'It has immense resources to offer as a state’s flagship school

[J187Money]

I think to a large extent you guys are undervaluing this job. It isn't USC but if you look at what it brings to the table it is pretty damned good. Facilities are among the top 10 in the country. Fan base is not bad and even in a bad year our worst attended game will be better than a typical game at most AAC, MAC and Sunbelt schools and if the new coach starts to turn the corner, 35,000 will be standard, with a few sell outs for important or big games. And while there are expectations, the fans won't shoot your dog or picket your house if you don't win. And this is an athletic Department that has historically been very supportive of its coaches and given them what they need to succeed. You don't win national championships in multiple sports without that. Just since 2000 UConn has won national championships in mens and womens basketball, mens soccer, and now field hockey and has produced multiple Olympians in track and field and swimming. This has been a very supportive athletic department and university for athletics and that makes it a pretty attractive place for a coach.

Right. But Football people don't seem to really care about anything other than Football. And even a place like Indiana draws more than 40K/game and they rarely win. Part of that is probably fans of the away teams since most of the B1G schools are B1G draws, but they drew 40K for Indiana State for their home opener (which was also a Thursday night - the same night that Towson beat us). It is clearly better than any MAC of CUSA job just given the size of the school, the facilities, and what we can pay. It just isn't automatically better than even a low-end B1G job, which is what guys like Lembo are aspiring to.

 

[SubbaBub]

I think the underrated challenge with the job is the expectations of the fanbase. It's certainly a job with a lot of potential but when you've got almost no natural recruiting grounds, locally have to compete with Big 10 and ACC programs for players and very little tradition to sell - the definition of short and medium term success needs to be calibrated correctly.

Winning 7-8 games a year consistently and growing from there is success. Expecting anyone to make UConn nationally relevant in the near term is ridiculous.

I don't think the expectations are much more than that. Win 7-8 consistently, compete for and win conference, make some top 25 noise and win some bigger games.

If that's not the minimum goal, then what are we doing?

 

[whaler11]

I don't think the expectations are much more than that. Win 7-8 consistently, compete for and win conference, make some top 25 noise and win some bigger games.

If that's not the minimum goal, then what are we doing?

Weird how despised Edsall was by many then isn't it?

 

[noeynox]

Weird how despised Edsall was by many then isn't it?

Don't forget to factor in the douchery factor. According to Edsall, UConn fans should have no expectations, because there was no history.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Weird how despised Edsall was by many then isn't it?

I always found it ironic that that one legit knock on Edsall (his record against top 25 teams) was the one thing that was mostly ignored by his critics.

 

[noeynox]

I always found it ironic that that one legit knock on Edsall (his record against top 25 teams) was the one thing that was mostly ignored by his critics.

How many wins has he garnered against top 25 schools since he left? Cause that record was obviously caused by him being at UConn and not his coaching, it seems.

 

[noeynox]

I don't think the expectations are much more than that. Win 7-8 consistently, compete for and win conference, make some top 25 noise and win some bigger games.

If that's not the minimum goal, then what are we doing?

The goal now, has to include to be in contention to get the highest ranking in the group of 5. Good paying job, great facilities, the coach has to over come the infertile recruiting ground argument.

 

[Waquoit]

I don't think the expectations are much more than that.

Exactly. Edsall parlayed an 8-win season that included a pasting by Temple into his dream job.

 

[J187Money]

Exactly. Edsall parlayed an 8-win season that included a pasting by Temple into his dream job.

Again with the Temple game. Ugh.

 

[freescooter]

Right. But Football people don't seem to really care about anything other than Football. And even a place like Indiana draws more than 40K/game and they rarely win. Part of that is probably fans of the away teams since most of the B1G schools are B1G draws, but they drew 40K for Indiana State for their home opener (which was also a Thursday night - the same night that Towson beat us). It is clearly better than any MAC of CUSA job just given the size of the school, the facilities, and what we can pay. It just isn't automatically better than even a low-end B1G job, which is what guys like Lembo are aspiring to.

I'm not sure about any of that. I think football guys, if they are looking at somewhere other than Notre Dame, Michigan, Texas and so forth, also look to see if they can be successful and they'll try and gauge that by looking at how supportive the school will be of their undertakings. If you want to compete at a high level are you likely to get the tools you need? And compared to lots of places the answer is that at UConn you'll get that support. When the AD says we're looking for someone with "private school experience" you know he's going to ask you to go without, whether it be certain facilities, or admission concessions or whatever. I think it probably is better than a low end Big, in part because with success, which is more likely, you can end up at a high end Big. At Indiana, you're looking at a nice run that end with you either as a DC at a major program or a talking head on ESPN. On the other hand, of course, if you don't succeed at UConn you may end up on ESPN3 doing sideline reports...

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Bloomington is pop. 90k with half of them students. IU system is 110K+... +Indianapolis.

 

[J187Money]

Bloomington is pop. 90k with half of them students. IU system is 110K+... +Indianapolis.

Greater Hartford = 1.2M people

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Hartford

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I'm actually very surprised to hear Indiana's attendance numbers this year. 40k plus their lowest total against Indiana State? Not bad.

 

[rich1122]

I am to the point where I will be surprised if Weist does not get the job. Especially if we clobber Memphis.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I am to the point where I will be surprised if Weist does not get the job. Especially if we clobber Memphis.

I'm perfectly fine with that. Just as long as you are nowhere near the actual decision making process.

 

[J187Money]

I'm actually very surprised to hear Indiana's attendance numbers this year. 40k plus their lowest total against Indiana State? Not bad.

So was I.

 

[ZooCougar]

I think the underrated challenge with the job is the expectations of the fanbase. It's certainly a job with a lot of potential but when you've got almost no natural recruiting grounds, locally have to compete with Big 10 and ACC programs for players and very little tradition to sell - the definition of short and medium term success needs to be calibrated correctly.

Winning 7-8 games a year consistently and growing from there is success. Expecting anyone to make UConn nationally relevant in the near term is ridiculous.

Success is nothing less than winning the AAC routinely. Because Looking too good to ignore, and getting plucked out of this conference is the endstate we want.

Replicating Edsall's mediocre record in a worse conference isn't going to get us where we need to be.

i

I don't think the expectations are much more than that. Win 7-8 consistently, compete for and win conference, make some top 25 noise and win some bigger games.

If that's not the minimum goal, then what are we doing?

 

[ZooCougar]

Weird how despised Edsall was by many then isn't it?

Not really. He was a complete c67Ksu^&ker. And he had the personality of a broken surfboard. His 1980s era Penn State Offense set the conditions for this fiasco. Nice leaving us January when our idiot AD who couldn't find a football coach in a stadium if his life depended on it so that he ended up hiring two retread hacks who almost destroyed UConn Football.

Apologist.

 

[UConn Dan]

Nice leaving us January when our idiot AD who couldn't find a football coach in a stadium if his life depended on it so that he ended up hiring two retread hacks who almost destroyed UConn Football.

Apologist.

Unfortunately, the jury is still out on the almost part.

 

[ZooCougar]

The goal should be complete and utter domination of the conference by leveraging our supposed "immense resources".

7-8 wins ain't gonna cut. We need double digits and basketball scores and players that every kid in New England knows. Leave no doubt.

The last thing we need is a return to the risk averse Edsall days where we played to not lose.

 

[J187Money]

The goal should be complete and utter domination of the conference by leveraging our supposed "immense resources". 7-8 wins ain't gonna cut. We need double digits and basketball scores and players that every kid in New England knows. Leave no doubt. The last thing we need is a return to the risk averse Edsall days where we played to not lose.

1000%. In this conference the bar should be how the WBB team abuses people with no shame.

 

[rich1122]

IN front of our half filled 25,000 seat stadium we are going nowhere even if we are 20-0. Get used to the AAC.

 

[uconnell]

IN front of our half filled 25,000 seat stadium we are going nowhere even if we are 20-0. Get used to the AAC.

You mean like Pitt or BC?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

IN front of our half filled 25,000 seat stadium we are going nowhere even if we are 20-0. Get used to the AAC.

Are things really that miserable for you? It was a cute joke for the first 450 - 500 times, once you repeated it 2,000 times it became annoying. Now that you've passed 5,000 it has become sad.

 

[noeynox]

Are things really that miserable for you? It was a cute joke for the first 450 - 500 times, once you repeated it 2,000 times it became annoying. Now that you've passed 5,000 it has become sad.

It really is sad. We still have 22k, through the turnstiles during miserable season, on Thanksgiving weekend, on a freezing day. Get this back up to a respectable level, with entertaining football, and you'll see what this could become.