Bowl Game

[businesslawyer]

And that's why RE left the way he did. Told countless folks, he didn't want to disrupt UConn's Fiesta Bowl participation (so he stayed quiet) and Maryland insisted his hire be announced at a UM press conference (not in a UConn lockerroom in Phoenix). Proverbial "rock and a hard place". Mora had to announce now.

So it must be a holiday week because we are in complete agreement on here. The heat that Edsall took after the Fiesta Bowl for the awful manner in which he left AFTER staying and seeing the season through, as opposed to what most other coaches were doing which was quit and not worry about the bowl game, was always unfair and at times plain stupid.

 

[businesslawyer]

You are not wrong. However, many of BY supporters, in the same breath, are all for players opting out of the bowl game. Moral of this predicament is that college football with NIL, transfer portal, conference realignment, etc., is screwed up beyond saving. Let's just hope we can make a great hire: offensive pedigree, loves the passing game, and can recruit quality QBs, RBs & WRs . . . . and some defensive players too. Gotta keep the "Uconn Air Express" flying. LOL (RE need not apply).

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

And again, full agreement. Even beyond the commitment you’re making to teammates to play a season, just from a rational point of view I still don’t understand why the risk of injury in your bowl game is any different than the risk of injury you had no problem playing through for the last three months.

 

[Alum86]

I’m guessing Gordie will be interim HC?

Yep. He’s coaching the Bowl Game.

 

[Bonamassa]

The players have their own careers to worry about just like Mora. I don't see how Mora’s leaving will have any effect on a player's decision on whether to play in the bowl game or not.

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

I have to think that the Mora news is a huge detriment to our Bowl game prospects.

We went from a great PR story with a Mora comeback narrative, Top 5 QB, and Biletnikoff finalist made for TV....to a team without a coach and with likely half of the roster opting out of the game for the transfer portal.

Feel bad for the kids who just got the rug pulled out from under them right as they head home for Thanksgiving break...but I guess that is College Football in 2025. 🤡

 

[UCTitleTown]

Will Mora leaving result in a worse bowl game selection?

 

[Wildgopher]

Wow, all the attention was "what bowl do we want to go to?" That is suddenly no so important in the long term.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Will Mora leaving result in a worse bowl game selection?

Yes, no doubt.

 

[Waquoit]

So it must be a holiday week because we are in complete agreement on here. The heat that Edsall took after the Fiesta Bowl for the awful manner in which he left AFTER staying and seeing the season through, as opposed to what most other coaches were doing which was quit and not worry about the bowl game, was always unfair and at times plain stupid.

Edsall was the worst of both worlds. Biggest game in UConn history coached by a Maryland guy with one eye on his watch. He had a plane to catch.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Edsall was the worst of both worlds. Biggest game in UConn history coached by a Maryland guy with one eye on his watch. He had a plane to catch.

One of my greatest regrets in life was attending Edsall 2.0's welcome back presser. He had me pumped....until he coached.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Edsall was the worst of both worlds. Biggest game in UConn history coached by a Maryland guy with one eye on his watch. He had a plane to catch.

Worst than that, while keeping his players in the dark on what he was doing, he forced Jordan Todman to inform his teammates before the game that he was going to enter the draft because they deserved to know he wasn't coming back.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Huh. Let me understand. Instead of worrying about the bowl game, we should worry about getting a coach who can — wait for it — get us back to bowl games.

Not picking on you — I hear this all the time — but it’s never made sense for me. It’s the European football equivalent of not playing your best players midweek in Champions League games so we can save them for domestic leagues to make sure we can quality for the champions league again.

Nah. A bit different. Coach leaves and there will he roster instability. And this is true for every program.

The Mora Husky program finished today. T8me to build anew program and dedicate as much time and resources to build the new program starting today.

A bowl win is much less critical than establishing a new program.

I wish there was a known way to finish a season strong with a coach who leaves and roster in flux and simultaneously search for a new coach amd build a new foundation, but I don't know how of it.

 

[businesslawyer]

Nah. A bit different. Coach leaves and there will he roster instability. And this is true for every program.

The Mora Husky program finished today. T8me to build anew program and dedicate as much time and resources to build the new program starting today.

A bowl win is much less critical than establishing a new program.

I wish there was a known way to finish a season strong with a coach who leaves and roster in flux and simultaneously search for a new coach amd build a new foundation, but I don't know how of it.

Because it’s two things on different planes. The AD has to find the next coach. While he’s looking, and while the players are wondering if other schools will want to pay them more money (or some money), they have a game to win. I don’t understand how AD Dave working hard affects the players preparation. They have one less coach to help them. They’ll survive. As for what happens to their careers, almost every FBS player is worried about that coach leaving or not.

 

[Hoophound]

Huh. Let me understand. Instead of worrying about the bowl game, we should worry about getting a coach who can — wait for it — get us back to bowl games.

Not picking on you — I hear this all the time — but it’s never made sense for me. It’s the European football equivalent of not playing your best players midweek in Champions League games so we can save them for domestic leagues to make sure we can quality for the champions league again.

I’m probably in the minority, but I’m not just a UConn sports fan, I’m a UConn fan. It’s our state university and a huge source of pride in so many ways. Of course, I want to win the bowl game, but what I really want is to get this AD into a major conference so that the whole university can benefit from it.

We’ve got to get a coach in here asap and get back to recruiting. If we can play in and win a bowl this year, great, but that’s secondary to what I’m really pulling for when I say I’m a fan. I want to stay relevant, I want to hear Pat McAfee talking about UConn next season saying what a hell of job so and so has done taking over after Jim Mora. I’m desperate to keep this going and move up in the world. If we lose half our players and get our butts kicked in the bowl, so be it. That’s one game. I’m worried about the years ahead.

 

[rich1122]

Huh. Let me understand. Instead of worrying about the bowl game, we should worry about getting a coach who can — wait for it — get us back to bowl games.

Not picking on you — I hear this all the time — but it’s never made sense for me. It’s the European football equivalent of not playing your best players midweek in Champions League games so we can save them for domestic leagues to make sure we can quality for the champions league again.

Arsenal played its best guys today. Just say’n

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Worst than that, while keeping his players in the dark on what he was doing, he forced Jordan Todman to inform his teammates before the game that he was going to enter the draft because they deserved to know he wasn't coming back.

Wow! Some people still don't understand the nuances of why that whole Fiesta Bowl keeping players "in the dark" - RE not announcing his intent to leave until he was at the Maryland introduction press conference - went down the way it did? Geez, Jim Mora tells players and staff, Jim Mora no longer coaching UConn at bowl game, Colorado State not giving a sheet about any UConn procedural eventualities, life going on at CSU business as usual. RE didn't want that for his UConn team and Maryland was not gonna permit a leak from UConn people.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Nah. A bit different. Coach leaves and there will he roster instability. And this is true for every program.

The Mora Husky program finished today. T8me to build anew program and dedicate as much time and resources to build the new program starting today.

A bowl win is much less critical than establishing a new program.

I wish there was a known way to finish a season strong with a coach who leaves and roster in flux and simultaneously search for a new coach amd build a new foundation, but I don't know how of it.

A bowl win is always valuable. It helps put UConn football out there for the entire nation to see. Make the right hire and things will be fine. The blue print for how to do it has been revealed this season.

 

[ec33]

A bowl win is always valuable. It helps put UConn football out there for the entire nation to see. Make the right hire and things will be fine. The blue print for how to do it has been revealed this season.

A bowl win would only matter if the opponent also cared. Beating an indifferent UNC last year did nothing but provide the anti-UNC contingent with more fodder to laugh at how far they had fallen: losing to UConn.

The goal under Mora was to no longer be embarrassingly bad. That has been achieved. This season achieved their limited goals.

Nothing matters now but similar "success" under a new coach to show some sense of sustainability. In a way, Mora leaving did the school a favor. No one was going to trust the not-embarrassingly-bad quality of UConn football until it could be achieved under a new coach -- and now UConn has that opportunity.