Dear AD Benedict/UConn BOT: Spend Some Goddam Money On Football

[uconnell]

I think the time to throw more money at football will be when we hire our NEXT head coach. I'd normally say Edsall needs the money for his staff to succeed but I feel that he's made some very bad choices this time around. I don't think he can recruit at the level he needs to in order to succeed either. If I am the new President, I get through next season and assess whether or not to fire Randy and make a splash hire or retain Randy and find him the money for a good staff. I have a feeling that another terrible season and the questions that come with it will cause Randy to get pretty grumpy and things may spiral out of control.

At that point, the next coach needs to be someone that is "out of our league". That's what it will take to bring in talent and bring back fans. I'd quietly be planning for it right now by figuring out where to trim the fat in the AD.

Since when has the AD planned anything ahead. Fix it when it becomes a problem is already too late.

 

[Dooley]

I think the time to throw more money at football will be when we hire our NEXT head coach. I'd normally say Edsall needs the money for his staff to succeed but I feel that he's made some very bad choices this time around. I don't think he can recruit at the level he needs to in order to succeed either. If I am the new President, I get through next season and assess whether or not to fire Randy and make a splash hire or retain Randy and find him the money for a good staff. I have a feeling that another terrible season and the questions that come with it will cause Randy to get pretty grumpy and things may spiral out of control.

At that point, the next coach needs to be someone that is "out of our league". That's what it will take to bring in talent and bring back fans. I'd quietly be planning for it right now by figuring out where to trim the fat in the AD.

You know, I've had this same thought. Seems like Benedict/UConn are content with seeing whether or not Edsall can save the program with all arms/legs tied first. Maybe they are waiting for those buyout dollars to be absorbed or maybe they are out on the prowl for a sugar daddy/mommy to help properly fund football. My concern is that we are more than likely going to finish 1-11 (or worse) in 2019 and at that point, we will have to extremely overpay anyone to take over the program for 2020.

 

[huskymedic]

We've wasted an exceptional amount of money in the last few years alone on hiring Aspire...

In the two plus years they've been engaged by Benedict - they aren't getting rich. They get a percentage of what they sell...

>>The Aspire Group receives 20 percent of all new season ticket sales and 2.25 percent of season ticket renewals, as well as 15 percent of mini-plan sales.<<

 

[whaler11]

Agree. Even if we have to pare down to running an AD that only supports a half dozen or so sports, so be it. We can restore programs after we start to make more money.

no can do. you gotta keep a minimum of like 14

 

[whaler11]

In the two plus years they've been engaged by Benedict - they aren't getting rich. They get a percentage of what they sell...

>>The Aspire Group receives 20 percent of all new season ticket sales and 2.25 percent of season ticket renewals, as well as 15 percent of mini-plan sales.<<

i assume that is why they have disappeared. at first they were in my grill. i havent heard boo in forever.

 

[Dooley]

In the two plus years they've been engaged by Benedict - they aren't getting rich. They get a percentage of what they sell...

>>The Aspire Group receives 20 percent of all new season ticket sales and 2.25 percent of season ticket renewals, as well as 15 percent of mini-plan sales.<<

Seems like a separation would be a mutual benefit to both parties.

 

[huskymedic]

i assume that is why they have disappeared. at first they were in my grill. i havent heard boo in forever.

No doubt. They cut the number of "personal service contacts" and then spread the Season ticket holders and Group Sales contacts amongst the remaining souls. I think I'm on my third?

 

[uconnell]

We've wasted an exceptional amount of money in the last few years alone on hiring Aspire and needlessly shooting ourselves in the foot with Diaco and Ollie buyout terms. Re-addressing our venue lease terms is a must going forward. Makes zero sense to play games at the XL that draws crowds that are much less than what Gampel holds.

The mayor of Hartford feels that UConn playing games in Hartford makes restaurant owners happy. I’m sure this is true!, however, it doesn’t do the school any good. Give UConn a reward for doing this, like a heavily discounted rent for the XL center and also the RENT for FB games.
Tell me why we gave up owning the concessions at the Rent or do we get a % of the $$ spent? If not why?
Reduce the # of assistants or whatever in the AD department. No more giving jobs to une mployed explayers. We are not running a charity here.
Charity begins at home.

 

[uconnphil2016]

No doubt. They cut the number of "personal service contacts" and then spread the Season ticket holders and Group Sales contacts amongst the remaining souls. I think I'm on my third?

Yeah they used to always call and bug me but haven’t heard from them since the fall

 

[uconnell]

I think the time to throw more money at football will be when we hire our NEXT head coach. I'd normally say Edsall needs the money for his staff to succeed but I feel that he's made some very bad choices this time around. I don't think he can recruit at the level he needs to in order to succeed either. If I am the new President, I get through next season and assess whether or not to fire Randy and make a splash hire or retain Randy and find him the money for a good staff. I have a feeling that another terrible season and the questions that come with it will cause Randy to get pretty grumpy and things may spiral out of control.

At that point, the next coach needs to be someone that is "out of our league". That's what it will take to bring in talent and bring back fans. I'd quietly be planning for it right now by figuring out where to trim the fat in the AD.

I don’t know if we have that much time left!

 

[whaler11]

The mayor of Hartford feels that UConn playing games in Hartford makes restaurant owners happy. I’m sure this is true!, however, it doesn’t do the school any good. Give UConn a reward for doing this, like a heavily discounted rent for the XL center and also the RENT for FB games.
Tell me why we gave up owning the concessions at the Rent or do we get a % of the $$ spent? If not why?
Reduce the # of assistants or whatever in the AD department. No more giving jobs to une mployed explayers. We are not running a charity here.
Charity begins at home.

Do you want the piddy concessions revenue at the rent in exchange for the debt service?

they dont get that stuff because they didnt pay for the stadium and there wasnt any other viable option

 

[ConnHuskBask]

In the two plus years they've been engaged by Benedict - they aren't getting rich. They get a percentage of what they sell...

>>The Aspire Group receives 20 percent of all new season ticket sales and 2.25 percent of season ticket renewals, as well as 15 percent of mini-plan sales.<<

20% of all new season ticket sales is criminal. I can't even wrap my head around the thought process behind signing something like that.

 

[whaler11]

20% of all new season ticket sales is criminal. I can't even wrap my head around the thought process behind signing something like that.

im sure its just what they originate and not people who find the website.

well i hope.

 

[J187Money]

Exactly. We have "fans" here bragging that they're not buying season tickets while at the same time insisting that they spend more money.

And as I've said many times here:

Number of donors to the UCONN athletics department < # of Boneyard posters.

 

[zls44]

Do you want the piddy concessions revenue at the rent in exchange for the debt service?

they dont get that stuff because they didnt pay for the stadium and there wasnt any other viable option

You wanna talk about UConn handcuffing itself, its stuff like this.

Find another school that pays rent for its home games. There's a few.
Now find the ones who don't get ANY concession or parking revenue.

UConn has less to start with and they've got access to fewer streams of revenue than almost anyone else. Its the state's university. Why are they paying the state rent? Its dumb.

Building's nearly paid off anyway, let them take on the remaining debt service. Let them have some dignity and some hope. Let them create their own revenue streams rather than having that cash go to LAZ and folks running the stadium who don't give a damn about the university.

Its like the games in Hartford thing for me- do you think UConn knows something the rest of the country doesn't? This isn't how other places operate!

 

[whaler11]

You wanna talk about UConn handcuffing itself, its stuff like this.

Find another school that pays rent for its home games. There's a few.
Now find the ones who don't get ANY concession or parking revenue.

UConn has less to start with and they've got access to fewer streams of revenue than almost anyone else. Its the state's university. Why are they paying the state rent? Its dumb.

Building's nearly paid off anyway, let them take on the remaining debt service. Let them have some dignity and some hope. Let them create their own revenue streams rather than having that cash go to LAZ and folks running the stadium who don't give a damn about the university.

Its like the games in Hartford thing for me- do you think UConn knows something the rest of the country doesn't? This isn't how other places operate!

they didnt handcuff themselves they didnt have a choice. it was either take the deal at rent or stay at memorial playing unh

 

[zls44]

they didnt handcuff themselves they didnt have a choice. it was either take the deal at rent or stay at memorial playing unh

Oh, I agree, that was the deal. In 1999.

Its 2018.

 

[huskyrob1]

LOL

Benedict's last stand. Guy couldn't even last a year on twitter.

"Hi Paul, it's Dave Benedict, Coach Edsall is here with me".........................................

 

[bobbyinaz]

That's definitely a fair point. Trust me, I hope he doesn't retire.

UConn has to make some very tough decisions in the coming years. We need to figure out how to spend less as an AD as a whole while figuring out a way to spend more in football.

This is the problem that most are not realizing.

Everyone talks about cutting sports to divert funding to the football program but, the reality is UConn is likely to have to cut sports just because the budget mess may force it. Cutting sports is most likely not going to be a "found" source of revenue that can be invested into football.

Unfortunately, I believe that cutting sports in the next few years is going to be forced on the Athletic Department rather than being in internal decision

 

[LoyalFanCT]

What I think the new president, trustees, AD and other state officials need to see is the amount spent on football by other state universities who have high research levels and are AAU members. I think most of these schools also spend a lot on football. It appears, in the US, state universities which want excellence in research also have excellence in football. May be wrong but I would like to see the numbers.

 

[UConnDan97]

It just feels like it's over.

I need a shot of enthusiasm. Paging @UConnDan97

Here's what I've got: we have each other.

Think I'm kidding?? I just finished up all my work stuff when I got online to read this, and we're already on page 7 of the thread. People here care about the program. We care about the outcome. We care about the school.

Is it nearly impossible to keep making undefeated predictions? You betcha. But did we give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? No!

Stay strong, Husky Nation...

 

[LBird33]

Time for a tag sale. Everyone look through their homes. We set up at the rent. All proceeds go to Football

 

[J187Money]

You wanna talk about UConn handcuffing itself, its stuff like this.

Find another school that pays rent for its home games. There's a few.
Now find the ones who don't get ANY concession or parking revenue.

UConn has less to start with and they've got access to fewer streams of revenue than almost anyone else. Its the state's university. Why are they paying the state rent? Its dumb.

Building's nearly paid off anyway, let them take on the remaining debt service. Let them have some dignity and some hope. Let them create their own revenue streams rather than having that cash go to LAZ and folks running the stadium who don't give a damn about the university.

Its like the games in Hartford thing for me- do you think UConn knows something the rest of the country doesn't? This isn't how other places operate!

OTOH - as long as they are paying it to the state - that is a circular argument. So, as an example, we change it so we don't pay rent - the state loses the money and the AD looks better. And yet, nothing is accomplished. Since the #1 argument is that the "state" can't afford to keep funding this disaster of an AD - it only makes sense to look at things that are net benefits to the state/school on a combined basis.

 

[tduconn]

You know, I've had this same thought. Seems like Benedict/UConn are content with seeing whether or not Edsall can save the program with all arms/legs tied first. Maybe they are waiting for those buyout dollars to be absorbed or maybe they are out on the prowl for a sugar daddy/mommy to help properly fund football. My concern is that we are more than likely going to finish 1-11 (or worse) in 2019 and at that point, we will have to extremely overpay anyone to take over the program for 2020.

The biggest concern is whether we can get a quality coach to accept the job........right now, the quality of athlete UConn attracts is more often than not FCS or lower. Never mind the teams performance has been the "worst of the worse". This program is currently a career killer. You can offer me a salary larger than the national debt.......I wouldn't come. It will be very tough for any high profile coach to attract "his type players" to UConn

 

[Dooley]

The biggest concern is whether we can get a quality coach to accept the job...right now, the quality of athlete UConn attracts is more often than not FCS or lower. Never mind the teams performance has been the "worst of the worse". This program is currently a career killer. You can offer me a salary larger than the national debt..I wouldn't come. It will be very tough for any high profile coach to attract "his type players" to UConn

Everyone has a price. We're all down on UConn now and rightfully so given the last 8 seasons of absolute bottom barrel football. But everyone has a price. Alot of times, that price involves a properly funded FBS assistant coach pool and that's the piece that UConn has failed miserably.