Is it Time for Dave Benedict to Find a New Job?

[LoyalFanCT]

UConn sports does not seem to have improved with David Benedict as athletic director. UConn football was awful last season. The once mighty UConn men's basketball team was mediocre. And UConn WM basketball just lost a heart breaker to Notre Dame. The men's hockey team struggled despite having talent. Field Hockey fell apart in OT against Maryland in the NCAAs. Baseball may become our one hope. Is it time for Benedict to find another job? Isn't he supposed to give leadership to the overall program? If we don't get better soon, UConn won't even be on the radar screen if an opening comes in a P5 conference.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[Adios]

We must have the most emo fanbase in the country.

 

[Alum86]

Medic is a homer. What’s with that GIF? Legitimate question met with something trying to marginalize

 

[whaler11]

We must have the most emo fanbase in the country.

Sure the football team is 21-79 this decade, the MBB team has three straight losing seasons, the AD is bleeding 40+ million annually...

I think the EMO fans are the issue.

 

[Adios]

Sure the football team is 21-79 this decade, the MBB team has three straight losing seasons, the AD is bleeding 40+ million annually...

I think the EMO fans are the issue.

Apart from football.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Here's one guy that if we paid enough -- and he wouldn't come cheap -- may be able to turn things around at UConn:
Kirby Hocutt AD at Texas Tech.
Another one is Jamie Pollard AD at Iowa State.
Don't like these names please list some others.

 

[metsfan2323]

UConn sports does not seem to have improved with David Benedict as athletic director. UConn football was awful last season. The once mighty UConn men's basketball team was mediocre. And UConn WM basketball just lost a heart breaker to Notre Dame. The men's hockey team struggled despite having talent. Field Hockey fell apart in OT against Maryland in the NCAAs. Baseball may become our one hope. Is it time for Benedict to find another job? Isn't he supposed to give leadership to the overall program? If we don't get better soon, UConn won't even be on the radar screen if an opening comes in a P5 conference.

So in your mind Jeff Hathaway must have won Men's BB championships in 2004 and 2011 and taken UCONN football to the Fiesta bowl in 2010. We need more thinkers like you.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

So in your mind Jeff Hathaway must have won Men's BB championships in 2004 and 2011 and taken UCONN football to the Fiesta bowl in 2010. We need more thinkers like you.

Of course it was John Toner who hired both Geno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun. Lew Perkins hired Randy Edsall the first time. Toner and Perkins were well-respected ADs by their colleagues. Hathaway hired Paul Pasqualoni -- and we know how that turned out.

 

[UCFBfan]

UConn sports does not seem to have improved with David Benedict as athletic director. UConn football was awful last season. The once mighty UConn men's basketball team was mediocre. And UConn WM basketball just lost a heart breaker to Notre Dame. The men's hockey team struggled despite having talent. Field Hockey fell apart in OT against Maryland in the NCAAs. Baseball may become our one hope. Is it time for Benedict to find another job? Isn't he supposed to give leadership to the overall program? If we don't get better soon, UConn won't even be on the radar screen if an opening comes in a P5 conference.

I hate myself for even replying to this....

Football
-Inherited the Diaco mess and fired him, as he should.
-Brought in RE on the cheap
-Hasn't panned out
Grade: D (only because he fired Diaco)

Men's Basketball
-Was handed KO and successful program at time
-Personal issues in KO's life caused coaching and team to plummet.
-Let KO go through a possible loop (who knows)
-Hires Hurley
Grade: A- (Need to see more from Hurley)

W Basketball
-We have Geno
-Shut Up about us losing. Programs would kill to have a coach reach the Final Four 20 times in their career
Grade: A+ (Only because he has stayed away and let Geno be Geno)

So I'm not saying AD Dave is the right guy. Just saying he was dealt a crappy hand and outside his football hire, he's done ok with the only thing he can control, coaches.

 

[polycom]

We don’t have a sports culture in CT... why is the expectation that past performance is indicative of future success.

 

[metsfan2323]

Of course it was John Toner who hired both Geno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun. Lew Perkins hired Randy Edsall the first time. Toner and Perkins were well-respected ADs by their colleagues. Hathaway hired Paul Pasqualoni -- and we know how that turned out.

Based on this response and your original post one must conclude that you are of the opinion that Hurley and Edsall were bad hires and you think AD Dave should have already canned Geno and the hockey coach for letting their programs slip.

or maybe since you posted this nonsense in the football forum your beef is really just about football and the rest was a drunken diatribe after a tough loss to ND.

If its just football its important to note that you just gave Lew Perkins credit for hiring Edsall the first time around. You may have forgotten that Edsall 1.0 got off to a very slow if not bad start before we started to see success. The last two years of UCONN football have indeed been painful but IMO the current roster is much more talented than the one Edsall inherited from Debacle. I'm still hopeful that we get an Edsall 2.O rally just like the first time around.

 

[Exit 4]

I think we should put our next AD in a stockade on campus where they stay until we start winning. That should be the deal- we need to motivate and show them we are serious. Sounds logical, right?

 

[BlueandOG]

Medic is a homer. What’s with that GIF? Legitimate question met with something trying to marginalize

I think Medic is indicating that the thread should be interesting as the clip, I assume one of him and his pet raccoon, are enjoying popcorn in anticipation of being entertained. Medic is awesome. Shame on you.

 

[uconndogs]

I don’t understand the OP. Should we hold DB accountable for KO and Diaco who were hired before he came on board and whom he had the good sense to replace. Or because WBB made their 100th consecutive final four, but lost last night.

Some of this stuff is mind numbing.

 

[AAC Guru]

Here's one guy that if we paid enough -- and he wouldn't come cheap -- may be able to turn things around at UConn:
Kirby Hocutt AD at Texas Tech.
Another one is Jamie Pollard AD at Iowa State.
Don't like these names please list some others.

Why would either of these guys want to leave their current positions to come to UConn?

 

[whaler11]

I don’t understand the OP. Should we hold DB accountable for KO and Diaco who were hired before he came on board and whom he had the good sense to replace. Or because WBB made their 100th consecutive final four, but lost last night.

Some of this stuff is mind numbing.

i guess if you ignore what’s hes actually done you wouldnt hold him responsible for anything

but there are an amazing number of uconn fans who refuse to hold leadership responsible for anything.

 

[JMick]

i guess if you ignore what’s hes actually done you wouldnt hold him responsible for anything

but there are an amazing number of uconn fans who refuse to hold leadership responsible for anything.

I think there's a strong argument to be made that the problems reach much higher than the athletic director. I don't think Dave's been great but everything under Susie was a disaster. If things get better after she leaves, we'll know it was her. Otherwise it might be a problem with people even higher up than her.

 

[superjohn]

We don’t have a sports culture in CT... why is the expectation that past performance is indicative of future success.

What does this mean?

 

[whaler11]

I think there's a strong argument to be made that the problems reach much higher than the athletic director. I don't think Dave's been great but everything under Susie was a disaster. If things get better after she leaves, we'll know it was her. Otherwise it might be a problem with people even higher up than her.

She is a bigger issue for sure - and maybe he really is trying to produce positive change but the results are things continue to slide into bolivion while he does nothing.

They got nothing done on the SNY thing, the seat donations seem to be designed to chase off what remaining fans they have, Edsall attempting to personally pay a coach is a complete embarassment...

and we still have lots of people who fully refuse to hold leadership responsible. we are getting what the fanbase deserves.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

I still think a decent first step would be a formal study to map a direction on how UConn could make it into the B10 or ACC. It may need to come from the governor's office. Once the report is available it would give ammunition to the AD as what steps need to be taken. The study could have as its premise that UConn should be on the top levels of college sports with a strong football program. That elite level would help UConn and the state in numerous indirect and direct ways. Being an elite sports program is expensive -- no question -- but in the long run it would pay for itself. Generally, public research-intensive universities are in P5 conferences. If the AD can't deliver armed with that report, he or she has to be accountable.

 

[superjohn]

She is a bigger issue for sure - and maybe he really is trying to produce positive change but the results are things continue to slide into bolivion while he does nothing.

They got nothing done on the SNY thing, the seat donations seem to be designed to chase off what remaining fans they have, Edsall attempting to personally pay a coach is a complete embarassment...

and we still have lots of people who fully refuse to hold leadership responsible. we are getting what the fanbase deserves.

It's shocking how terrible she's been, didn't she come in with a great rep?

 

[Chin Diesel]

We don’t have a sports culture in CT... why is the expectation that past performance is indicative of future success.

What does this mean?

I think it's fair to say Connecticut doesn't live and die or identify with college sports like many fans of P5 institutions.

 

[whaler11]

It's shocking how terrible she's been, didn't she come in with a great rep?

she came in saying sports is the front porch blah blah blah and then spent her time lighting bags of feces on the porch

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Susan Herbst may not have dealt successfully with some of the long-term challenges at UConn -- such as the inability to get into a P5 conference, the relatively low endowment, the lack of superstar professors (Nobel prize winners, etc.), not being in the AAU, the inability to connect closer to Connecticut's business community, and the need to renovate many buildings and dorms -- Monteith, Arjona, the Jungle, etc. These are long-term goals that hopefully the next president will address. But she has made UConn a better place in smaller ways. The school's impressive freshmen orientation program, engaging learning centers in the dorms, improvements in the Honors Program, improving the basic quality found among the students and faculty -- happened in her tenure. She should be accountable for her failures but also praised for her successes.