Is AD Dave Alive?

[huskyrob1]

OMG Rob, do you pay any attention to what the other schools are doing? It’s all that and much more.

Now, let’s find some sturdier silver linings.

Like what for example? Go post on their forum if you like them so much.

 

[Exit 4]

Like what for example? Go post on their forum if you like them so much.

Okay - I’ll stop talking with the child here.

 

[CL82]

Right, because nobody else did that either in the AAC.

I’m all in until the bitter end, but sometimes the silver linings cited here are just too thin.

The turn around is much more likely to come from capturing lightning in a bottle in the form of a QB than a methodical 5 year build. You need to get lucky and land a Orlovsky, Milton, etc to rise above 4 wins.

So you are saying Jackson to UConn?

 

[champs99and04]

People know how I feel about him, but if you wanted a guy who was going to do whatever it took to get UConn into a P5 conference, you certainly can't fault him for a lack of hustle. He created an impossible situation with the Ollie buyout but yet has managed to come up roses on the other side. You can't tell me he didn't play a big role in clearing the airways for something like this to take place, first with Herbst and then later with the national media. People can stick their heads in the ground but these things don't get done without a lot of networking and greasy handshakes. He was extremely meticulous in his plotting of the Ollie firing, which isn't even to mention all the feelers he put out on Hurley well before anything was finalized.

Long story short, while the Ollie/Diaco extensions may still ultimately be his undoing, they're still separate from a lot of the things we said we wanted. He's a slick politician/negotiator who knows how to cover his tracks and will bury any and every body if it means getting UConn a seat at the table. In that sense, he's the perfect foil against the sort of complacency that some have argued plagued previous administrations. UConn fans want someone who's going to advocate for them; not on the jumbotron or at pep rallies, but in the testosterone-infused meeting rooms that direct the future of a cut-throat business. He seems to be that guy. He is that guy who single-handedly flipped a dying program - anchored by Calhoun's decision to hand-pick an unqualified successor, which of course predated his tenure - into an enterprise that is now beaming with gifted recruits and as open for business as they've ever been.

I might not like him, but then again my opinion represents only a small faction of first generation fans who have no real connection to the school or state itself. I'm surprised that others who have more on the line don't better appreciate the stake he's claimed in your name.

 

[BlueDogs]

My only point is somebody needs to get a sack and start setting expectations and drawing lines in the sand. Money is one thing, but money isn’t leadership. AD Dave needs to lead until he’s told to shut up, and if told to shut up then he should pack his bags because the school simply isn’t serious. If I’m the AD, I’m telling fans this past season is the last losing season in my tenure, and I expect our coach in year 3 to be winning more than losing. The 3 priorities of the university are FB, MBB, and WBB. As these sports go, so goes the school’s national reputation. MBB will be dominate the AAC and be a perennial NCAA March contender. Football will be a top 25 team within five years. Woman’s BB will remain the unquestioned best program in the country. Those are goals. Those are objectives which form the basis for actions and decision making.

The problem we have is learned helplessness and a willingness to except excuses year over year. PP needs five years, Disco needs 5 years, Randy needs five years. Total unadulterated crap. Buffalo proves the point. Buffalo would annihilate UConn. Buffalo is s third world program in an biting wasteland. Yet, we can’t recruit because it’s too cold. There isn’t enough talent. The conference sucks. The stadium is too far away. The people The price of hot dugs are too high.

 

[champs99and04]

Turning the worst program in FBS around is harder than stomping your feet. Honestly, I don't think your assessment of Dave could be more off the mark. He pulled the plug on Diaco at the first possible moment it would have been reasonable to do so, swallowing a buyout that was relatively crippling to the school in the process. If anything, he's proven to be too ambitious, yet you're looking for more rah-rah at a time when all anyone can really do is hope? This idea that UConn is somehow cheaping out on revenue sports is one of the wildest I've seen conceived on here. They have an FCS roster that operates like they're in the SEC. Delusional is the word that comes to mind, when I think of Benedict, more so than passive. He's going full throttle for a program that's basically already dead and people here want him to crank it up another couple noches. Can't make this stuff up.

 

[whaler11]

Turning the worst program in FBS around is harder than stomping your feet. Honestly, I don't think your assessment of Dave could be more off the mark. He pulled the plug on Diaco at the first possible moment it would have been reasonable to do so, swallowing a buyout that was relatively crippling to the school in the process. If anything, he's proven to be too ambitious, yet you're looking for more rah-rah at a time when all anyone can really do is hope? This idea that UConn is somehow cheaping out on revenue sports is one of the wildest I've seen conceived on here. They have an FCS roster that operates like they're in the SEC. Delusional is the word that comes to mind, when I think of Benedict, more so than passive. He's going full throttle for a program that's basically already dead and people here want him to crank it up another couple noches. Can't make this stuff up.

the first time it was reasonable to pull the plug on diaco was the byu post game for the cause of being the worst coach in cfb history

as for the rest what in the ever loving hell are you talking about. the coach was paying the oc out of his own pocket. what a super aggressive play from mr ambitious

 

[champs99and04]

. the coach was paying the oc out of his own pocket. what a super aggressive play from mr ambitious

Yeah because the school is broke. Not really sure how that contradicts my point but you seem to like inventing new ways to disagree with me.

 

[whaler11]

Yeah because the school is broke. Not really sure how that contradicts my point but you seem to like inventing new ways to disagree with me.

how is he going ‘full throttle’. he is a ghost who has his coach paying the coordinators.

you are inventing new ways to say ridiculous things that make zero sense.

 

[champs99and04]

how is he going ‘full throttle’. he is a ghost who has his coach paying the coordinators.

you are inventing new ways to say ridiculous things that make zero sense.

Having your coach pay the coordinators is exactly the type of thing an unstable person does when they're trying to amend for a prior mistake. The OP is painting him as someone who lacks urgency and I'm saying just the opposite. His decision making has been compulsive and irresponsible, if anything.

 

[CL82]

Yeah because the school is broke. Not really sure how that contradicts my point but you seem to like inventing new ways to disagree with me.

The school is hardly broke. The athletic dept is running a big ass deficit. Those are different things.

 

[champs99and04]

The school is hardly broke. The athletic dept is running a big ass deficit. Those are different things.

They're different things in the sense that it'll take some time for the school to feel the full effects of that deficit, but the two have always been jointed at the hip. If the AD is running that sort of deficit, the school itself isn't typically on the cusp of a financial windfall. The spike in tuition and/or other expenses that are subsidizing the football program are hardly insignificant.

 

[CL82]

They're different things in the sense that it'll take some time for the school to feel the full effects of that deficit, but the two have always been jointed at the hip. If the AD is running that sort of deficit, the school itself isn't typically on the cusp of a financial windfall. The spike in tuition and/or other expenses that are subsidizing the football program are hardly insignificant.

You realize the AD isn't taking out loans to finance our sports, right? UConn is funding the current shortfall. It couldn't do that if it was broke. The current deficit just means that the AD isn't making a profit or revenue neutral.

 

[huskyrob1]

They're different things in the sense that it'll take some time for the school to feel the full effects of that deficit, but the two have always been jointed at the hip. If the AD is running that sort of deficit, the school itself isn't typically on the cusp of a financial windfall. The spike in tuition and/or other expenses that are subsidizing the football program are hardly insignificant.

A spike in tuition??? How much and how fast? What are the numbers?

 

[CTBballfan243]

The Hurley hire was a home run. I believe Edsall was the best hire UConn could make based on what UConn can afford to pay our football coach. I am confident that Hurley will turn the basketball program around. In my opinion, the ceiling for the football program should be between 5 and 7 wins each year. I could live with that. Just be competitive in the AAC, get to a bowl game every few years. I am not expecting AAC championships in football.

 

[blue93]

The Hurley hire was a home run. I believe Edsall was the best hire UConn could make based on what UConn can afford to pay our football coach. I am confident that Hurley will turn the basketball program around. In my opinion, the ceiling for the football program should be between 5 and 7 wins each year. I could live with that. Just be competitive in the AAC, get to a bowl game every few years. I am not expecting AAC championships in football.

We were routinely above that "ceiling" a decade ago. I think 5-7 wins is a fair expectation of where the program should be when/if it turns around, but not the absolute ceiling.

 

[huskyrob1]

The Hurley hire was a home run. I believe Edsall was the best hire UConn could make based on what UConn can afford to pay our football coach. I am confident that Hurley will turn the basketball program around. In my opinion, the ceiling for the football program should be between 5 and 7 wins each year. I could live with that. Just be competitive in the AAC, get to a bowl game every few years. I am not expecting AAC championships in football.

Something we are getting for free (I think) is Hurley's father being a de facto assistant coach. He attends most practices, travels with the team, God knows what having him around does for recruiting. Sits right behind the bench at every game.

 

[RSTuthill]

Spotted at the funeral of the Dad of an AD intern recently in Bolton. So we know he is alive and we know he cares.

 

[Padutch5]

Spotted at the funeral of the Dad of an AD intern recently in Bolton. So we know he is alive and we know he cares.

He was at the entire women’s BB game last night. Sat with Geno,s wife as well in the end zone where Calhoun sat before he fell out with Ollie. Yes, he did greet a lot of fans.
Lets move onto the next topic. Nothing to see here.

 

[whaler11]

Yes everyone knows that Benedict goes to basketball games. People are referring to making public statements. Not that he doesn’t greet a couple of blue hairs in a 65 pt wbb game.

 

[glastonbury50]

The dude hired Hurley and managed to get highly rated OC to come to UConn. Yeah, we should get rid of this guy.

UConn sold itself to Hurley. A rhesus monkey could have landed him.

 

[glastonbury50]

A spike in tuition??? How much and how fast? What are the numbers?

Heard on Uconn Insider that each student pays something like a "University Fee" that is like a g that goes directly to the athletic department.

 

[zls44]

Yes everyone knows that Benedict goes to basketball games. People are referring to making public statements. Not that he doesn’t greet a couple of blue hairs in a 65 pt wbb game.

Anyone can show up at the WBB games where they're beating teams into the pavement.

Been a Season ticket holders for hockey for 6 years and can count how often I've seen him at games on no hands. Dee Rowe, meanwhile, was at a game during a snowstorm a few weeks ago and he just turned 90.

 

[zls44]

Heard on Uconn Insider that each student pays something like a "University Fee" that is like a g that goes directly to the athletic department.

I think its actually $450

 

[Drew]

I think its actually $450

Tack on another $500 if you want to use the new student rec center beginning next fall