Jason Candle - WFSB interview (1/20/26)

[NobodyKnows]

New interview where Candle gives update on why he’s been quiet. Obviously because he’s been recruiting and setting up his staff.

This one is for all the people who were worried early that they haven’t heard from him.

Nice to see him reiterate that he’s not threatened that UConn is a basketball school and he’ll use it to his advantage

 

[Jetskies]

joe zone says something about "the hard truth that uconn is a basketball school first"

i know that's common speak, but is that true?
Jim Mora was tasked with making us a football school - he set that train in motion.
Candle must continue, but Zone's claim makes it sound like UConn believes that about itself, and Jim Mora was just a stubborn mind who would not accept that "reality"... and also that candle is fine with that "reality".

i thought UConn was circumstantially a basketball school, but in its heart it wants to be a powerhouse all-around, ie. a true P4 in its overall profile, even if we haven't been called up yet.

Feel like narratives like that hurt us more than help us, Joe Zone.

 

[Husky68]

joe zone says something about "the hard truth that uconn is a basketball school first"

i know that's common speak, but is that true?
Jim Mora was tasked with making us a football school - he set that train in motion.
Candle must continue, but Zone's claim makes it sound like UConn believes that about itself, and Jim Mora was just a stubborn mind who would not accept that "reality"... and also that candle is fine with that "reality".

i thought UConn was circumstantially a basketball school, but in its heart it wants to be a powerhouse all-around, ie. a true P4 in its overall profile, even if we haven't been called up yet.

Feel like narratives like that hurt us more than help us, Joe Zone.

Isn't Indiana a basketball school?

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

The basketball school thing is kind of nonsense. The only reason we are not a “football school” is because we haven’t won at a high level in football.

UConn has a large alumni base and sits in an area with a huge football culture between the Patriots/Giants/Jets. If the program wins at a high level, the people will come.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Like being punished for not just successful in BB but dominant.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

joe zone says something about "the hard truth that uconn is a basketball school first"

i know that's common speak, but is that true?
Jim Mora was tasked with making us a football school - he set that train in motion.
Candle must continue, but Zone's claim makes it sound like UConn believes that about itself, and Jim Mora was just a stubborn mind who would not accept that "reality"... and also that candle is fine with that "reality".

i thought UConn was circumstantially a basketball school, but in its heart it wants to be a powerhouse all-around, ie. a true P4 in its overall profile, even if we haven't been called up yet.

Feel like narratives like that hurt us more than help us, Joe Zone.

Joe Zone seems like a nice guy but not the brightest bulb in the bunch. It's so silly to throw around the basketball school tag, the football school tag, etc but people love the simple tags.

 

[ZooCougar]

joe zone says something about "the hard truth that uconn is a basketball school first"

i know that's common speak, but is that true?
Jim Mora was tasked with making us a football school - he set that train in motion.
Candle must continue, but Zone's claim makes it sound like UConn believes that about itself, and Jim Mora was just a stubborn mind who would not accept that "reality"... and also that candle is fine with that "reality".

i thought UConn was circumstantially a basketball school, but in its heart it wants to be a powerhouse all-around, ie. a true P4 in its overall profile, even if we haven't been called up yet.

Feel like narratives like that hurt us more than help us, Joe Zone.

Mora was tasked to make this a football school?

That’s a questionable comment.

Based on what Candle has done so far I would say it’s hard to not think we have upgraded.

 

[LBird33]

Joe Zone seems like a nice guy but not the brightest bulb in the bunch. It's so silly to throw around the basketball school tag, the football school tag, etc but people love the simple tags.

Just the fact that his summary about recruiting players makes no mention of the p2 recruits we have picked up speaks volumes on how little Joe understands about the football program. Agree nice guy but not well versed

 

[Palatine]

It's true that UConn is basketball school. Natty's and Hall of Famers prove that.

But it's not a "hard truth." It's one everyone associated with the university embraces and celebrates including people in the Burton.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

There are quite a few fans who are (barely) willing to tolerate our football pursuits 'as long as it won't impact basketball '. I sensed a bit of catering to that mindset by the interviewer.

He may have been catering to what he perceived as his audience or it may have been him subconsciously revealing his view. Regardless, a significant enough portion of our fanbase where it could be a problem needs to become fans of the entire athletic department, not merely one ir two programs.

 

[husky429]

This isn't the SEC south. We're New Englanders. If we win at a high level, the fans will come.

 

[Skiblets]

Thx for posting but Jesus that was a waste of time. He answered one question

 

[jostar1]

joe zone says something about "the hard truth that uconn is a basketball school first"

i know that's common speak, but is that true?
Jim Mora was tasked with making us a football school - he set that train in motion.
Candle must continue, but Zone's claim makes it sound like UConn believes that about itself, and Jim Mora was just a stubborn mind who would not accept that "reality"... and also that candle is fine with that "reality".

i thought UConn was circumstantially a basketball school, but in its heart it wants to be a powerhouse all-around, ie. a true P4 in its overall profile, even if we haven't been called up yet.

Feel like narratives like that hurt us more than help us, Joe Zone.

I agree. I wish Joe Zone hadn't taken that angle.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The basketball school thing is kind of nonsense. The only reason we are not a “football school” is because we haven’t won at a high level in football.

UConn has a large alumni base and sits in an area with a huge football culture between the Patriots/Giants/Jets. If the program wins at a high level, the people will come.

That's why you have to win here. Professional sports loyalties also exist relatively close by. You can't be a Honda Fit divining down the highway between two tractor trailers.

 

[coachcap]

Supposedly the full interview will be broadcast Friday on Channel 3 at 7 p.m. & repeated on the WAX at 7:30...

 

[ZooCougar]

Thx for posting but Jesus that was a waste of time. He answered one question

It was just a teaser for the full interview.

There is not really enough there to draw many conclusions.

As far as I can tell, Candle appreciates that the National Powerhouse basketball program and he thinks that is something that can be leveraged for football.

That’s what he meant by leaning into it.

Mora cried about the basketball program while skiing in Sun Valley 3-4 months a year.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

That's why you have to win here. Professional sports loyalties also exist relatively close by. You can't be a Honda Fit divining down the highway between two tractor trailers.

For sure, but fortunately for us the Giants/Jets are more like smart cars than tractor trailers.

Regardless, the point is that there is a love for football in this region. Just like there is basketball. It just needs tapping into. And it will take time. Even if UConn football starts winning, it will take years to build that emotional connection and loyalty/living and dying with every play like we do with UConn basketball. But it can happen.

 

[freescooter]

I think there is some understandable bitterness toward Jim Mora and the way he left and that is understandable. But I also think that Joe Zone and others badly misrepresent what he did here.

Mora wasn’t brought to make us a football school. He was brought in to make football successful again which was no small task after the way it was mismanaged for over a decade. Since appearing in the Fiesta Bowl UConn had had no winning seasons and only 1 .500 one. The last 3 were really horrible. Mora was brought in to turn that around. And I think he was much more successful than most people are willing to concede. When he was announced if he had said he’d get the team to 3 bowls in 4 years, beat BC 2 out of 3 times, win 9 games/year, have a quarterback and a wide receiver ranked highly, and get votes in the top 25 he would have more likely been taken to CVH than
Shenkman.

Mora did many things in his 4 years here. A huge one was he modernized the football operational infrastructure to reflect the sport in 2020 s. He also made the program relevant and even nationally recognized. 3 bowls in 4 years, victories over multiple P4 opponents, votes in the Top 25, public interest returning. Anyone who was at the Duke game knows he did what he came to do. Candle has a far better platform to begin his UConn career as a result of the things Mora set in place than what existed before he did his thing.

 

[Skiblets]

It’s just kinda hard to take Joe Zone seriously

 

[Samoo]

I think there is some understandable bitterness toward Jim Mora and the way he left and that is understandable. But I also think that Joe Zone and others badly misrepresent what he did here.

Mora wasn’t brought to make us a football school. He was brought in to make football successful again which was no small task after the way it was mismanaged for over a decade. Since appearing in the Fiesta Bowl UConn had had no winning seasons and only 1 .500 one. The last 3 were really horrible. Mora was brought in to turn that around. And I think he was much more successful than most people are willing to concede. When he was announced if he had said he’d get the team to 3 bowls in 4 years, beat BC 2 out of 3 times, win 9 games/year, have a quarterback and a wide receiver ranked highly, and get votes in the top 25 he would have more likely been taken to CVH than
Shenkman.

Mora did many things in his 4 years here. A huge one was he modernized the football operational infrastructure to reflect the sport in 2020 s. He also made the program relevant and even nationally recognized. 3 bowls in 4 years, victories over multiple P4 opponents, votes in the Top 25, public interest returning. Anyone who was at the Duke game knows he did what he came to do. Candle has a far better platform to begin his UConn career as a result of the things Mora set in place than what existed before he did his thing.

Mora took a collapsed house on an overgrown lot, tore it down, cleared the lot and poured a solid foundation. According to some, he left in the middle of the job; I'm thinking Dave might have just hired him for that purpose.

HCJC2 has so far assembled what appear to be good building materials. He's known as a solid contractor working on smaller scale projects. Let's see if he can build us our dream home.

 

[Jetskies]

for the record, I took the "football school" language from Jim Mora's language he used in his early days during pressers. I am not sure why this is a polarizing thing to say...

It's up for interpretation, but I took his language to say that he aimed to make UConn a football school in addition to what it already had; not as a replacement for what it was/is good at. Not sure if that clarification helps, and maybe i'm still wrong.


I think we're saying the same thing, but in different ways. I have noticed much of the disagreement and back/forth between us ends up being that, lol

 

[Alum1620]

I think his friends comments lead to a lot of the animosity as it sounded as someone who now’s nothing of the program deeming it and the football school thing was mentioned as if he hated the fact that UConn basketball is really successful

 

[Kembafan]

I think there is some understandable bitterness toward Jim Mora and the way he left and that is understandable. But I also think that Joe Zone and others badly misrepresent what he did here.

Mora wasn’t brought to make us a football school. He was brought in to make football successful again which was no small task after the way it was mismanaged for over a decade. Since appearing in the Fiesta Bowl UConn had had no winning seasons and only 1 .500 one. The last 3 were really horrible. Mora was brought in to turn that around. And I think he was much more successful than most people are willing to concede. When he was announced if he had said he’d get the team to 3 bowls in 4 years, beat BC 2 out of 3 times, win 9 games/year, have a quarterback and a wide receiver ranked highly, and get votes in the top 25 he would have more likely been taken to CVH than
Shenkman.

Mora did many things in his 4 years here. A huge one was he modernized the football operational infrastructure to reflect the sport in 2020 s. He also made the program relevant and even nationally recognized. 3 bowls in 4 years, victories over multiple P4 opponents, votes in the Top 25, public interest returning. Anyone who was at the Duke game knows he did what he came to do. Candle has a far better platform to begin his UConn career as a result of the things Mora set in place than what existed before he did his thing.

1000% agree. I would also add that Mora was instrumental in getting the administration and donors to invest in football. He was a GREAT advocate for the program and that’s more than half the battle at UConn.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

New interview where Candle gives update on why he’s been quiet. Obviously because he’s been recruiting and setting up his staff.

This one is for all the people who were worried early that they haven’t heard from him.

Nice to see him reiterate that he’s not threatened that UConn is a basketball school and he’ll use it to his advantage

Actually…Candle didn’t say what he has been doing….Joe Zone said what Candle was doing. Only thing Candle talked about was the basketball school piece…in which his comments were spot on.

 

[Purple Stein]

Joe Zone has a whole Brad Davis thing going on here.