Key tweets, and it's all gone to Hell.

[JMick]

The recruiting really is getting very good. Makes me wonder if the smoke is starting to peak over the treeline

 

[CL82]

The recruiting really is getting very good. Makes me wonder if the smoke is starting to peak over the treeline

It makes me wonder if Connecticut boosters have finally realized that they have to invest in the program via NIL if they want to be competitive.

 

[JMick]

It makes me wonder if Connecticut boosters have finally realized that they have to invest in the program via NIL if they want to be competitive.

To be fair NIL is new. I wonder what the NIL support would have looked like during RE1.0

I bet it would have been pretty solid

 

[ZooCougar]

The recruiting really is getting very good. Makes me wonder if the smoke is starting to peak over the treeline

What an image!

 

[ZooCougar]

It makes me wonder if Connecticut boosters have finally realized that they have to invest in the program via NIL if they want to be competitive.

The impact is direct.

 

[ZooCougar]

To be fair NIL is new. I wonder what the NIL support would have looked like during RE1.0

I bet it would have been pretty solid

Randy wasn’t equipped for that game.

Mora really stirred up a hornets nest. We needed the dose of reality and the straight talk.

Now he has to get more wins.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Mora really seems like the right coach for this situation compared to the x&o type coaches. Fundraising & recruiting.

 

[CL82]

To be fair NIL is new. I wonder what the NIL support would have looked like during RE1.0

I bet it would have been pretty solid

Hard to say. Randy wasn't the most charismatic guy. I'm not sure how inclusive he would've been.

Agreed though that RE1 was the golden era of Connecticut football. I remember people saying that it might take a decade before we would have a winning record and then everything seemed to come together perfectly. We seemed to be on an upward trend that would make us consistently a ranked program. Then we got the Pasqualone/Diaco doubleheader and all that momentum was wasted. We brought back Randy to stabilize the program and it turned out the game had passed him by.

Hopefully, Mora can pull us out of the hole and bring us back at least to respectability. I am cautiously optimistic given the influx of talent that we've seen, but I will remain skeptical until it translates to on the field success. We've been burned too many times.

 

[Sea Goat]

Hard to say. Randy wasn't the most charismatic guy. I'm not sure how inclusive he would've been.

Agreed though that RE1 was the golden era of Connecticut football. I remember people saying that it might take a decade before we would have a winning record and then everything seemed to come together perfectly. We seemed to be on an upward trend that would make us consistently a ranked program. Then we got the Pasqualone/Diaco doubleheader and all that momentum was wasted. We brought back Randy to stabilize the program and it turned out the game had passed him by.

Hopefully, Mora can pull us out of the hole and bring us back at least to respectability. I am cautiously optimistic given the influx of talent that we've seen, but I will remain skeptical until it translates to on the field success. We've been burned too many times.

It was worse than that. We also got screwed conference wise in 2011 and 2012 and had to decamp to the dreadful AAC. We were in a BCS Bowl on 1/1/2011, in the midst of a 5 game win streak vs. Syracuse, and won our 3rd Natty in hoops on 4/4/2011. Then RE left and the conference crap started. To make matters worse, Warde Manuel (Susan Herbst's "rock star") was hired as AD after Hathaway was canned. It was a perfect storm.

Through it all, we have adjusted and actually strengthened our hoops program, but football suffered. If football is going to make a return to competence, it will be because of a new conferences affiliation. Mora is doing as good as he can under the circumstances, but football needs a conference. If BB is taken over by the university participants ala CFP, that money will make us attractive to any conference. If so structured, March Madness will become the economic engine that will be our ticket to a real conference.

 

[CL82]

It was worse than that. We also got screwed conference wise in 2011 and 2012 and had to decamp to the dreadful AAC. We were in a BCS Bowl on 1/1/2011, in the midst of a 5 game win streak vs. Syracuse, and won our 3rd Natty in hoops on 4/4/2011. Then RE left and the conference crap started. To make matters worse, Warde Manuel (Susan Herbst's "rock star") was hired as AD after Hathaway was canned. It was a perfect storm.

Through it all, we have adjusted and actually strengthened our hoops program, but football suffered. If football is going to make a return to competence, it will be because of a new conferences affiliation. Mora is doing as good as he can under the circumstances, but football needs a conference. If BB is taken over by the university participants ala CFP, that money will make us attractive to any conference. If so structured, March Madness will become the economic engine that will be our ticket to a real conference.

Mora has made it clear that he perceives not being in a conference and not having an on campus stadium as two huge disadvantages at Connecticut at the Stamford roadshow. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think he used the phrase "nearly insurmountable" regarding the double whammy of those two circumstances.

 

[ZooCougar]

Hard to say. Randy wasn't the most charismatic guy. I'm not sure how inclusive he would've been.

Agreed though that RE1 was the golden era of Connecticut football. I remember people saying that it might take a decade before we would have a winning record and then everything seemed to come together perfectly. We seemed to be on an upward trend that would make us consistently a ranked program. Then we got the Pasqualone/Diaco doubleheader and all that momentum was wasted. We brought back Randy to stabilize the program and it turned out the game had passed him by.

Hopefully, Mora can pull us out of the hole and bring us back at least to respectability. I am cautiously optimistic given the influx of talent that we've seen, but I will remain skeptical until it translates to on the field success. We've been burned too many times.

It’s not hard to say.

Randy would have been awful in the NIL era. Imagine Dabo Swinney only with no talent and no charisma.

 

[huskymedic]

Mora has made it clear that he perceives not being in a conference and not having an on campus stadium as two huge disadvantages at Connecticut at the Stamford roadshow. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think he used the phrase "nearly insurmountable" regarding the double whammy of those two circumstances.

 

[king conn]

Both things he was well aware of and never cried about when he took over and lead us to a surprisingly good first season

When he laid an egg in year two it became a catastrophic thing

As if being in the MAC or CUSA would solve all his problems lol

 

[huskymedic]

Both things he was well aware of and never cried about when he took over and lead us to a surprisingly good first season

When he laid an egg in year two it became a catastrophic thing

As if being in the MAC or CUSA would solve all his problems lol

No… lack of NIL was a “catastrophic” thing (until he pitched a bitch after last year) - the lack of stadium/conference is just a “huge challenge”.

 

[ZooCougar]

Both things he was well aware of and never cried about when he took over and lead us to a surprisingly good first season

When he laid an egg in year two it became a catastrophic thing

As if being in the MAC or CUSA would solve all his problems lol

He wanted a coaching job. After doing this for a couple of seasons reality is setting in.

Hopefully it’s just Jim being Jim. He uses extreme words to make a point; which I can relate to. But it sure sounds like he is disenchanted with not having two very basic things that a program needs.

If he wins a bunch of games that place will fill up and the off campus piece won’t seem so bad in my opinion.

 

[king conn]

No… lack of NIL was a “catastrophic” thing (until he pitched a bitch) - the lack of stadium/conference is a huge challenge.

I guess it is a year to year thing to be challenged by it.
Didn't bother his first year players to play Indy and off campus.

Nor the recent highly ranked portal class. I would argue they likely wouldn't have come to face a skid of MAC or CUSA teams

 

[Waquoit]

I guess it is a year to year thing to be challenged by it.
Didn't bother his first year players to play Indy and off campus.

Nor the recent highly ranked portal class. I would argue they likely wouldn't have come to face a skid of MAC or CUSA teams

I agree king. Bitching about the stadium is just excuse making. I lost a bit of respect for him when he went there.

 

[Kolumbo]

Bringing recruits to an empty parking lot in East Hartford surely leaves quite an impression.

 

[GoConn]

I agree king. Bitching about the stadium is just excuse making. I lost a bit of respect for him when he went there.

I mean, he's not wrong.

 

[Waquoit]

I mean, he's not wrong.

Yeah, he is. To make a thing out of something that's not going to change is a loser move. And did he bitch about not having an on-campus stadium at his last stop? I'm thinking no.

 

[billybud]

Illini AD Josh Whitman Addresses Concerns Over Potential College Athletics Super League - IlliniGuys.com

In his annual media roundtable Thursday morning, University of Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman cited concerns over his school’s resume for a future ‘Super League’ scenario in college sports. Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer June 21, 2024 CHAMPAIGN — When Josh Whitman asked about a...

illiniguys.com

 

[Hoophound]

Well, he whined about NIL and it worked. Now he’s recruiting like a maniac (by UConn standards anyway). Maybe, he’s complaining because it works.

He's also Jim Mora. He commands a lot of respect and he’s well liked. People listen to him.

 

[CL82]

Yeah, he is. To make a thing out of something that's not going to change is a loser move. And did he bitch about not having an on-campus stadium at his last stop? I'm thinking no.

I would suggest that an attitude of "the way things are are the way they will always be" is the "loser move."

Jim Mora could have thrown up his hands and said "Oh well Connecticut will never get adequate NIL to compete against P4 programs for prospects. I won't bother trying and eventually the program will have to move out of FBS ball." Instead, he called out the shortcoming and by doing so became a catalyst for change. That's "a winner move" not "a loser move."

I think we are seeing more of that right now regarding him calling out the impact that not having an on-campus stadium has on our program. For what it's worth, with less than 10 years left on the useful life of Rentschler Field, now is exactly the time to start making the case for an on-campus stadium.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

You need to look closer at the math. FSU in the SEC would produce much higher ratings than they do playing most ACC opponents and be more valuable to ESPN. Here is an example from last year:

FSU/LSU: 9.17 million viewers
FSU/Florida: 5.07 million viewers

Syracuse/FSU: 2.09 million viewers
FSU/Wake Forest: 2.09 million viewers

Granted, there is a fixed revenue stream from monthly fees for ESPN, but there are also advertising rights which would be worth more than 2x in the SEC over the ACC. And, as sports move to streaming, brands will be more important and FSU is a top brand. I would think that FSU's overall media rights are probably worth almost 2x in the SEC over the ACC due to more compelling opponents.

And, for those of you who think the SEC would ever allow FSU to go to the Big 10, you are wrong. FSU+Florida would mean the SEC dominates Florida like they dominate Texas with Texas+Texas A&M.

I thought about why the SEC would add FSU and from one perspective it seems redundant.
However the alternative of the B1G planting a flag in. Florida is reason enough to add them.
If a smaller states like Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee could have multiple teams a state as large as Florida can and why not have two in South Carolina also
There is something to be said for completely owning a Market
Market penetration depth in a lucrative market is as important as width which seems to be the B1G strategy .
Continuing on that theme adding Miami , Georgia Tech, plus a third Texas team seem logical.
That only leaves only Oklahoma , Arkansas , Missouri , Kentucky , and Louisiana for future additions .

 

[Drew]

Yeah, he is. To make a thing out of something that's not going to change is a loser move. And did he bitch about not having an on-campus stadium at his last stop? I'm thinking no.

He complained about a lot of the lack of support he received at UCLA so this isn’t making the point you think it is

Also, he’s the head coach of the school’s football team. It’s his job to advocate for his program and team. Not to mention the fact that he’s right.