Joe Moorhead?

[UConnJim]

UConn doesn't have the money to do this.

So you are saying UConn has a lower ability and/or desire to pay a football coach than 2 years ago? Business 101 says you have to invest to grow. I have no problem hiring an up and coming lower level coach and pay him $1 million if you find the right guy. That’s what Buffalo did with Liepold.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

If Moorhead does not come our way, Luke Getsy, the QB/WR coach with the Packers would be the next best fit imo. Getsy was Moorhead's OC at Mississippi State, as well as played QB under Moorhead in college at Akron.

Getsy is young, would need an experienced staff around him but he has been coaching Aaron Rodgers for the past few years in Green Bay and has northeast roots. Would be a risky, outside the box hire but he looks primed to take a leap forward as a coach soon.

Does he come with Aaron Rodgers?

 

[JohnFSilver]

So you are saying UConn has a lower ability and/or desire to pay a football coach than 2 years ago? Business 101 says you have to invest to grow. I have no problem hiring an up and coming lower level coach and pay him $1 million if you find the right guy. That’s what Buffalo did with Liepold.

You have to read the room. No money for anything right now .

they have some leeway for a coach, but they aren’t going to massively increase how much they pay a coach with the headwinds they have budget wise.

 

[Yup!]

You have to read the room. No money for anything right now .

they have some leeway for a coach, but they aren’t going to massively increase how much they pay a coach with the headwinds they have budget wise.

24 out of 128 FBS programs bring in profits, all other schools lose money. Yet, we’re the only program that can’t afford more than $1m a year on a coach? Which I believe is on the low, low end of college football’s Head Coaching salary. Coastal Carolina is set to pay Chadwell $3m if he doesn’t leave, so I find that hard to believe. How come we have the money to pay Hurley $2-3m a year but we can’t afford to do that for big time football??

 

[ScottVib]

We're the school where the press sensationalized the athletic department deficit to the point where it made national news. When the data was thrown out there with no context to get clicks, well all anyone sees is that an athletic department that is more than 40 million in the red is throwing out millions to prop up a failing football program, which furthers the whisper campaign about "cutting their losses" and dropping/de-emphasizing the program.

Basketball is the golden child, no one in Connecticut politics or in the press will say anything about the Men's or Women's Basketball programs and the deficits recorded there. They won't say anything about the contracts of Geno or Hurley for that reason as well. Football hasn't gotten good press for over a decade, as noted here there are a segment of fans who feel that it was football's fault (and not Ollie's inability to coach, but the AAC and football for forcing the school to stay in that conference), and they'll get clicks for another hit piece talking about "that disaster".

John's not wrong here... I think it's unlikely we see a big dollar amount on the contract... at least not without some story about how we got significant donations to help fund the coaching staff or otherwise prop up the salary pool. That's part of why I've said we're really looking to the NFL/P5 assistant; G5 coordinator; FCS or out of work head coach range and why I've maintained that Moorhead and other P5 coordinators and currently successful G5 head coaches (at least those with realistic options) are out of range.

Could UConn afford the money? I think so. Will UConn do it? I don't think they can politically or PR-wise.

 

[UCSouth]

We're the school where the press sensationalized the athletic department deficit to the point where it made national news. When the data was thrown out there with no context to get clicks, well all anyone sees is that an athletic department that is more than 40 million in the red is throwing out millions to prop up a failing football program, which furthers the whisper campaign about "cutting their losses" and dropping/de-emphasizing the program.

Basketball is the golden child, no one in Connecticut politics or in the press will say anything about the Men's or Women's Basketball programs and the deficits recorded there. They won't say anything about the contracts of Geno or Hurley for that reason as well. Football hasn't gotten good press for over a decade, as noted here there are a segment of fans who feel that it was football's fault (and not Ollie's inability to coach, but the AAC and football for forcing the school to stay in that conference), and they'll get clicks for another hit piece talking about "that disaster".

John's not wrong here... I think it's unlikely we see a big dollar amount on the contract... at least not without some story about how we got significant donations to help fund the coaching staff or otherwise prop up the salary pool. That's part of why I've said we're really looking to the NFL/P5 assistant; G5 coordinator; FCS or out of work head coach range and why I've maintained that Moorhead and other P5 coordinators and currently successful G5 head coaches (at least those with realistic options) are out of range.

Could UConn afford the money? I think so. Will UConn do it? I don't think they can politically or PR-wise.

If football is driving the bus...no need to talk about the passengers.

 

[CL82]

You have to read the room. No money for anything.

Maybe instead, read the financials? 2019 financials

UConn had, last I looked, about $350M in cash and cash equivalents. That's not income, that's cash on hand. I suspect that can come up with $6M-$10M for the football coaching staff, whether or not they choose to is a different issue, but saying that UConn doesn't have the money is flat out wrong.

 

[JohnFSilver]

24 out of 128 FBS programs bring in profits, all other schools lose money. Yet, we’re the only program that can’t afford more than $1m a year on a coach? Which I believe is on the low, low end of college football’s Head Coaching salary. Coastal Carolina is set to pay Chadwell $3m if he doesn’t leave, so I find that hard to believe. How come we have the money to pay Hurley $2-3m a year but we can’t afford to do that for big time football??

That's a great question. UConn pays basketball coaches much more money including assistant basketball coaches more than football assistants. That's the crux of the issue in Storrs.

Randy, is that you? LOL. Been a problem for a long time. Randy had to give back salary to get John Dunn a raise.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Maybe instead, read the financials? 2019 financials

UConn had, last I looked, about $350M in cash and cash equivalents. That's not income, that's cash on hand. I suspect that can come up with $6M-$10M for the football coaching staff, whether or not they choose to is a different issue, but saying that UConn doesn't have the money is flat out wrong.

They have a $40M dollar budget gap. Now, we all know that a lot of that is internal charges and charge offs, but revenue has cratered and the program has a lot of money tied up in leaving AAC and entering Big East. The revenue from football has cratered over the years. Even at $5 tickets they can't get 30K in the place. The program just cut sports and you guys want to give the football coach north of $3M?

That is not going to happen. My guess is $1.5M max.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Maybe instead, read the financials? 2019 financials

UConn had, last I looked, about $350M in cash and cash equivalents. That's not income, that's cash on hand. I suspect that can come up with $6M-$10M for the football coaching staff, whether or not they choose to is a different issue, but saying that UConn doesn't have the money is flat out wrong.

CL82, that is $350M for the entire university. That isn't for the athletic department. They are getting squeezed and penny-pinched. They have debt service, Covid-19 issues, I don't even want to go into it. Athletics takes $40M a year in institutional support. They probably want to cut that in half if possible.

UConn's undergone a building boom in athletics too. Unless the Foundation comes up with the money I just don't see it. There is no political will on the BOT to pay that for a football coach. And, the president of the school is interim. How is the AD going to get approval to double the coach spend? It isn't like they have money lying around in the budget.

 

[Pudge]

I was confusing Getsy with Charlie Frye ... and Frye was one of the best QB matchups we had during the Orlovsky years. Such a fun game all in with Akron that year. NOW? Getsy is higher on the achievement coaching rungs; but, Frye is NOW QB coach with the Miami Dolphins and has a huge challenge going forward.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Moorhead is likely too much in demand and too expensive. I'm not sure we need a name guy anyway. I think we may need an FCS coach who has succeeded recruiting those players. If you need SEC caliber players to run your O and D, then you will fail at UConn. I want to see us bring in a coach who has a vision for how to win with players we can actually recruit, transfer and JUCOs.

 

[CL82]

They have a $40M dollar budget gap. Now, we all know that a lot of that is internal charges and charge offs, but revenue has cratered and the program has a lot of money tied up in leaving AAC and entering Big East. The revenue from football has cratered over the years. Even at $5 tickets they can't get 30K in the place. The program just cut sports and you guys want to give the football coach north of $3M?

That is not going to happen. My guess is $1.5M max.

That's the athletic department, not the University. When you say UConn has no money, you are alleging that the university is broke. That is just not accurate.

Of that $40M how much was defaulted on? $0. How much was paid for by loans from outside lenders? $0. Much of that number is mere accounting entries and not actual expenditures. The school pays "X" dollars to the AD so the AD can "pay" the school tuition. There is no change in position to the university from that. (FWIW, if you look at the financials that net change in position to the university was just shy of a gain of $100M.) You have to look a little deeper than the headline of a $40M AD deficit John.

Now that said, you may be correct that the school doesn't want to invest more money in the football program. That's a possibility, but it is different that the inaccurate statement that school doesn't have the money to do it.

I think that the school will invest in the head coach and staff because a successful football program can be a revenue generator. Yeah, after 10 years of suck, it is tough to get people to go and watch the games but if you put together a successful program people will come. We saw that during FHCRE1. 35,000 @ $25 chugs out about $5.25M a game in revenue. Given the significant investment already in place, it makes sense to spend the relatively small amount of money to see if we can get that that engine going. My guess, and it's only that, is the budget, for the right candidate, is @$2-3M with about $4-5M on staff. Don't get fooled by Randy's salary. That was a transition deal while Diaco's salary was on the books.

 

[CL82]

CL82, that is $350M for the entire university. That isn't for the athletic department. They are getting squeezed and penny-pinched. They have debt service, Covid-19 issues, I don't even want to go into it. Athletics takes $40M a year in institutional support. They probably want to cut that in half if possible.

UConn's undergone a building boom in athletics too. Unless the Foundation comes up with the money I just don't see it. There is no political will on the BOT to pay that for a football coach. And, the president of the school is interim. How is the AD going to get approval to double the coach spend? It isn't like they have money lying around in the budget.

Yes John. The University of Connecticut has $350M of cash and cash equivalents. That's not their entire net worth (which is north of $4B) that just cash on hand. You didn't say the AD was operating at a (largely paper) deficit. You said that UConn couldn't afford to pay current FBS level salaries. That is inaccurate.

As I noted in my prior post, the fastest way to fix the the deficit is filling the Rent for games. The only way to do that is to invest in an FBS level staff. That means spending more that the $1.5M we paid to Diaco eight years ago.

One final thought, don't confuse capital expenditures with ongoing expense items. They are different animals and funded differently.

 

[RSTuthill]

We’re not getting JM, we’re not pursuing him. We’re looking for a youthful HC who can relentlessly recruit, energize the fan base, encourage donations and win. He can hire the OC DC that helps with the winning part. The HC must be the standout personality. Offer him and his key assistants substantial raises over their current situations, then factor in the right cultural fit, and you’ll have your man. He’s out there.

Not far away, either.

 

[Pudge]

your State University would never be in the category of spendthrift. Like? Hugh Freeze is making $3m PLUS bonuses at Liberty University. There is NO way UCONN is coming near that kinda outlandish outlay. So ... a solid pay for a Young Talented HC - we are on board. But that ain't gonna be splashy.

 

[Hoophound]

Whatever the approach is, it has to be a smart and calculated one. If Joe Moorehead would come to UConn for $3,000,000 per year, that is likely a smarter investment than paying an upstart FCS coach or FBS coordinator $1,200,000. We need to win games and fill seats asap because a huge payday is on the line in terms of getting a P5 invite. The best coach to accomplish that is probably worth the money. The candidate, to some degree, will always determine what the board can be persuaded to pay.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Whatever the approach is, it has to be a smart and calculated one. If Joe Moorehead would come to UConn for $3,000,000 per year, that is likely a smarter investment than paying an upstart FCS coach or FBS coordinator $1,200,000. We need to win games and fill seats asap because a huge payday is on the line in terms of getting a P5 invite. The best coach to accomplish that is probably worth the money. The candidate, to some degree, will always determine what the board can be persuaded to pay.

I believe this. Also a good program could generate media revenue in the future. I know things are dire now but AD David has some insight into future changes. Most of the coaches that we are interested in wouldn’t require a top salary except morehead

 

[hardcorehusky]

The bean counter approach looks at the salaries and says too much. The entrepreneur approach says I pay this much now, I fill the place and make over $1M a game that I don't have now in ticket sales, good publicity and great money from scheduling contracts plus all the other good things a winning football team does. They have to pay the money to make that happen.

 

[Yup!]

That's a great question. UConn pays basketball coaches much more money including assistant basketball coaches more than football assistants. That's the crux of the issue in Storrs.

Randy, is that you? LOL. Been a problem for a long time. Randy had to give back salary to get John Dunn a raise.

Sad

 

[UConnJim]

You have to read the room. No money for anything right now .

they have some leeway for a coach, but they aren’t going to massively increase how much they pay a coach with the headwinds they have budget wise.

So, they were paying $2 million and now they can't pay $2 million?

 

[Hoophound]

So, they were paying $2 million and now they can't pay $2 million?

There is some unknown/confusion there. When they were being really right they were paying Diaco and Edsall.

 

[Stinger92860]

The bean counter approach looks at the salaries and says too much. The entrepreneur approach says I pay this much now, I fill the place and make over $1M a game that I don't have now in ticket sales, good publicity and great money from scheduling contracts plus all the other good things a winning football team does. They have to pay the money to make that happen.

So you want to invest now for bigger gains down the road. What a novel idea, I hope someone in the BOT is a yard member and noodles on this.

 

[DoctorWho85]

If UConn wants to win moving forward, they're going to have to pony up 6-10 million per year for coach and assistant pool alone. And let's be honest, the school can afford that easily, but BoT will screw over football for their precious basketball. BoT needs to pull their collective greedy heads out of their behinds and see that basketball will only be so successful without money brought in by football.

 

[CL82]

the school can afford that easily, but BoT will screw over football for their precious basketball.

I honestly don't know if this true, but I worry about it. This hire is going to tells us a lot about how the school feels about FBS football. I don't know if it is let's help fund BB with football money as much as a lack of willingness to invest the money needed in the coaching staff.

 

[Yup!]

Yes John. The University of Connecticut has $350M of cash and cash equivalents. That's not their entire net worth (which is north of $4B) that just cash on hand. You didn't say the AD was operating at a (largely paper) deficit. You said that UConn couldn't afford to pay current FBS level salaries. That is inaccurate.

As I noted in my prior post, the fastest way to fix the the deficit is filling the Rent for games. The only way to do that is to invest in an FBS level staff. That means spending more that the $1.5M we paid to Diaco eight years ago.

One final thought, don't confuse capital expenditures with ongoing expense items. They are different animals and funded differently.

Great points CL82 ! I think the fan base aren’t accepting the “no money” narrative anymore. The time is now, UConn has to pay up and start investing in football.

 

[JMick]

Great points CL82 ! I think the fan base aren’t accepting the “no money” narrative anymore. The time is now, UConn has to pay up and start investing in football.

The fan base isn't big enough to make a dent.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I honestly don't know if this true, but I worry about it. This hire is going to tells us a lot about how the school feels about FBS football. I don't know if it is let's help fund BB with football money as much as a lack of willingness to invest the money needed in the coaching staff.

I may have been a bit over the top hyperbole, but the fact of the matter is BoT is so unwilling to invest in football. Successful football brings in money for the AD to fund the non revenue sports. It sparks interest in prospective students which brings in more tuition, which gives the university more money to attract and keep top notch researchers. It also will increase donations as it will spark donors to get in on the action and get more butts in the seats. Yes basketball has help do these things too, but football can and will do so much more if invested in properly.

 

[Husky92]

I honestly don't know if this true, but I worry about it. This hire is going to tells us a lot about how the school feels about FBS football. I don't know if it is let's help fund BB with football money as much as a lack of willingness to invest the money needed in the coaching staff.

I agree that this hire will tell us a lot. Was the move the the nBE a desperation move to save basketball at the expense of football or was it a calculated move to allow us to be the masters of our football future? Are we going the cheap route giving just enough to football the keep it afloat, or are we serious about getting into a big-boy conference And investing in all major sports?

we’ll see…

 

[Nostical]

While I’ve been called delusional at times (who isn’t) those who think Joe Moorhead might be our next HC need to look deeply into the mirror to see what delusion actually looks like.
There are three variables that can vault coaches into the mix as rational UConn HC targets.
MONEY—-if the size of their contract (and buyout) affords us the ability to offer substantially more including an assistant pool.
FIT—if they possess the criteria set down by the AD as being vital to the hire.
BOOST—if a stint at UConn can help lift the presumed arc of their personal career paths.

Whoever your favorite name is, test him against those variables and see how he measures up. I chose Toledo’s Jason Candle as an example of someone I would welcome as our HC. Then I did a little internet research to see how he measured up against the three criteria. Try that exercise with your own favorite name.
First the money.
“In 2015, Toledo OC Jason Candle was named Head Coach when Matt Campbell left for Iowa State, After successful seasons In 2016, ‘17 and ‘18, Candle signed a 2-year extension to remain the head football coach through 2023. The new contract makes Candle the highest paid head coach in the Mid-American Conference at $1.1 million. He’ll make an additional $25,000 each year until the end of the contract. There’s also a $450,000 buyout if Candle chooses to take another job.”

What about the second variable, fitting DB’s criteria, Candle has an undeniable offensive pedigree. He’s sustained and enhanced a successful winning program at Toledo. His combination of youth, charisma and energy bodes well for recruiting to provide UConn with a good chance for a winning program. He’s capable of both energizing the fan base and increasing the amount of giving.

Now, what about the third variable, is this a career boost?
“Candle reportedly has designs to take one of the big jobs in the midwest—Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan State. But would any of those schools hire a coach directly from the MAC? Even Urban Meyer (Bowling Green to Utah) and Brian Kelly (Central Michigan to Cincinnati) had another rung to climb between the MAC and the big time. So, if that also turns out to be the case with Candle, he seems perfectly primed to replace whoever is currently ahead of him in the FBS pecking order -- like Luke Fickell at Cincinnati who’s been rumored to be a top candidate at several schools, or, to bring it full circle, he could replace Matt Campbell at Iowa State if and when he moves on.”
(Now try and picture this phrase being added to that article)
—‘or perhaps (Candle) will seek the Head Coaching job at eastern independent UConn in a quest to resurrect their currently moribund program.

We all know money is a issue with the BOT but if the right candidate is there at the right price, even given the current debate on spending priorities—we’ll likely find it. And then, if the prospect generally fits the criteria DB is looking for—then it’s all about the third variable. Does the coaching candidate we desire see this job as more boost than bust to his resumé? Would the potential reward outweigh the risk? Answer that question and we’ll have our new HC, and he’ll be a more rational, less delusional choice than Joe Moorhead.