If you were the athletic director?

[DarthGrumpy]

I'd immediately take the following steps before I ever scheduled a game:
1. announce that for the 2013 season UConn would wear blue helmets with players numeral in white. A new more permanent design would be unveiled for the 2014 season.
2. Donald the wolf/dog/bear would be consigned to the dustbin of history at the end of the 2013-14 season. The person who originally designed Donald would be summarily fired and banned from UConn athletic property, events and athletic contests for life. A special device would be atatched to his tv which would block any and all UConn sporting events.
3. A competent designer who would be respectful of the University's history and traditions would be hired to design a new logo for the 2014 season.
Then on to scheduling: For football it is most important to win. That has been demonstrated by TCU, Utah and Bosie State. But I also recognize that you need some names in order to sell tickets and to build a national reputation. To that end I'd schedule games, hopefully home and home, with teams like Mississippi, from the SEC, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan State from the Big 10, and a rotation with BC, UMass and Rutgers for a while and either a MAC when we're not playing UMass or a 1AA or CUSA when we are.

On the basketball side, it is also important to accept 2 principals. First, you cannot "replace" Big East SOS with non-conference games. Even if part of the power rating wat myth, there were many good teams. In the AAC there are a few.the second thing you need to accept is that it doesn't matter how many top teams you play, you need to win and you need to win most of your non-conference games...you can't go 7-5. You need to go 10-2 or better. You also need to get home games. Can't do home and home with 6-7 teams which is what would be required to play major programs.So assuming 12 non-conference games, I'd line them up like this:
Early season tournament 1 home, 2 @MSG/Barclays/similar neutral site. Or 3 @ in some resort area.
2 power conferences 1home, 1 road
4-5 A-10 level 3 or 4 @ home 1 road
1 from among the top mid-majors (Wichita St, Gonzaga, VCU, Butler, type teams) Home
1 from the top Ivy programs-Harvard, Penn, Princeton etc. Home
Depending on space- fill in with 1-2 New England programs...Fairfield, BU, Maine, Vermont etc. Home. Bottom line is you want to drop the games against the dregs of college basketball that we paid to come to the Civic Center or occassionally Gampel to let us show off the difference in skill levels, pad our win totals and run up scores. Replace them with A-10 type teams and some higher mid-majors. We need to end every season with gaudy win totals. A 32-2 AAC team will be seeded highly even with a questionable SOS. A 24-10 one won't be even with a better SOS. You need to be legitimate, but you don't need to be more than that.

I would not play any of the Catholic 7 under any circumstances that I could control. It will be worth more to them than to us and any one of them is easily replaceable. I don't care about them but I absolutely don't want to help them out under any circumstances. Here's the thing. The AAC and the Medium sized East will be vying with each other to be the Top mid-major, basically to move into the role occupied by the A-10. The AAC has better teams at the top. The Medium East has more depth. I have zero interest in helping them. And please spare me the St Johns hogwash. They were relevant in 1985. And they have cable in Queens now, so players can watch UConn without needing to go to the Garden.

Two quick points.
First, regardless of my own opinion over the new logo, we cannot fire Nike, who did the design for ‘free.’ Nike has lots of money and lots of influence in sports. Pissing them off would not be beneficial, especially in a time that UConn needs all the friends that it can.

Second, on the basketball front, my preference would be for neutral site games in New York and even DC. If we cannot find a partner for games there, then suck it up and agree to a series with G-Town and St. John’s. UConn has a lot of alumni in both cities, UConn recruits athletes and students from both, and UConn fans travel well to both. UConn needs that exposure on TV with filled arenas cheering for the Huskies while young, eager recruits look on more than we need to hurt our former playmates.

 

[freescooter]

Mr. C.,
I don't agree on the Georgetown/St Johns thing. St Johns can't sell out the Garden unless they play Duke. Sorry, it isn't 1960 any more. And that's what the early season tournament if for.
As far as firing Nike, it isn't that hard. You have your lawyer write them a letter. Reebok, Addidas, Under Armour would i bid for the job before the letter hit the bottom of the mailbag, as would several lesser known makers. I like Addidas personally. They rarely go crazy. While Nike is the biggest probably, they are hardly the only game in town. Nike by the way has been getting bashed by the NFL players over the quality of their stuff vs the old uniforms provided by Reebok. No college AD would ever do that, because of the cash involved, but NFL players have complained.

 

[upstater]

I like Addidas personally. They rarely go crazy. While Nike is the biggest probably, they are hardly the only game in town. Nike by the way has been getting bashed by the NFL players over the quality of their stuff vs the old uniforms provided by Reebok. No college AD would ever do that, because of the cash involved, but NFL players have complained.

As for the NFL, some linemen complained because the new Nike shirts made them look fatter; everyone else loved them.

 

[freescooter]

Those are pretty hideous. But the most important thing is for a school to have the stones to say "NO" when Nike or anyone else comes in with something ugly. UConn didn't have the guts to send them away until they brought back something reasonable. It is almost like Warde and company are afraid if they tell Nike to suck it they will have to borrow last year's uniforms from Tolland High. While the team we supposedly hope to someday join as the Eastern is still wearing classic uniforms. their "radical change" was to add a small Nittany Lion to the front of collar...in a version which has been their logo for a number of years.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Mr. C.,
I don't agree on the Georgetown/St Johns thing. St Johns can't sell out the Garden unless they play Duke. Sorry, it isn't 1960 any more. And that's what the early season tournament if for.
As far as firing Nike, it isn't that hard. You have your lawyer write them a letter. Reebok, Addidas, Under Armour would i bid for the job before the letter hit the bottom of the mailbag, as would several lesser known makers. I like Addidas personally. They rarely go crazy. While Nike is the biggest probably, they are hardly the only game in town. Nike by the way has been getting bashed by the NFL players over the quality of their stuff vs the old uniforms provided by Reebok. No college AD would ever do that, because of the cash involved, but NFL players have complained.

I think we agree on the key point, UConn needs to keep playing basketball in NYC and to a lesser extent, DC. The difference is that I am willing to play St. John’s and/or G-Town if UConn cannot find a suitable partner for a ‘neutral’ court in one of those cities.
As for Nike, of course they can be fired. It would just need to be done the right way. One thing I have learned in 15+ of business, never burn a bridge down because the jerk you want to tell off today could be hiring manager for your next job tomorrow.

 

[uconndennis]

Those are pretty hideous. But the most important thing is for a school to have the stones to say "NO" when Nike or anyone else comes in with something ugly. UConn didn't have the guts to send them away until they brought back something reasonable. It is almost like Warde and company are afraid if they tell Nike to suck it they will have to borrow last year's uniforms from Tolland High. While the team we supposedly hope to someday join as the Eastern is still wearing classic uniforms. their "radical change" was to add a small Nittany Lion to the front of collar...in a version which has been their logo for a number of years.



I'm sorry but, this uniform flat out sucks. My high school has better uni's. I don't want boring, 1950's garbage.

Let Penn State be the Johnny Unitas of uniforms....Give me Joe Namath

 

[NickyNewark]

As for the NFL, some linemen complained because the new Nike shirts made them look fatter; everyone else loved them.

Are Jams back in style? They look like oversized boxer short's for kid's!

 

[TerryD]

Football: All of the B1G and ACC, teams from the SEC, Auburn, Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida, bring back the games against Notre Dame as well!

Basketball: Home/home series to previous BE conference members and also new members, like Creighton and Butler, like for one season, we play 2 BE teams and the next year the samething. One year could be away games, the next year home.

In-state CT schools, just once in a while, alternate each year.

New England schools, once every 3 years, (UMass, Northeastern, Bryant, etc.)

Road trips, I'd probably schedule road trip games, where we can travel and play in different states, I'd like the idea of playing in 2 game away, like @UCLA then @San Francisco, just to balance the schedule out.


Note: This depends on what conference we are in.

I am trying to figure out why ND would want to do this after what happened regarding the last round of negotiations with UConn for a long term series.


ND also has to juggle and rearrange its future schedules to comply with the five ACC games per year commitment.

The Irish have 14 games currently scheduled for 2014. They have to drop two games, not add any that year.

Some annual games with Purdue and Michigan State may likely have to be dropped.

ND wants to continue playing Southern Cal, Stanford and Navy every year.

ND has signed future series with Texas, Oklahoma, Northwestern and BYU, among others.

That would make it tough to add a UConn series even assuming that ND has any interest in doing so.

ND may consider a one off, neutral site game with UConn at Gillette or Met Life some years from now, perhaps. Doubtful, but perhaps.

But, I don't think ND would have much interest in or ability to schedule a long term football series with UConn.

 

[sdhusky]

Mr. C.,
I don't agree on the Georgetown/St Johns thing. St Johns can't sell out the Garden unless they play Duke. Sorry, it isn't 1960 any more. And that's what the early season tournament if for.
As far as firing Nike, it isn't that hard. You have your lawyer write them a letter. Reebok, Addidas, Under Armour would i bid for the job before the letter hit the bottom of the mailbag, as would several lesser known makers. I like Addidas personally. They rarely go crazy. While Nike is the biggest probably, they are hardly the only game in town. Nike by the way has been getting bashed by the NFL players over the quality of their stuff vs the old uniforms provided by Reebok. No college AD would ever do that, because of the cash involved, but NFL players have complained.

Freescooter - what makes you think you know more about branding than nike? Feel free to include links to multi-billion dollar branding projects you've successfully lead.

 

[freescooter]

sdhusky,
Nike has some successes, some failure, some things they do ok. What irks me is we just accepted their bad job. The NFL, for example, doesn't rely on Nike for logos and such. They have their own stable of designers. They went to Nike for implementation, not the actual designs. I'd have no problem with us using Nike for the uniforms. My problem is that they did a crap design that managed to be both generic and of poor quality which undermined something of value just to sell a few extra t-shirts. It isn't the first time they've done a lousy job. Oregon State's "Peanut with teeth" has been at best cooly received. Arizona State's new logo has been adopted by some west coast gangs...At least we don't have to worry about that. Ours are too dopey to appeal to gangs.

As it happens I know a bit about branding, though I don't claim to be an expert. My view is from the other side. I've been a branding client a couple of times and a re-branding client in my career. Some were successful. Some not so much. It can be done in 2 ways. You can get lots of feedback from lots of stakeholders or you can just impose a proposal based on what you think the client "should want." The former way seems to me to come out with the best results, and most people who have done this seem to agree. The latter approach is much easier for the designer and actually for the client, though rarely results in memorable (in a good way) or long lasting or well accepted design. the fact that Donald was essentially done in secret from the entire UConn community suggests that Nike took the easier approach as did Warde. And it was obvious. When someone pointed out to one of the Nike designers that Jonathan had been pure white for pretty much his entire existence, the Nike guy didn't even know that. He thought the white husky was because the guy who designed the last one had a white dog. Sorry, but that's something you have to know. He showed a picture of a husky and said that's what we used. Never bothered to look at our husky...which has been all white for 75 years and at least in the past was required to be white according to the rules of the fraternity that cares for him. That Nike and Warde selected the easy route doesn't particularly surprise me. Even the lettering will be dated in a couple of years. Very "industrial."

 

[Dann]

sdhusky,
Nike has some successes, some failure, some things they do ok. What irks me is we just accepted their bad job. The NFL, for example, doesn't rely on Nike for logos and such. They have their own stable of designers. They went to Nike for implementation, not the actual designs. I'd have no problem with us using Nike for the uniforms. My problem is that they did a crap design that managed to be both generic and of poor quality which undermined something of value just to sell a few extra t-shirts. It isn't the first time they've done a lousy job. Oregon State's "Peanut with teeth" has been at best cooly received. Arizona State's new logo has been adopted by some west coast gangs...At least we don't have to worry about that. Ours are too dopey to appeal to gangs.

As it happens I know a bit about branding, though I don't claim to be an expert. My view is from the other side. I've been a branding client a couple of times and a re-branding client in my career. Some were successful. Some not so much. It can be done in 2 ways. You can get lots of feedback from lots of stakeholders or you can just impose a proposal based on what you think the client "should want." The former way seems to me to come out with the best results, and most people who have done this seem to agree. The latter approach is much easier for the designer and actually for the client, though rarely results in memorable (in a good way) or long lasting or well accepted design. the fact that Donald was essentially done in secret from the entire UConn community suggests that Nike took the easier approach as did Warde. And it was obvious. When someone pointed out to one of the Nike designers that Jonathan had been pure white for pretty much his entire existence, the Nike guy didn't even know that. He thought the white husky was because the guy who designed the last one had a white dog. Sorry, but that's something you have to know. He showed a picture of a husky and said that's what we used. Never bothered to look at our husky...which has been all white for 75 years and at least in the past was required to be white according to the rules of the fraternity that cares for him. That Nike and Warde selected the easy route doesn't particularly surprise me. Even the lettering will be dated in a couple of years. Very "industrial."

A C K I N G M E N

I was open to a new dog, a dog paw and even dropping the dog. I'm not picky. But what they came out with is a insult and what's worse is the crowd that swallows and buys into it.

I would cream my pants over a old English block C that was our logo across evenly thing or a dog paw or just a new dog face with a bit less fur and some aggressive teeth. But we got a Disney cartoon.

 

[TRest]

I am trying to figure out why ND would want to do this after what happened regarding the last round of negotiations with UConn for a long term series.


ND also has to juggle and rearrange its future schedules to comply with the five ACC games per year commitment.

The Irish have 14 games currently scheduled for 2014. They have to drop two games, not add any that year.

Some annual games with Purdue and Michigan State may likely have to be dropped.

ND wants to continue playing Southern Cal, Stanford and Navy every year.

ND has signed future series with Texas, Oklahoma, Northwestern and BYU, among others.

That would make it tough to add a UConn series even assuming that ND has any interest in doing so.

ND may consider a one off, neutral site game with UConn at Gillette or Met Life some years from now, perhaps. Doubtful, but perhaps.

But, I don't think ND would have much interest in or ability to schedule a long term football series with UConn.

Duly noted.

 

[itgoeslike]

Mr. C.,
I don't agree on the Georgetown/St Johns thing. St Johns can't sell out the Garden unless they play Duke. Sorry, it isn't 1960 any more. And that's what the early season tournament if for.
As far as firing Nike, it isn't that hard. You have your lawyer write them a letter. Reebok, Addidas, Under Armour would i bid for the job before the letter hit the bottom of the mailbag, as would several lesser known makers. I like Addidas personally. They rarely go crazy. While Nike is the biggest probably, they are hardly the only game in town. Nike by the way has been getting bashed by the NFL players over the quality of their stuff vs the old uniforms provided by Reebok. No college AD would ever do that, because of the cash involved, but NFL players have complained.

It would probably take more than a letter from a lawyer. . .UCONN is in the midst of at 10 year contract with Nike (ends in 2018) that pays them roughly $4.5M per year ($3M in equipment, uniforms, footwear, etc. and the balance in cash).

 

[itgoeslike]

sdhusky,
Nike has some successes, some failure, some things they do ok. What irks me is we just accepted their bad job. The NFL, for example, doesn't rely on Nike for logos and such. They have their own stable of designers. They went to Nike for implementation, not the actual designs. I'd have no problem with us using Nike for the uniforms. My problem is that they did a crap design that managed to be both generic and of poor quality which undermined something of value just to sell a few extra t-shirts. It isn't the first time they've done a lousy job. Oregon State's "Peanut with teeth" has been at best cooly received. Arizona State's new logo has been adopted by some west coast gangs...At least we don't have to worry about that. Ours are too dopey to appeal to gangs.

As it happens I know a bit about branding, though I don't claim to be an expert. My view is from the other side. I've been a branding client a couple of times and a re-branding client in my career. Some were successful. Some not so much. It can be done in 2 ways. You can get lots of feedback from lots of stakeholders or you can just impose a proposal based on what you think the client "should want." The former way seems to me to come out with the best results, and most people who have done this seem to agree. The latter approach is much easier for the designer and actually for the client, though rarely results in memorable (in a good way) or long lasting or well accepted design. the fact that Donald was essentially done in secret from the entire UConn community suggests that Nike took the easier approach as did Warde. And it was obvious. When someone pointed out to one of the Nike designers that Jonathan had been pure white for pretty much his entire existence, the Nike guy didn't even know that. He thought the white husky was because the guy who designed the last one had a white dog. Sorry, but that's something you have to know. He showed a picture of a husky and said that's what we used. Never bothered to look at our husky...which has been all white for 75 years and at least in the past was required to be white according to the rules of the fraternity that cares for him. That Nike and Warde selected the easy route doesn't particularly surprise me. Even the lettering will be dated in a couple of years. Very "industrial."

I have to agree about the white husky. The white husky provides a level of uniqueness and separation from your typical husky. I would rev the current logo to an all white husky, similar to the avatar that some posters use. It will also reproduce better when reduced in size. Regarding the name Donald, I am hoping that you are joking, and that it's not the name that will replace Jonathan.

RE the uniforms. . . Somebody at Athlon Sports picked UCONN uniforms as best of class in the AAC: http://www.athlonsports.com/college...thletic-conferences-2013-football-uniforms#10

 

[DarthGrumpy]

RE the uniforms. . . Somebody at Athlon Sports picked UCONN uniforms as best of class in the AAC: http://www.athlonsports.com/college...thletic-conferences-2013-football-uniforms#10
Now there is an award UConn can do without. Saying that we have the best uniforms when compared to Tulane, Memphis, etc., is like saying I am the best soccer player on my son’s U-7 team that I coach

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

If I am AD:

1) I let Nike handle my branding. It is an honor that a premier brand sponsors our school, and it's an arrangement UConn is making a mint on. It's one of our primary sources of income for our athletic department (I don't get the outrage over the logo, if Nike pays me $24 million I would tattoo a clownface on my , if they wanted me to, but I digress...). Selling out is what it's all about. You can tell who are the smart businessmen on here and who are not by their view here.

2) Continue to direct resources to the academic support structure of student athletes. This area was Hathaway's greatest failure as an AD. Learn from the mistakes of your predecessors.

3) Foster the no-nonsense, nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic that characterizes our school's history of success, the personas of our most visible professional athletes, and our fanbase. This is the theme through all marketing efforts. This will become the backstory of our brand.

4) Initiate programs to connect the athletic teams with fans throughout an entire season cycle through all of the sports. Start by promoting the whole department and all of the sports that are played at a high level at UConn. Maybe tie ticket packages to this concept.

5) From this point forward, foster nothing but positive relationships with all universities, rivals, former rivals, former enemies, conference mates, etc. Holding grudges helps nobody, ever. The only reason you turn down a game is if you have too many in the works already with elite competition. No other reason should result in a "no." We will parade our brand in front of any live camera we can find.

6) Let Gino have input into, if not choose for himself if he chooses, who will succeed him. Like I believed with Jim Calhoun, no outside council could make a better decision than the man who built it in the first place.

7) Choose my interviews carefully. Choose my words in those interviews just as carefully. Never admit any weakness nor show any fear when discussing our conference...if our brand needs to carry it, it will.

 

[freescooter]

It would probably take more than a letter from a lawyer. . .UCONN is in the midst of at 10 year contract with Nike (ends in 2018) that pays them roughly $4.5M per year ($3M in equipment, uniforms, footwear, etc. and the balance in cash).

Well sure. That isn't meant to be literal. But most likey it has a number of escape clauses for both sides. Even if it doesn't, and with the competence of our AD that is a possibility I suppose, you can always negotiate your way out. And let's face it, Nike neither wants nor need a client badmouthing them so they'd cooperate. Adn if the UConn deal was re-opened, Addidas, Reebok, the makers of Under Armour, they'd all be looking to replace the swoosh. You'd probably get just as good a deal, maybe better.

 

[freescooter]

RE the uniforms. . . Somebody at Athlon Sports picked UCONN uniforms as best of class in the AAC: http://www.athlonsports.com/college...thletic-conferences-2013-football-uniforms#10
Now there is an award UConn can do without. Saying that we have the best uniforms when compared to Tulane, Memphis, etc., is like saying I am the best soccer player on my son’s U-7 team that I coach

the uniform isn't terrible. Predictable and I don't get the big UCONN thing on the front, but the helmet is embarrassing. But at least Maryland isn't the only ones who look silly anymore.

 

[itgoeslike]

RE the uniforms. . . Somebody at Athlon Sports picked UCONN uniforms as best of class in the AAC: http://www.athlonsports.com/college...thletic-conferences-2013-football-uniforms#10
Now there is an award UConn can do without. Saying that we have the best uniforms when compared to Tulane, Memphis, etc., is like saying I am the best soccer player on my son’s U-7 team that I coach

Word on the street is that you would easily be top 3, but number 1. . . ?