Jim Mora’s new staff coming together…

[Ajs120102]

I am hopeful that we find out the last few staff members today. Very interested in who the DC and O-Line coaches will be.

Curious if Mora thought about being DC himself lol

 

[Pudge]

i believe if you come from FCS to FBS you don't need to sit a year, don't know if it works both ways

I believe you have that backwards. It was always a free transfer from FBS to FCS. The rules and the "Single Transfer" conversation of the last few years have me confused on the current state of eligibility

 

[huskysupporter]

Not easy to break. A lot of top ct players ended up at Michigan, ND ,Penn State etc. Not easy to convince kid to come to UConn or play in front of 90;000 at the big house.

I don’t think UCONN is going to get the four and five star kids. Just not going to happen. But there are solid three stars here that we constantly lose (some of this has been because of admission standards)

We need to get those kids to stay.

So happy Victor Rosa is apparently still firmly committed. He is going to be a solid player.

 

[RSTuthill]

We need to get those kids to stay.

That is exactly the problem. Retention is the key. That is why the coaching staff narrative is critical. The value proposition to the prospective and current SA is that this is an exceptional coaching staff coming in and UConn has world class facilities. We are building something special and you should be part of it. This program was great at one time and will be again. And oh, btw, for the exceptional SA there are minutes on the field right now that are available here immediately and just about nowhere else. If you want to maximize the speed of your development, UConn is the place to do that.

That value proposition has a shelf life of perhaps one to two years maximum. Either the program improves in non-linear fashion, in which case the competition for minutes will become fierce like everywhere else, or improvements stall and the pitch will not resonate.

 

[TRest]

I believe you have that backwards. It was always a free transfer from FBSto FCS. The rules and the "Single Transfer" conversation of the last few years have me confused on the current state of eligibility

yeah typed that backwards

 

[Jimdish255]

Following some of these social media accounts this thing seems to be blowing up in a really good way. Starting to think we can get back to where we were in my lifetime. Some of the games were such misery watching stubborn Coaches drive our kids into the ground, then getting hammered mercilessly by the sports media and internet trolls. We've been through a lot and deserve to put some humble pie on the menu for the gravediggers contingent. Start having fun again.

 

[Jimdish255]

I am hopeful that we find out the last few staff members today. Very interested in who the DC and O-Line coaches will be.

Wondering if Jim has guys in mind for both but needs to sweeten the deal. These are huge hires for us.

 

[HobokenHusky]

DC - Corey Hetherman? JMU DC, was at Maine with Charlton for a bit. Guy is a rising star.

 

[hardcorehusky]

Here's what has also changed in terms of in state recruits- NIL. Mora has to have a plan to help kids with that. Will make a major dent with playing time and NIL opportunities

 

[Exit 4]

Not easy to break. A lot of top ct players ended up at Michigan, ND ,Penn State etc. Not easy to convince kid to come to UConn or play in front of 90;000 at the big house.

Not getting those kids...but I want to improve our chances to get them when they portal out.

And I want to do better at getting that next tier down (lower P5).

There is a fair amount of decent talent ranked 5 through 15 in our state that we haven't been getting a shot at.

 

[AD DB Burner]

Not getting those kids...but I want to improve our chances to get them when they portal out.

And I want to do better at getting that next tier down (lower P5).

There is a fair amount of decent talent ranked 5 through 15 in our state that we haven't been getting a shot at.

All of this. Especially the line on the portal. Getting in early on those types of kids is important to establish a relationship should things not work out as they hoped at these big-time programs and they are looking for a new home and most importantly a chance to see the field.

 

[UCMB88]

Wondering if Jim has guys in mind for both but needs to sweeten the deal. These are huge hires for us.

I'm guessing Mora has the remaining coaches selected, but they are most likely with teams who will be playing in bowl games, so the announcements won't come until after the bowl games when those assistants can formally leave their current school.

 

[Ajs120102]

I'm guessing Mora has the remaining coaches selected, but they are most likely with teams who will be playing in bowl games, so the announcements won't come until after the bowl games when those assistants can formally leave their current school.

a few more weeks without a potential DC is suboptimal.

 

[Chin Diesel]

a few more weeks without a potential DC is suboptimal.

Suboptimal but doable.

If Mora really does know the name, he and the named assistants can start laying groundwork. Some recruits may be okay with being recruited by the position coach and the HC while waiting for the DC.

As a recruit you have to have some semblance of knowing the DC will support the HC's objective. Especially true when the HC has a defensive background.

 

[metsfan2323]

I'm guessing Mora has the remaining coaches selected, but they are most likely with teams who will be playing in bowl games, so the announcements won't come until after the bowl games when those assistants can formally leave their current school.

Doubtful the delay would be because of a bowl game, maybe the FCS playoff's or a team in a FBS conference championship game. Could be an NFL team too or Mora might still be looking for the guy.

 

[coachcap]

Just a thought: Coach Mora has hired Marinelli, which should help with recruiting in Fairfield County. Now that Jay Rose has used up his eligibility, I wonder if HCJM would offer him a graduate assistant position to help with recruiting the Central Ct.-Greater Hartford area where he was a high school star. I have no insight as to Jay's future plans, but it seems like a seamless fit.

 

[UC1995]

So true... but there was Hathaway choosing PP and this guy to run Uconn's offense....
" DeLeone was the fall guy for two seasons of shame, two years that brought a 10-14 record, plummeting attendance and a black eye to SU’s tradition. ‘In the minds of the public, clearly something had to be done, or we were going to lose everybody,’ (Syracuse AD) Crouthamel said. ‘One way to do that is to have George leave.’"

I can't wait for the day where I don't need to see RE, PP or GD's name or initials on this board ever again! If we really want to move on we need to stop invoking their names (aka stupidity).

 

[Ajs120102]

Just a thought: Coach Mora has hired Marinelli, which should help with recruiting in Fairfield County. Now that Jay Rose has used up his eligibility, I wonder if HCJM would offer him a graduate assistant position to help with recruiting the Central Ct.-Greater Hartford area where he was a high school star. I have no insight as to Jay's future plans, but it seems like a seamless fit.

rose has some nfl interest. if that wasnt the case i agree.

 

[ScottVib]

I don't think Grad. Asst are allowed to recruit (at least not off campus)

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

To identify the keys to our future recruiting success is to look back to where we were during our peak right before HCRE1.0 bailed in the dark of night. Here is a rough starting lineup from our 2010 BE Championship team roster for reference:

QB	Zach Frazer	PA		DE	Trevardo Williams	CT
RB	Jordan Todman	MA		DT	Kendall Reyes	NH
FB	Anthony Sherman	MA		DT	Shamar Stephen	NY
WR	Geremy Davis	GA		DE	Greg Lloyd	FL
WR	Kashif Moore	NJ		LB	Scott Lutrus	CT
TE	Ryan Griffin	NH		LB	Sio Moore	NC
LT	Mike Ryan	PA		LB	Lawrence Wilson	AL
LG	Steve Greene	PA		S	Jerome Junior	MD
C	Moe Petrus	Can		S	Byron Jones	CT
RG	Zach Hurd	CT		CB	Dwayne Gratz	NJ
RT	Jimmy Bennett	VA		CB	Blidi Wreh-Wilson	PA
				K	Dave Teggart	MA
				P	Cole Wagner	PA
				KR	Nick Williams	NJ

At that time we were a Program that was Top 20-30. That is a very solid roster as many went on to NFL careers. Here is a rough breakdown of that lineup (and probably pretty representative of what our recruiting profile should look like going forward):

Connecticut - 4
Rest of New England - 5
NY/NJ - 4
PA - 5
MD/VA - 2
South - 4
Canada - 1

The other thing that makes that 2010 roster so successful and got us to the Fiesta Bowl was our coaches. Our OC was Joe Moorhead and our DC was Todd Orlando. The impact of having those young coaches as stud Coordinators cannot be overlooked.

Recruiting back to that level should get us back to a Program in the Top 30-50 range. Want to get back to the Top 25? That would entail getting enhanced National and Northeast recruiting from the Mora cache and contacts. Or heck, even just getting a few more CT recruits could get us there (especially with the recent rise of New England private school football).

For reference, here is a quick list of just some of the 3-4 star recruits from CT during the time that would have been on that 2010 roster (along with their CT high school and eventual school choice):

Andre Jones	Avon Old Farms	CB	BC
Willie Harriott	Hyde New Haven	CB	Penn St
Aairon Savage	Westover Middlebury	CB	Auburn
Asaph Schwapp	Weaver	FB	Notre Dame
Matt Shaugnessy	NFA	DE	Wisconsin
Dan Cascone	Newtown	DT	Wisconsin
Chris Baker	Windsor	DT	Penn St
Bruce Campbell	Hyde New Haven	OT	Maryland
Damik Scafe	Windsor	DT	BC
John Moffitt	Notre Dame WH	OG	Wisconsin
Amari Spievey	Xavier	CB	Iowa
Nate Collins	King & Low Stamford	DE	Virginia
Aaron Hernandez	Bristol Central	TE	Florida
Dan Mulrooney	Holy Cross Wby	S	Boston College
Torrey Mack	Stratford	RB	Virginia
Masengo Kabongo	Fairfield Prep	DT	Maryland
Michael Cox	Avon Old Farms	RB	Michigan
Mike Golic Jr	NW Catholic	OC	Notre Dame
Marcus Cooper	Bloomfield	WR	Rutgers
Jordan Reed	New London	TE	Florida
Joshua Adams	Cheshire Academy	WR	UNC
Andre Lawrence	Hartford Publix	LB	BC
Mark Harison	Bunnell Stratford	WR	Rutgers
Kevin Royal	Brunswick Greenwich	WR	Virginia

We get an additional 2-3 kids from that list each year, we can get to that potential Top 25 season.

Just taking a quick look at when we were successful will show us how we build this thing back on the recruiting front. Combine that with the right coaching, we have our path to resurrection.

 

[Blades]

I can't wait for the day where I don't need to see RE, PP or GD's name or initials on this board ever again! If we really want to move on we need to stop invoking their names (aka stupidity).

So true, yet we have a day old Uconn coaches( Marinelli) father and legendary CT HSC bringing up those 2 as the standard bearer for how college coaches should be recruiting CT in a Jacobs article this week-end, SMH !

 

[gioff2323]

Can we separate 2 thoughts

1. We need to be a resource for CTHS programs. They should have access to us so they can grow their programs and be a resource for players who can play 1A.
2. Let’s keep a few kids home and focus on recruiting players across country. CT is not a deep well and some kids simply want to go away. It’s ok.

Now, let’s not overthink the CT HS recruiting angle and can we please get this back to the thread theme.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Wow!! I guess he had a few names ready to be announced. Good to see...

 

[CL82]

Or the title to a Hallmark movie.

LOL… The worst Hallmark movie ever!

 

[Blades]

Can we separate 2 thoughts

1. We need to be a resource for CTHS programs. They should have access to us so they can grow their programs and be a resource for players who can play 1A.
2. Let’s keep a few kids home and focus on recruiting players across country. CT is not a deep well and some kids simply want to go away. It’s ok.

Now, let’s not overthink the CT HS recruiting angle and can we please get this back to the thread theme.

Well put and glad to see Mora today at my CT HS ( Windsor), since we've put about 6 kids in the NFL in the last decade or so, only 1 that went to Uconn.