Let UConn football be bad (Hearst Editorial)

[huskymedic]

-> … And speaking of basketball, it’s worth pointing out that most of the schools best known for that sport have relatively anonymous football programs. Think of Kansas, Duke, Kentucky and Indiana and you don’t connect them with gridiron excellence, even if their teams make a run every now and then. Ultimately, that’s probably the most that can be expected of UConn — general mediocrity and a decent team every so often.

What’s easy to lose now is how recently that happened. UConn football was good, in the not-so-distant past. Randy Edsall, the recently departed coach who is leaving the team at its worst, in his first stint with the team led the school to now-unimaginable heights, including a top-25 ranking, a packed stadium and even a New Year’s Day game alongside the sport’s top programs. It’s been a long slide since then, but the team has proven capable of reaching great heights.

It won’t be there again for a long time. Maybe it will never happen. But for the foreseeable future, continuing to try to regain that status remains the school’s best option. Mediocrity would be about 10 steps up from its current position, but what’s left of the fan base would take that in a second.

UConn football isn’t going away. Just let the team be bad without questioning its existence.

Hugh Bailey is editorial page editor of the Connecticut Post and New Haven Register. <-

 

[ScottVib]

Hate the title, but it's provocative enough to get clicks and hopefully convince some of the "shut 'em down" crew.

 

[JohnFSilver]

The shut it down people are not rationale. You don't take wins or losses and decide to shut it down. You can make a monetary case to shutter football, but there is no monetary case for FCS.

So it becomes football vs. no football.

At UConn's size, school profile and success as an athletic department there is no peer in the united states that doesn't have football. It really is a non-starter.

UConn can decide to go cheap, cut costs, limit budgets, go cheap on coaches...all rationale moves. But the kill FB crowd doesn't seem to understand the landscape of college sports and just doesn't like football.

It is an odd mix in Connecticut. People like their basketball so much they feel threatened by the football program. I think that is not just fans, but also administrators at the university over the years.

 

[ASweet3781]

The shut it down people are not rationale. You don't take wins or losses and decide to shut it down. You can make a monetary case to shutter football, but there is no monetary case for FCS.

So it becomes football vs. no football.

At UConn's size, school profile and success as an athletic department there is no peer in the united states that doesn't have football. It really is a non-starter.

UConn can decide to go cheap, cut costs, limit budgets, go cheap on coaches...all rationale moves. But the kill FB crowd doesn't seem to understand the landscape of college sports and just doesn't like football.

It is an odd mix in Connecticut. People like their basketball so much they feel threatened by the football program. I think that is not just fans, but also administrators at the university over the years.

let’s be honest. It’s not surprising. Fans of both basketball programs were threatened by the other for most of the 90s. Some were in the choose Geno or Jim camp. Most sane people could you know take pride in both. But the mindset is still alive in some quarters.

 

[UCTitleTown]

The Paul Pasqualoni hire started the spiral. An old, out of touch coach that hadn't been a head coach in years. I'll never understand that hire.

 

[UConnJim]

I think men's basketball fans are upset by UConn's lost decade of men's basketball and blame it on the move to the AAC which many perceive as a football move. In the past 10 years, UConn men's basketball has had 1 final AP top 25 ranking and has made 4 NCAA tournaments (although they may have made the tourney in 2020). With the exception of the national championship in 2014 in which they went 6-0, UConn is 1-3 in the last 10 years in the NCAAs. In other words, in the last 10 years, UConn has won an NCAA tournament game in only 2 years.

And, I'm sure that all of the money spent on upgrading football left a bad taste in people who wanted more money to continue to improve basketball.

IMHO, if UConn had upgraded football in the late 1980s before the Big East football conference was formed in 1991, UConn would be in the ACC right now. In other words, football would have protected basketball.

 

[Waquoit]

It is an odd mix in Connecticut. People like their basketball so much they feel threatened by the football program.

Maybe because BB actually was threatened by football. Both programs would have been destroyed if UConn was still in the AAC. And how did we end up is such a revolting predicament in the first place?

One problem for the non-fan I think is that FB at UConn was sold on a pack of lies. First, that we needed it to protect BB in the future. That was a lie, the opposite happened. And second, UConn would be playing in a big-time league filled with perennial powers. That was important, CT is full of pro fans, higher level FB was a requirement for success. That wasn't even true for a season. The hail mary to Ville et al worked for a time. But the AAC is a total turd and FB first fans are in denial about that and the resentment toward FB caused by UConn ending up in that god-forsaken conference.

 

[sub legacy]

let’s be honest. It’s not surprising. Fans of both basketball programs were threatened by the other for most of the 90s. Some were in the choose Geno or Jim camp. Most sane people could you know take pride in both. But the mindset is still alive in some quarters.

I'll say it again. Connecticut is full of NIMBYs.

 

[Jimdish255]

Maybe because BB actually was threatened by football. Both programs would have been destroyed if UConn was still in the AAC. And how did we end up is such a revolting predicament in the first place?

One problem for the non-fan I think is that FB at UConn was sold on a pack of lies. First, that we needed it to protect BB in the future. That was a lie, the opposite happened. And second, UConn would be playing in a big-time league filled with perennial powers. That was important, CT is full of pro fans, higher level FB was a requirement for success. That wasn't even true for a season. The hail mary to Ville et al worked for a time. But the AAC is a total turd and FB first fans are in denial about that and the resentment toward FB caused by UConn ending up in that god-forsaken conference.

We had no good choices at the time and the Edsall abandonment combined with short-sighted lack of relationship building and 3 former conference universities working against us sealed the deal against the ACC. But even though basketball dynamics are different than football, the current realignment trend could shift the balance of basketball power even more towards P4 inclusion. For UConn, it threatens women's hoops first because of a weak conference and the fact that whoever follows Geno will have a difficult path. Big East Men's Hoops may only see a marginal impact at first, but 10 years from now things could look a lot different. So that pack of lies/assumptions was true in the short run but maybe just premature in the long run.

 

[uconnfan68]

The Paul Pasqualoni hire started the spiral. An old, out of touch coach that hadn't been a head coach in years. I'll never understand that hire.

PP came from the NFL, after a successful stint as head coach at Syracuse, at a time when we were sending a bunch of guys to the league. He brought that hint of even more connection. He also had the blessings of CT hs coaches, who didn’t seem to care for RE as I remember. What did him in, in my view, was his loose reins on the program. He wasn’t working with pros anymore. That and George.

 

[BlueDogs]

Spoke with a drop football zombie today and it’s like talking to a box of rocks. No conception of the economic realities of today’s college sports. “We are making $4 Million in the Big East which a better league. We were only making $6M in the AAC which sucks.” When I say WBB lost $5M last year, the response is crickets. I literally cannot believe the stupidity of BB only fans.

 

[uconnbill]

-> … And speaking of basketball, it’s worth pointing out that most of the schools best known for that sport have relatively anonymous football programs. Think of Kansas, Duke, Kentucky and Indiana and you don’t connect them with gridiron excellence, even if their teams make a run every now and then. Ultimately, that’s probably the most that can be expected of UConn — general mediocrity and a decent team every so often.

What’s easy to lose now is how recently that happened. UConn football was good, in the not-so-distant past. Randy Edsall, the recently departed coach who is leaving the team at its worst, in his first stint with the team led the school to now-unimaginable heights, including a top-25 ranking, a packed stadium and even a New Year’s Day game alongside the sport’s top programs. It’s been a long slide since then, but the team has proven capable of reaching great heights.

It won’t be there again for a long time. Maybe it will never happen. But for the foreseeable future, continuing to try to regain that status remains the school’s best option. Mediocrity would be about 10 steps up from its current position, but what’s left of the fan base would take that in a second.

UConn football isn’t going away. Just let the team be bad without questioning its existence.

Hugh Bailey is editorial page editor of the Connecticut Post and New Haven Register. <-

Hugh should stick to things he knows about and leave these issues to the University, alumni, fans and students,

 

[BlueandOG]

I'll never understand people who cheer for one UCONN team and denounce others. I love UCONN. Full stop. In 2017 I watched a game in a sport I know nothing about, field hockey, just because it was a UCONN team (and a great team at that!).

 

[RSTuthill]

They wrote that because they think that there is an existential discussion going on right now at UConn. They are arguing against going FCS or terminating the program entirely.

 

[JohnFSilver]

PP came from the NFL, after a successful stint as head coach at Syracuse, at a time when we were sending a bunch of guys to the league. He brought that hint of even more connection. He also had the blessings of CT hs coaches, who didn’t seem to care for RE as I remember. What did him in, in my view, was his loose reins on the program. He wasn’t working with pros anymore. That and George.

PP struggled with disciplining kids. He treated them like professionals and was just interested in coaching football, none of the other stuff. He loved being in the NFL BTW. He never talked about his Syracuse years privately, only his NFL years. Always found that odd.

The dude also won five games with McEntee ay quarterback. Randy wouldn't have started McEntee and UConn was probably 7-5 and 7-5 in the two years Paul went 5-7 and 5-7.

What happened that third year? Just fell apart. If they replayed that season, they beat Towson, Beat Michigan, probably beat Buffalo and are 3-1 with Whitmer at QB. The team just didn't play well early on and it just compounded itself. Could have easily been 4-0 and not 0-4.

The coaching staff was crushed and besides themselves, at end of the season since they knew they were better than their record.

I am not one who says PP killed the program. It was Diaco. He came in here and absolutely nuked the place. I mean absolutely NUKED IT. Tim Boyle also would have excelled with PP. PP loved his talent.

If Paul had a QB, and keept Moorehead as OC instead of bringing in George, I think they would have been terrific. The fact Whitmer wasn't good here was crazy too. He was a good QB who just never got consistent here.

 

[Hoophound]

PP struggled with disciplining kids. He treated them like professionals and was just interested in coaching football, none of the other stuff. He loved being in the NFL BTW. He never talked about his Syracuse years privately, only his NFL years. Always found that odd.

The dude also won five games with McEntee ay quarterback. Randy wouldn't have started McEntee and UConn was probably 7-5 and 7-5 in the two years Paul went 5-7 and 5-7.

What happened that third year? Just fell apart. If they replayed that season, they beat Towson, Beat Michigan, probably beat Buffalo and are 3-1 with Whitmer at QB. The team just didn't play well early on and it just compounded itself. Could have easily been 4-0 and not 0-4.

The coaching staff was crushed and besides themselves, at end of the season since they knew they were better than their record.

I am not one who says PP killed the program. It was Diaco. He came in here and absolutely nuked the place. I mean absolutely NUKED IT. Tim Boyle also would have excelled with PP. PP loved his talent.

If Paul had a QB, and kept Moorehead as OC instead of bringing in George, I think they would have been terrific. The fact Whitmer wasn't good here was crazy too. He was a good QB who just never got consistent here.

Good post. It is all the more reason to reflect on just how bad Randy has been. PP had decent records by current standards and he recruited well. The Moorhead demotion ultimately crushed us and led us to today.

Even Diaco made a bowl, which seems impossible looking back.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

PP struggled with disciplining kids. He treated them like professionals and was just interested in coaching football, none of the other stuff. He loved being in the NFL BTW. He never talked about his Syracuse years privately, only his NFL years. Always found that odd.

The dude also won five games with McEntee ay quarterback. Randy wouldn't have started McEntee and UConn was probably 7-5 and 7-5 in the two years Paul went 5-7 and 5-7.

What happened that third year? Just fell apart. If they replayed that season, they beat Towson, Beat Michigan, probably beat Buffalo and are 3-1 with Whitmer at QB. The team just didn't play well early on and it just compounded itself. Could have easily been 4-0 and not 0-4.

The coaching staff was crushed and besides themselves, at end of the season since they knew they were better than their record.

I am not one who says PP killed the program. It was Diaco. He came in here and absolutely nuked the place. I mean absolutely NUKED IT. Tim Boyle also would have excelled with PP. PP loved his talent.

If Paul had a QB, and keept Moorehead as OC instead of bringing in George, I think they would have been terrific. The fact Whitmer wasn't good here was crazy too. He was a good QB who just never got consistent here.

If RE stuck around after 2010 the 2011 team wins 9 games without including a bowl game. We also would have kept Nebrich (who Moorehead felt would be a solid QB at this level).

The biggest problem (on many levels) was GDL and his treatment of players. He couldn't be bothered teaching them and he would berate them for not having mastered his terminology or blocking techniques & schemes. I personally knew a few parents of offensive linemen who wanted to go to blows with GDL. One would only refer to him as "a miserable excuse for a human being".

The biggest issue on P's hands off approach was the lack of accountability on conditioning; primarily iff season weight training. We went from a program that was continually developing linemen who greatly outperformed any possible expectations from their recruiting rankings to one of the softest offensive lines in football (with our highest ranked recruits ever) in three years.

One major issue was that P never really got that these kids needed training, teaching, developing. Even at Alabama recruits can't just be plugged into a role straight from high school and perform yet P's approach left us in that situation.

P pointed the program towards a train wreck. Diaco greased the wheels and added velocity.

 

[Waquoit]

... UConn was probably 7-5 and 7-5 in the two years Paul went 5-7 and 5-7.

If that didn't kill the program, it darn near put it on life support. If we go 7-5 both years that would make 5 straight bowl games and 6 out of 7. Good enough to survive a Diaco I bet.

 

[Adios]

They wrote that because they think that there is an existential discussion going on right now at UConn. They are arguing against going FCS or terminating the program entirely.

No, they wrote it to guide the bandwagon lemmings.

 

[billybud]

When you really break it all down, it wasn't the fans....it was the inability of the men's teams to win in the AAC.

Win 10-12 a year in football, and Final Four a few times in the AAC...the story would be different.

But go 21-56 in the AAC while basketball is also having difficulties...and the Huskies had to pull the emergency brake.

 

[freescooter]

The shut it down people are not rationale. You don't take wins or losses and decide to shut it down. You can make a monetary case to shutter football, but there is no monetary case for FCS.

So it becomes football vs. no football.

At UConn's size, school profile and success as an athletic department there is no peer in the united states that doesn't have football. It really is a non-starter.

UConn can decide to go cheap, cut costs, limit budgets, go cheap on coaches...all rationale moves. But the kill FB crowd doesn't seem to understand the landscape of college sports and just doesn't like football.

It is an odd mix in Connecticut. People like their basketball so much they feel threatened by the football program. I think that is not just fans, but also administrators at the university over the years.

To me it is amazing that many basketball fans feel threatened by the success of other sports, particularly football. But you see an undercurrent for women’s basketball ( not real basketball, would lose to D3 stuff like that) and I’ve heard similar “concerns” about hockey which I suspect will get louder if that team starts to get really competitive. I don’t know how many people I’ve heard complain that having a football team “ruined” the basketball program, as if Kevin Ollie never existed…and as if it is a zero sum game. The other thing that amazes me is that some of the folks who say this nonsense worked at fairly high levels in the athletic department…The final thing is that they simply don’t get that on the national scene basketball is a secondary sport. There are people who somehow think that the basketball team in the new Big East will get a media deal that is better than what the Big 12 will get Even minus Texas and Oklahoma.

 

[SirHypeAlot]

The small time peewee thinking has bled from the administration’s mindset into the minds of the local media.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

The shut it down people are not rationale. You don't take wins or losses and decide to shut it down. You can make a monetary case to shutter football, but there is no monetary case for FCS.

So it becomes football vs. no football.

At UConn's size, school profile and success as an athletic department there is no peer in the united states that doesn't have football. It really is a non-starter.

UConn can decide to go cheap, cut costs, limit budgets, go cheap on coaches...all rationale moves. But the kill FB crowd doesn't seem to understand the landscape of college sports and just doesn't like football.

It is an odd mix in Connecticut. People like their basketball so much they feel threatened by the football program. I think that is not just fans, but also administrators at the university over the years.

I’ve heard arguments that going back to FCS would drain more money, not less. The only way it’s cheap cheap is if they go to a club football format. The school will continue to throw money at the program, but it needs to be money well spent. Hiring another Diaco would not be well spent. Once they get a good coach the winning and the recruits will come, and so will some revenue. I’m confident Benedict will properly vett the next coach. I bought 4 tickets for the Army game yesterday.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I think it’d be fun to really lean into being the worst football team in the country.

 

[RSTuthill]

I think it’d be fun to really lean into being the worst football team in the country.

RPI did that in the 1960's. A four or five year losing streak.