesn't care about football. We pay our WBB coach $2M/yr...well above industry standard. Clearly we care about WBB, probably much more than anywhere else in the country (tied with Tennessee perhaps). We need to at least be willing to pay our football coach industry standard to show that we also care about football. Football industry standard happens to be around the Geno level, possibly slightly less. But for the reasons I stated in the paragraph above, I think we need to be prepared to pay more than industry standard and that puts us more than Geno.

Although I agree with your basic premise that we need to pay a coach a decent salary compared to other schools to show that we are serious about football, most of what you refer to to support your argument is BS. Geno is an institution, both him and Jim Calhoun put UCONN on the map and paved the way for the schools move to big time D1 football. The guy has 8 national championships and counting and may go down in history as the greatest ball coach ever. I hear what you are saying but Auriemma is untouchable and worth every penny. Basketball is major bucks, men's or women's, when you have successful programs and a legend for a coach, at any school. Look at Louisville, heading to the ACC, the highest paid state employee in Kentucky is Rick Pitino, and he makes quite a bit more than Charlie Strong ever will, but it doesn't mean that they don't care about football, clearly that's not the case.

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

It's time to cut cord on everything Edsall and pasqualoni coaching wise. Time to write a new chapter for this program. Time to step up to the plate! Bringing in a guy like moorhead or Todd Orlando as HC isn't the answer to our problems.

Totally 100% agree! We need to forge a new trail at UConn... Time to move on, stop getting Northeast/New England, or former regime re-treads and start fresh. I'm very confident Warde will do this. Look at his decision to make TJ IHC over Hank Hughes. Old vs. New.

 

[Dooley]

Although I agree with your basic premise that we need to pay a coach a decent salary compared to other schools to show that we are serious about football, most of what you refer to to support your argument is BS. Geno is an institution, both him and Jim Calhoun put UCONN on the map and paved the way for the schools move to big time D1 football. The guy has 8 national championships and counting and may go down in history as the greatest ball coach ever. I hear what you are saying but Auriemma is untouchable and worth every penny. Basketball is major bucks, men's or women's, when you have successful programs and a legend for a coach, at any school. Look at Louisville, heading to the ACC, the highest paid state employee in Kentucky is Rick Pitino, and he makes quite a bit more than Charlie Strong ever will, but it doesn't mean that they don't care about football, clearly that's not the case.

I'm not arguing the merits of Geno or WBB. I'm lobbying for UCONN to make a football statement. We are staring at the real possibility of a winless season straight in the face. Limiting our coach candidate pool because we can't pay him more than Geno would be a serious mistake.

 

[ZooCougar]

P was a bargain basement hire from the standpoint that he was willing to keep many of the current staffers and keep costs down. He also didn't have much time to build a staff because Edsall left so late in the silly season.

We don't really have the same impediments working against us this time. Time should be an ally and a the word on the street is more money should be available.

Paying our football coach more than the WBB coach just to make a statement could be like throwing money away. If you are going to pay him that, then he better be worth it.

 

[huskymedic]

I'm not arguing the merits of Geno or WBB. I'm lobbying for UCONN to make a football statement. We are staring at the real possibility of a winless season straight in the face. Limiting our coach candidate pool because we can't pay him more than Geno would be a serious mistake.

Nobody (including WM/SH) has said we can't or won't - the continuing argument is that you just don't start at Geno's salary as the baseline/starting point if you don't need to - just to make a "statement" to show we are serious about football. Just as many CFB industry insiders will laugh @ UConn for doing that.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Though I like Addazio, if we are going to cut ties and clean house with Paul Pasqualoni and his legacy then Addazio is not the guy. I don't know much about Addazio's coaching style or his recruiting abilities, but know that him and PP go way back. Just saying.

I am not an Addazio fan and I agree that the connection that the shares with PP (coached the same HS, 20 years apart) raises a flag; but, from what I have heard, he is a very good recruiter and lives, eats, breathes, football. He also appears to support more of a smash mouth type football, which has been UConn’s ‘historical’ style.

As for CT HS football players, if UConn has a good team and is getting players into the NFL, they will come to UConn with or without the blessing for the Ct HS Football Association of Fairfield County. I am more worried about attracting the 3 and 4 star recruits out of NJ, PA, OH, FL, the Carolinas, etc.

 

[Dooley]

P was a bargain basement hire from the standpoint that he was willing to keep many of the current staffers and keep costs down. He also didn't have much time to build a staff because Edsall left so late in the silly season.

We don't really have the same impediments working against us this time. Time should be an ally and a the word on the street is more money should be available.

Paying our football coach more than the WBB coach just to make a statement could be like throwing money away. If you are going to pay him that, then he better be worth it.

I agree. I obviously don't want to pay an incompetent coach like PP more than Geno, but I think our vacancy ad should read something along the lines of "salary negotiable up to $2.5M/yr". I think that range should be able to attract a very good pool of candidates.

 

[huskyrob1]

I am not an Addazio fan and I agree that the connection that the shares with PP (coached the same HS, 20 years apart) raises a flag; but, from what I have heard, he is a very good recruiter and lives, eats, breathes, football. He also appears to support more of a smash mouth type football, which has been UConn’s ‘historical’ style.

As for CT HS football players, if UConn has a good team and is getting players into the NFL, they will come to UConn with or without the blessing for the Ct HS Football Association of Fairfield County. I am more worried about attracting the 3 and 4 star recruits out of NJ, PA, OH, FL, the Carolinas, etc.

It's not just that they both coached at Cheshire High, Pasqualoni gave Addazio his start in coaching. Addazio's first real job was as PP's offensive line coach at WestConn, and then right after Addazio left WestConn, PP was instrumental at getting SA the coaching job at Cheshire High. So yes you can say they have different philosophies about coaching, but you can also make the case that PP was his mentor.

 

[HuskyHawk]

One, Addazio won't be the guy. That's good for us and for BC. Used to work with a guy that was in Addazio's wedding party. He mentioned years ago that Steve A was interested in coming to UConn (Edsall era, while Addazio was at Florida). But I really think we need a guy with no local ties who can bring in a new attitude and put his stamp on the program.

Two, I hope what you knuckleheads are trying to say is that whatever guy we seek, whether he's an assistant at a big school or a rising star HC at a smaller school, that guy may wonder about coming to UConn, about a move to the "American". Whoever it is, if that guy is hesitant at 1.2, give him 1.4. Hesitant at 1.5, give him 1.75. That's the message. If attracting talent to Storrs now requires a premium, we pay it. I suspect this was the message Warde was trying to send. It's the message we need to send generally, we mean business, and are serious about football.

 

[FluxTZ]

Agreed! If Warde sticks to his M/O in hiring a coach like he did at Buffalo (2x) and with hiring Cavanaugh to coach the Hockey team here....if there was a betting line I'm betting BIG on him offering Pat Narduzzi DC at Michigan St the job. If you look at his history and the things he has used to make hiring choices it fits VERY well. Like any bet you have a shot at winning and a shot at losing..that name just seems to match up well with his past hires.

Do you mind elaborating on this a little more? You may have in another post but I'm curious what the "things he has used to make hiring choices" include.

 

[Calhoun's Court]

Warde has to think National on this search. Don't need to see another"but he can recruit New England guy"

Don't want to hear that he has no ties to recruiting here-been there done that-how's that working out?

As long as he can pull kids out of PA, NJ, VA, TX and FL

Our next coach is out their WM just needs to find him.

No mistakes and no good ol' boys.

We need a fresh start with fresh ideas.

 

[SubbaBub]

Warde has to think National on this search. Don't need to see another another"but he can recruit New England guy"

Don't want to hear that he has no ties to recruiting here-been there don that-how's that working out?

As long as he can pull kids out of PA, NJ, VA, TX and FL

Our next coach is out their WM just needs to find him.

No mistakes and no good ol' boys.

We need a fresh start with fresh ideas.

And no poseurs, you forgot no poseurs. (See Kiffin, Lane, Schiano, Greg)

 

[BC1978]

Gotta say, I think the earlier post claiming that Addazio is unhappy at BC and is looking for a change is not accurate. Everything he has said and everything the AD has said have been hugely positive about his experience at BC. Both have been VERY enthusiastic in the meetings that have been held for season ticket holders and donors. Addazio has been given everything he has asked for. In December, the AD is widely expected to announce a facilities upgrade, which will include a permanent indoor football practice facility (replacing the "Bubble" - hopefully before it collapses under the weight of the next major blizzard!).

There has been absolutely no buzz anywhere in the BC community that he is unhappy and looking to leave at this time.

BTW, pretty good start of the season for your new hockey league - Hockey East. This was the first weekend of the 1st HE/BiG Challenge and HE came out with a solid 9-4 lead. This was highlighted by back-to-back beat downs of the BiG's best team (Wisconsin) by BC, 9-2 on Friday night, followed by BU (7-3) on Saturday night. (I will choose to just forget about BC's opening night stumble in Ann Arbor against Michigan..LOL!) According to press reports, when the Wisconsin team arrived in Boston, they were petty cocky. When they left, not so much!

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

First, you can't expect to hire another Calhoun or Auriemma. Did anyone see Jim Calhoun becoming one of the 10 best of all time when he was at Northeastern? In reality, no.

You have to find the right guy first, whoever he is, then worry about the contract and salary. The number he's paid is not the starting point for Warde's search, and it also can't be the starting point for fans to evaluate who is hired.

 

[ZooCougar]

Warde needs to be think Coach Dallas big.

 

[Sea Goat]

I'm not arguing the merits of Geno or WBB. I'm lobbying for UCONN to make a football statement. We are staring at the real possibility of a winless season straight in the face. Limiting our coach candidate pool because we can't pay him more than Geno would be a serious mistake.

You are damn right - football needs to make a statement.

We have to stop using WBB or Geno's salary as some sort of litmus test for the football program. The cold, hard reality is that if WBB meant anything on the national stage for media dollars we would have been snapped up a few years ago. If we have learned nothing else from the last 2 years, we learned that WBB just doesn't have the cache in the vast majority of venues that matter as far as media contracts are concerned. People outside a few places in the country just don't give a shit that Geno's teams have won 8 titles. Don't shoot the messenger it is just the way it is. Football has to grow on its own - the growth has to become organic and sustained. There is just no substituting for that basic fact.

 

[UConnNick]

Liked and agree with your post Dooley. I only pulled out this quote so I could co-opt it for my own purposes. The truth is I'm not interested in "industry standard." I'm interested in setting the bar. I'm interested in finding the guy who's interested in setting the bar. Part of our problem is we've already caught lighting in a bottle twice. Two times we paid "industry standard" (hell, I don't know, maybe we paid Jim and Geno below standard in the early years) and gotten Hall of Fame quality. Now there are those who seem to me to argue we should be looking for a third bite of that apple. Sorry, I've played cards, the lottery, the horses, and the casinos. I'm not that lucky. We need a surer thing. We need to pay the money that attracts not a guy who's in the Hall of Fame but the guy with Hall of Fame qualities.

I want the guy who has the intelligence, knowledge, passion, energy, ability to teach, ability to trust and be trusted, desire, determination, focus, ability to learn, ability to turn failure into success the build on that success, integrity, pride and the ability to instill it, fortitude, vision, leadership, maturity, flexibility, courage, and communications skills of a Hall of Famer. Anybody know how much that costs?

Calhoun was paid $46K for his first season at UCONN. Auriemma's first year in Storrs earned him $29K. I'm fairly certain neither of them were being paid commensurate with any of the top programs in the country, but at that time neither UCONN BB program belonged in the same paragraph with any of the elite schools of that era.

I agree you can get the right guy for the job for less than "industry standard" money if you're lucky. We were lucky three times in the past 30 years. Perhaps we can get lucky once again, although major CFB is a totally different dynamic.

 

[Nostical]

Given the current economic realities in the State and since this is not a state with an SEC-like rabid football centric legislature, it's more politically likely that we'll be offering a "competitive" base salary but build in lots of incentives that can take him much higher. That's the formula to get a rising up and comer rather than a so called proven commodity.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

I'm sorry but IMO there is no way we pay a coach $2+MM. I don't see anyway the state politicos & taxpayers will let this happen.

With a tv contract of $2MM & w Geno already making $2+MM I don't see it happening.

I think we end up with a MAC head coach at around $1.2-$1.5MM which is not a bad thing if we get the right guy.

I know this is not a popular idea but as I said it is just my opinion

This Post NEEDS a dislike button!!

 

[FDNY99]

This Post NEEDS a dislike button!!

Don't worry...people in that camo are going to be disappointed when Warde & Susan piny up the cash!