Dan Orlovsky has some strong words for AD/UConn

[gtcam]

Former UConn Quarterback Dan Orlovsky Clarifies Comments About Athletics Department, Benedict
Former UConn quarterback Dan Orlovsky said that he wasn’t aware he was being formally interviewed by a reporter who published a story Friday in which Orlovsky was quoted as calling UConn athletic director David Benedict “kind of a schmuck” and suggesting baseball coach Jim Penders could be his replacement.

This makes it even worse

 

[FartMan69]

He saw the program he helped build get flushed into the toilet for eternity and the front porch of the university currently swirling in the bowl. He's mad and honestly just probably airing out frustrations whether correct or not. Other than this board most would probably agree with him because from the outside our athletic department has been one train wreck after another and the people at the top will usually be the target.

 

[Waquoit]

It's pretty funny people on here really think Dan O really said that.

He admitted to saying it. I don't think it's all that funny.

 

[UCDaveD]

Ah, the old on record/off record bait and switch. An age-old ruse.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Ah, the old on record/off record bait and switch. An age-old ruse.

Everything is always on the record. As some have learned, your private iPhone photos might as well be put on Instagram. If you don't want it spread far and wide, don't do it or say it.

His comments reflect a surprising level of ignorance and I lost a little respect for him.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

As I prepare for my first visit to Gampel Pavillion tomorrow, and reflect on the men's group my father was in with Harry Gampel, I can't help but wonder about the "kind of a schmuck" quote.

At a literal level, "schmuck" & "putz" mean the same thing. I don't know how this Comment will play appear after the filter has its say, but the former word is usually used to convey a negative impression of someone's personality, pretty much calling that person a dick. The latter is used more to convey a person's ineffectiveness. Neither is a compliment, but I think the Toppers would vote strongly for "putz" as the correct word in the context of the article.

They'd also be sad that the great Jewish delis are disappearing, and that most bagels bear a relationship to the real thing that most pizza outside of the known hallowed locales does.

If DB is kind of a db (convenient huh?), that's one thing, but if he’s not very good at his job, that's a different thing altogether.

Per usual, I don't know.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

TBH, I have been underwhelmed by Benedict. I think Edsall for football will at least make the program solid, if unspectacular. But the Ollie extension was premature, regardless of whether the deal was negotiated by his predecessor. He needed a year to evaluate, should have put it on hold. It often puzzles me when contracts are re-negotiated and/or extended when they don’t have to be.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Jim Penders is incredible baseball coach.

... with about the same experience actually operating a multi-million $ athletic department as someone else has actually coaching. Just sayin'?

 

[Guapo]

... with about the same experience actually operating a multi-million $ athletic department as someone else has actually coaching. Just sayin'?

I really do not want him to be AD, as my subsequent posts show.

 

[The Funster]

What we saw was how naive DO is. Everyone will get over it.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

What we saw was how naive DO is.

Sure, but what's his Boneyarder Delta Tau Chi name?

 

[Huskyforlife]

Someone remind me what Benedict has actually done? He doesn't get credit for firing Diaco, DB pet goldfish knew that had to be done.

 

[tcf15]

Orlovsky says conversation with reporter not on record, denies calling UConn AD “schmuck”
As frustrated as he may be about UConn athletics, Dan Orlovsky denies saying David Benedict is a schmuck, the entire athletic department is headed in the wrong direction and something needs to be done soon.

“No, I didn’t say it on the record,” Orlovsky said Friday from Minnesota. “No, it is not accurate. It’s not true. I don’t want to continue to feed this. People who know me know it’s not like me.

“Everybody knows how much I love UConn. I can see it. You can see it. Everybody can see where the athletic program stands and go, geez, what happened?”

Matt Burke, who wrote the story for Metro Boston, said he recognized Orlovsky on Super Bowl Radio Row at Mall of America, approached him and spoke with the former UConn star and former NFL quarterback. Burke, who attended UConn, said he clearly identified himself as a reporter. He said he did not tape the one-on-one conversation.

 

[Stainmaster]

So I take no great pleasure in reporting this, given I have been wrongly arguing the opposite for quite some time...

A contact of mine who has some very personal connections to people in and around the athletic department just reached out to me. Upon speaking with someone who was a higher-up under both of our most recent ADs, it's now apparent that the 2016 Ollie extension wasn't a holdover from Warde's tenure. Benedict was apparently far more involved in moving it forward than the narrative has been.

As someone who's been singing Dave's praises a lot on here, this is disappointing to say the least.

 

[Whtdmd]

The 2 person that the Boneyard grossly overate are Dannyboy Hurley and AD David Bennett

 

[Stainmaster]

The 2 person that the Boneyard grossly overate are Dannyboy Hurley and AD David Bennett

How on God's green earth can you have been on this website for 10+ months and still not know the guy's last name...?

 

[Whtdmd]

How on God's green earth can you have been on this website for 10+ months and still not know the guy's last name...?

Oops! how embarrassing

 

[gwhuskyfan]

Returning fire? Orlovsky = this guy

 

[UConnNick]

Here is a list of people I think had more influence over the current state of affairs than Dave Benedict.

Jeff Hathaway, John Swofford, John Marinatto, Susan Herbst, Paul Pasqualoni, Warde Manuel, Randy Edsall, Jim Calhoun, Bob Diaco, Kevin Ollie, & Mike Aresco

Also Mike Tranghese.

 

[pj]

I hope it was false that he called Benedict a schmuck. If he thinks so, he could only have gotten that impression from Edsall, and if Edsall has soured on Benedict, things must be in a bad way in Storrs. Conflict between Edsall and Benedict might also help explain the departures of the Auburn coaches Lashlee and Grimes that Benedict brought in, and would suggest that Benedict may be looking for an exit. If so, the athletics rebuild may be from the ground up.

 

[Austin316]

Is this fake news?

 

[UConnNick]

So I take no great pleasure in reporting this, given I have been wrongly arguing the opposite for quite some time...

A contact of mine who has some very personal connections to people in and around the athletic department just reached out to me. Upon speaking with someone who was a higher-up under both of our most recent ADs, it's now apparent that the 2016 Ollie extension wasn't a holdover from Warde's tenure. Benedict was apparently far more involved in moving it forward than the narrative has been.

As someone who's been singing Dave's praises a lot on here, this is disappointing to say the least.

Wow, if that's true it would seem Benedict might be reluctant to jettison Ollie, because it would be tantamount to an admission that he made a giant mistake, at least among those in the know in the UCONN administration. It's turning into quite a compelling soap opera, and a potentially multi-million dollar mistake.

 

[Walker11]

Wow, if that's true it would seem Benedict might be reluctant to jettison Ollie, because it would be tantamount to an admission that he made a giant mistake, at least among those in the know in the UCONN administration. It's turning into quite a compelling soap opera, and a potentially multi-million dollar mistake.

Not a factor IMO. It obviously was a giant mistake and there is no hiding that. If he keeps Ollie and Ollie tanks another season, would that make DB look good? The past is the past. And referring to Stairmasters post, I personally don't care that much that DB initiated the extension. At the time, I was more concerned about KO leaping to the NBA than regressing to this and I imagine most were the same. You can't predict the future. The DB hype may be too much but lets at least ride this one out.

 

[UConnNick]

Not a factor IMO. It obviously was a giant mistake and there is no hiding that. If he keeps Ollie and Ollie tanks another season, would that make DB look good? The past is the past. And referring to Stairmasters post, I personally don't care that much that DB initiated the extension. At the time, I was more concerned about KO leaping to the NBA than regressing to this and I imagine most were the same. You can't predict the future. If you are unappreciative of DB I don't think you truly grasp what Bob Diaco was.

I have no opinion positive or negative on Benedict's overall performance so far. Sure, he deserves high marks for sending Diaco packing, but a blind person could have seen that was necessary. You can say that nobody could have predicted Ollie's future performance at the time of the extension, but if it was 100 percent DB's call, then he has to own 100 percent of the results, good or bad. That's his job.

 

[EricLA]

Very surprised to see him calling Benedict a schmuck. You would think there would be more respect for the guy who realized it was time to fire Diaco and bring back Edsall.

I think even the farm animals on horse barn hill realized it was time to fire Diaco, so I'm not sure Benedict realizing that is particularly remarkable...