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UConn Needs to Get its Swagger Back
by Mark Blaudshaun • February 12, 2016
Sometime in the next few days, UConn President Susan Herbst will get a list of potential new athletic directors from the Parker Executive Search firm.
The list will be filled with qualified people, most likely including athletic director from Mid-American schools such as Bowling Green’s Chris Kingston or Eastern Michigan’s Heather Lyke or Kent State’s Joel Nielson. There could be a name like VCU’s Ed McLaughlin, who has New England routes (BC, Natick) and was in the mix for previous openings at BC and UMass. There might be someone like Kansas Deputy AD Sean Lester, who also has UConn ties or Nevada’s Doug Knuth, who also has a UConn pedigree or Colorado State’s Joe Parker.
Maybe Northern Illinois, another MAC school, will have another potential landing spot for AD Sean Frazier.
None of them will raise the excitement level among UConn backers, who are fretting over an athletic program that is missing what made UConn so special for so many years: a sense of Swagger.
Much has been made–too much perhaps in terms of ability to make it happen–over UConn’s not-so subtle flirtation of getting into a Power 5 conference (Big 12).
The next UConn AD will play a key role in that quest, but only in terms of making it work if it does happen.
What is more essential is for UConn to regain the sense of entitlement which was felt during the tenure of former UConn men’s coach Jim Calhoun.
When UConn went anywhere it represented the state of Connecticut. It was UCONN. Adding to the mystique was the affiliation with the Big East. UConn-Georgetown UConn-Syracuse, UConn-Villanova, UConn-Providence, UConn-St. John’s, UConn-Boston College were events as much as they were games.
You knew UConn was in the building, from its large media contingent, to its basketball coach to its players who were of Final Four quality more often than not.
The sense of anticipation matched what happened on the court. Calhoun retired, UConn is now part of the American Athletic Conference.
UConn-Tulsa, UConn-UCF, UConn-East Carolina doesn’t have the same buzz. UConn is only two years removed from winning the men’s national championship. But something is missing.
The UConn women under Geno Auriema have continued to proudly carry the Huskie banner as a swagger program, but that is not enough especially when men’s basketball and football have lost whatever mojo they had.
UConn football did make it to the Fiesta Bowl under Randy Edsall, which remains one of the more remarkable accomplishments in UConn sports history, no matter what the parameters were.
There is no guarantee that UConn will be able to make a move to a Power 5 conference which is part of the problem in attracting candidates for the AD job and most likely the men’s basketball job in the near future.
Don’t bet against UConn coach Kevin Ollie finding an alliance with NBA superstar Kevin Durant at a new team. The morning line rumor odds of Durant and Ollie winding up next season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
But the more pressing problem is how does UConn become UCONN again. It will start with the new AD and unless Herbst can pull a name out of the box that will cause a stir(the NCAA’s Danny Gavitt would fit that description), the list that she will get next week is not likely to kick in the “wow” factor.
Which then creates another issue. Herbst has always been a fast forward type of person in her actions. Her instincts will be to fill the role of AD sooner rather than later, as she also deals with budget issues in other University areas.
But what if the right person is not on the list she has in front of her?
How long can and will Herbst wait to find that person? And given the uncertain status of UConn’s quest to move back to the fast lane of college athletics, what if the top candidates choose to pass on making the move? Will Herbst be able to “settle” for a candidate?
Herbst must juggle these issues and questions and she might have to fight off her instincts to move quickly.
These are crucial times for the future of UConn athletics, but no matter what happens, an even more important issue is finding a way for UConn to become UCONN once again.
© 2016, Mark. All rights reserved
by Mark Blaudshaun • February 12, 2016
Sometime in the next few days, UConn President Susan Herbst will get a list of potential new athletic directors from the Parker Executive Search firm.
The list will be filled with qualified people, most likely including athletic director from Mid-American schools such as Bowling Green’s Chris Kingston or Eastern Michigan’s Heather Lyke or Kent State’s Joel Nielson. There could be a name like VCU’s Ed McLaughlin, who has New England routes (BC, Natick) and was in the mix for previous openings at BC and UMass. There might be someone like Kansas Deputy AD Sean Lester, who also has UConn ties or Nevada’s Doug Knuth, who also has a UConn pedigree or Colorado State’s Joe Parker.
Maybe Northern Illinois, another MAC school, will have another potential landing spot for AD Sean Frazier.
None of them will raise the excitement level among UConn backers, who are fretting over an athletic program that is missing what made UConn so special for so many years: a sense of Swagger.
Much has been made–too much perhaps in terms of ability to make it happen–over UConn’s not-so subtle flirtation of getting into a Power 5 conference (Big 12).
The next UConn AD will play a key role in that quest, but only in terms of making it work if it does happen.
What is more essential is for UConn to regain the sense of entitlement which was felt during the tenure of former UConn men’s coach Jim Calhoun.
When UConn went anywhere it represented the state of Connecticut. It was UCONN. Adding to the mystique was the affiliation with the Big East. UConn-Georgetown UConn-Syracuse, UConn-Villanova, UConn-Providence, UConn-St. John’s, UConn-Boston College were events as much as they were games.
You knew UConn was in the building, from its large media contingent, to its basketball coach to its players who were of Final Four quality more often than not.
The sense of anticipation matched what happened on the court. Calhoun retired, UConn is now part of the American Athletic Conference.
UConn-Tulsa, UConn-UCF, UConn-East Carolina doesn’t have the same buzz. UConn is only two years removed from winning the men’s national championship. But something is missing.
The UConn women under Geno Auriema have continued to proudly carry the Huskie banner as a swagger program, but that is not enough especially when men’s basketball and football have lost whatever mojo they had.
UConn football did make it to the Fiesta Bowl under Randy Edsall, which remains one of the more remarkable accomplishments in UConn sports history, no matter what the parameters were.
There is no guarantee that UConn will be able to make a move to a Power 5 conference which is part of the problem in attracting candidates for the AD job and most likely the men’s basketball job in the near future.
Don’t bet against UConn coach Kevin Ollie finding an alliance with NBA superstar Kevin Durant at a new team. The morning line rumor odds of Durant and Ollie winding up next season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
But the more pressing problem is how does UConn become UCONN again. It will start with the new AD and unless Herbst can pull a name out of the box that will cause a stir(the NCAA’s Danny Gavitt would fit that description), the list that she will get next week is not likely to kick in the “wow” factor.
Which then creates another issue. Herbst has always been a fast forward type of person in her actions. Her instincts will be to fill the role of AD sooner rather than later, as she also deals with budget issues in other University areas.
But what if the right person is not on the list she has in front of her?
How long can and will Herbst wait to find that person? And given the uncertain status of UConn’s quest to move back to the fast lane of college athletics, what if the top candidates choose to pass on making the move? Will Herbst be able to “settle” for a candidate?
Herbst must juggle these issues and questions and she might have to fight off her instincts to move quickly.
These are crucial times for the future of UConn athletics, but no matter what happens, an even more important issue is finding a way for UConn to become UCONN once again.
© 2016, Mark. All rights reserved
