Connecticut governor declares UConn is 'all in' on big-time college football despite its current spot at bottom (Yahoo Thamel)

[huskymedic]

Keep the partisan politics out (forewarned).




-> It’s an easy time to pick on University of Connecticut football. The Huskies are 0-7, jettisoned coach Randy Edsall in early September and got thumped, 27-13, by their struggling neighbor, the University of Massachusetts, on Saturday.

But any notion of UConn punting on football, de-emphasizing football or angling for football to drop down a division is strongly disputed. That includes a chorus of leadership ranging from athletic director David Benedict to the head of the school’s board to Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. They all view top-flight football as an integral part of UConn being a first-class public school.

“I’m all in,” Lamont told Yahoo Sports in a phone interview. “Look, we have a national university. People identify universities with the academics, the beauty of the campus and the high quality of sports you put on a national platform. People pay attention. They know our basketball far and wide. Football is the national sport, in many ways. We’ve got to compete.”

But any notion of UConn punting on football, de-emphasizing football or angling for football to drop down a division is strongly disputed. That includes a chorus of leadership ranging from athletic director David Benedict to the head of the school’s board to Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. They all view top-flight football as an integral part of UConn being a first-class public school.

“I’m all in,” Lamont told Yahoo Sports in a phone interview. “Look, we have a national university. People identify universities with the academics, the beauty of the campus and the high quality of sports you put on a national platform. People pay attention. They know our basketball far and wide. Football is the national sport, in many ways. We’ve got to compete.” <-

 

[metsfan2323]

That's great to hear and it needed to be said. In a way this is step 1.

Now on to step 2, kidnap Joe Moorhead and bring him back to Connecticut.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[J187Money]

The governor, like him or not, is a businessperson. He gets it. Glad that he came out and said it.

 

[Skiblets]

Well there we go. Find the money. Get a good staff. Keep the core here and hold the recruiting class together. And hopefully finally the drum beats to get rid of football stop

 

[Chin Diesel]

Serendipity defined.

 

[UCFBfan]

That's great and all but the bigger question should be the one we've all been begging for, "Are you willing to pay big money for assistants?"

 

[huskymedic]

That's great and all but the bigger question should be the one we've all been begging for, "Are you willing to pay big money for assistants?"

-> There’s already a solid financial commitment, which is in line with the lower end of the AAC. UConn is paying on-field assistant coaches $2 million and off-field staff $1.2 million. That’s not exactly Clemson commitment, but it's a total staff commitment of $4.4 million accounting for the head coach salary. There’s an openness to that number increasing.

“We’ve got to go out and hire the right football coach,” Benedict said. “I believe that we’ll have the support. If it requires a little bit more to do that, we’ll have the support to do that. Money doesn’t necessarily automatically translate to wins. It’s more of identifying the right person.” <-

 

[UCFBfan]

-> There’s already a solid financial commitment, which is in line with the lower end of the AAC. UConn is paying on-field assistant coaches $2 million and off-field staff $1.2 million. That’s not exactly Clemson commitment, but it's a total staff commitment of $4.4 million accounting for the head coach salary. There’s an openness to that number increasing.

“We’ve got to go out and hire the right football coach,” Benedict said. “I believe that we’ll have the support. If it requires a little bit more to do that, we’ll have the support to do that. Money doesn’t necessarily automatically translate to wins. It’s more of identifying the right person.” <-

Thanks....was planning on reading the article but just took your quick overview for now. I see now that it mentioned it in the article.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Ajs120102]

I’ll say this. An all out healthy uconn team this year would’ve been umass Wyoming and Vanderbilt. It was a terrible bad luck year. Uconn has the facilities to succeed and the governor being on board is excellent news.

 

[shizzle787]

I think people underestimate that we can schedule about 10 ACC, 6 B1G, and 4 SEC schools home and home.

 

[jbdphi]

Good article and press given how low we are right now. Let's hope we can attract some competent / exciting applicants!

 

[huskymedic]

… and then you have The Day:

Can UConn football be saved? Experts: ‘a solid maybe’​

-> Schedule, schedule, schedule. This was, by far, the biggest criticism lobbed at UConn's current hierarchy. The schedule, as one person said, "is like manure in the garden. It's all over the place." <-

The full article is worth a click.

 

[shizzle787]

… and then you have The Day:

Can UConn football be saved? Experts: ‘a solid maybe’​

-> Schedule, schedule, schedule. This was, by far, the biggest criticism lobbed at UConn's current hierarchy. The schedule, as one person said, "is like manure in the garden. It's all over the place." <-

The full article is worth a click.

I disagree with scheduling an FCS game first as an indy. Week 1 is important to get a P5 school. Many don’t play OOC after Week 6.

 

[Skiblets]

… and then you have The Day:

Can UConn football be saved? Experts: ‘a solid maybe’​

-> Schedule, schedule, schedule. This was, by far, the biggest criticism lobbed at UConn's current hierarchy. The schedule, as one person said, "is like manure in the garden. It's all over the place." <-

The full article is worth a click.

Disagree with lack of context regarding the schedule this year. It was admittedly cobbled together so it had to be all over the place. Also disagree that the article was ‘worth a click’ because… well written by the self proclaimed genius

 

[CL82]

The Courant article is exactly what Benedict needed to do after the UMass debacle. Take the focus off that game and change the narrative. He highlights are strengths and our commitment to play at a high level. He addressed every fallacy of the naysayers. Can't afford to pay for a quality head coach? Sure we can. Won't pay for assistants? Sure we will. Can't get anyone to play in Connecticut? To the contrary teams are interested. It was well done.

 

[Yup!]

I think people underestimate that we can schedule about 10 ACC, 6 B1G, and 4 SEC schools home and home.

2022 schedule: Syracuse, Michigan, NC State, Fresno, Boston College

my personal favorite game for 2022 is CCSU

we definitely can get really good games as an independent. Bowl games will come so we‘ll have something to play for.

Way better than the AAC especially now

 

[huskymedic]

Also disagree that the article was ‘worth a click’ because… well written by the self proclaimed genius

 

[Bongo Fury]

I don’t like to pick on people but “dweeb?”

 

[LoyalFanCT]

During the campaign, Lamont floated the idea of UConn getting into the ACC. Let's get that as a goal.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Disagree with lack of context regarding the schedule this year. It was admittedly cobbled together so it had to be all over the place. Also disagree that the article was ‘worth a click’ because… well written by the self proclaimed genius

Worth noting that Thamel has named quotes from industry experts about how great the schedule is, but DiMauro has anonymous quotes trashing it. I wouldn't be surprised if that scumbag made them up. Dude is so desperate for attention, it's absolutely pathetic.

 

[CCSUblue]

… and then you have The Day:

Can UConn football be saved? Experts: ‘a solid maybe’​

-> Schedule, schedule, schedule. This was, by far, the biggest criticism lobbed at UConn's current hierarchy. The schedule, as one person said, "is like manure in the garden. It's all over the place." <-

The full article is worth a click.

I imagine him sitting in his cubicle asking hypothetical questions out loud and answering them in different cartoonish voices. Then he builds a background for each voice and claims that they have ties to division 1 sports. The only thing he never does is give them names. Because that would out himself.

I also imagine him writing an article and then going back through and using the word processors thesaurus to add in bigger words.

 

[BigTenFan]

Any thoughts if he will attend the game this weekend?

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

"But any notion of UConn punting on football, de-emphasizing football or angling for football to drop down a division is strongly disputed. That includes a chorus of leadership ranging from athletic director David Benedict to the head of the school’s board to Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. They all view top-flight football as an integral part of UConn being a first-class public school."

“I’m all in,” Lamont told Yahoo Sports in a phone interview. “Look, we have a national university. People identify universities with the academics, the beauty of the campus and the high quality of sports you put on a national platform. People pay attention. They know our basketball far and wide. Football is the national sport, in many ways. We’ve got to compete.” <-

Above, just a few very specific points in response to "Why ...?", "What's the point?", etc. Go UConn!

 

[giddyup]

Good move by Governor Lamont. He laid down a definitive position and this gives the Storrs knuckleheads cover to take action with a CYA memo.

 

[WestCoastHusky]

This was a good move by DB and Governor Lamont to show all potential head coaches that UCONN is committed to big-time football for the foreseen future. There is absolutely no reason why UCONN can't be as successful as programs like BYU and Boise State. UCONN can schedule big time, and be competitive with the right coach.

DB can't screw up the next hire. DB has to hire a proven coach that can get UCONN competitive again.

 

[Nostical]

While Thamel’s story is newsworthy, it isn’t new to us. This was from my post on October 1st on the listening session with the head of the Parker search firm.

I was also in one of the listening sessions. The best thing I heard was that the powers in the state (Governor LaMont--Majority leaders in the statehouse, University BOT) are all-in on rejuvenating the program and are committed to paying the $$$. "Money will not be an issue in who UConn hires". Heard a lot about us getting more active in the portal---and protecting our young talent at year end from being enticed to enter it. Also, the search firm rep said our Independence is not a big negative and that DB deftly carved an interesting schedule and TV deal.

 

[Blades]

While Thamel’s story is newsworthy, it isn’t new to us. This was from my post on October 1st on the listening session with the head of the Parker search firm.

I was also in one of the listening sessions. The best thing I heard was that the powers in the state (Governor LaMont--Majority leaders in the statehouse, University BOT) are all-in on rejuvenating the program and are committed to paying the $$$. "Money will not be an issue in who UConn hires". Heard a lot about us getting more active in the portal---and protecting our young talent at year end from being enticed to enter it. Also, the search firm rep said our Independence is not a big negative and that DB deftly carved an interesting schedule and TV deal.

Same here with my Parker session. There are way to many positives that probably half the FBS doesn't have in regards to facilities,
scheduling and a national TV contract to allow the national narrative to just lay out there and simmer. Especially when you look at a wet blanket like Edsall, who lately seemed to make national news for all the wrong reasons. While he was more than happy to collect a years salary in 2020 for not playing, because he didn't have to answer any real questions. You know, like about actually winning football games.

So like the posters above, I'm glad DB and the Gov went on record in a national story because way to many people will buy what ever narrative is out there right now during this 3 HC suckfest and don't realize what Uconn has to work with to turn this thing around. Just need to find a HC like we've seen at Uconn in the past in other sports. That is also "all in" with what Uconn has and who is capable to make a name for himself.

 

[Hoophound]

This is an example of AD Dave being competent. He saw a need to get this story out there. That’s an indication that he gets it.