Moving UConn Football Forward - A Message from Athletic Director David Benedict.

[Skiblets]

The Storrs Central thread has me feeling a lot. Better than I did 10 hours ago.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[DoctorWho85]

This really makes me feel DB has his finger on the pulse of what the school and fans want. I'm sure he's going to leave no rock unturned.

 

[Skiblets]

We should look long and hard at Pat Fitzgerald.

 

[Kolumbo]

We know. We need a conference.

"But again, Colorado State? A team moving to the Pac-12 and in real rebuild mode? Really?
That **** hurts. And it should serve as a massive wake-up call for UConn Athletics; it's time to find a conference for football."

 

[Ucxc24]

We know. We need a conference.

"But again, Colorado State? A team moving to the Pac-12 and in real rebuild mode? Really?
That **** hurts. And it should serve as a massive wake-up call for UConn Athletics; it's time to find a conference for football."

I really think this had less to do with UConn and more to do with going back closer to home

 

[UConnDan97]

We know. We need a conference.

"But again, Colorado State? A team moving to the Pac-12 and in real rebuild mode? Really?
That **** hurts. And it should serve as a massive wake-up call for UConn Athletics; it's time to find a conference for football."

... except for the fact that it almost certainly has nothing to do with our conference situation...

 

[Exit 4]

We know. We need a conference.

"But again, Colorado State? A team moving to the Pac-12 and in real rebuild mode? Really?
That **** hurts. And it should serve as a massive wake-up call for UConn Athletics; it's time to find a conference for football."

I disagree. We will look for a conference AFTER the great 2030 realignment should it failed to get us a desirable seat.

In the meantime we have an incredible schedule. And so far its not melting away as predicted. We can schedule 4 to 5 reach games and the balance are regional rivalries and winnable games. Its our independent schedule that got us 9 wins the past two seasons.

I feel anyone on the staff that talks about the challenges of the independent schedule for recruiting/etc is speaking some truth, but mostly using the "independence" word as code for UConn being G5 vs P4.

 

[Kolumbo]

I disagree. We will look for a conference AFTER the great 2030 realignment should it failed to get us a desirable seat.

In the meantime we have an incredible schedule. And so far its not melting away as predicted. We can schedule 4 to 5 reach games and the balance are regional rivalries and winnable games. Its our independent schedule that got us 9 wins the past two seasons.

I feel anyone on the staff that talks about the challenges of the independent schedule for recruiting/etc is speaking some truth, but mostly using the "independence" word as code for UConn being G5 vs P4.

I guess we'll see who is eager to take this job rather than say the USF job in the best G6 conference. And yes, it was our crappy weak independent schedule which got us to 9-3. We'll take it. Regarding Mora, I believe that either this was Mora and Benedict's plan all along, or Mora underestimated the challenges of our situation.

 

[rich1122]

I've over the embarrassment factor. It really can be summed up as a lateral move to get back west. He's 64, this is probably his last ride.

Heard that that’s about right.

 

[Kowalski]

I disagree. We will look for a conference AFTER the great 2030 realignment should it failed to get us a desirable seat.

In the meantime we have an incredible schedule. And so far its not melting away as predicted. We can schedule 4 to 5 reach games and the balance are regional rivalries and winnable games. Its our independent schedule that got us 9 wins the past two seasons.

I feel anyone on the staff that talks about the challenges of the independent schedule for recruiting/etc is speaking some truth, but mostly using the "independence" word as code for UConn being G5 vs P4.

If 2030 is the next window for a P4 all-sports invite, DB should still be looking for a conference for football only in the interim. There may not be good options out there ( MAC & CUSA aren’t good options), but I don’t think you wait if if a good option presents itself because it’s too important for football.

 

[king conn]

We know. We need a conference.

"But again, Colorado State? A team moving to the Pac-12 and in real rebuild mode? Really?
That **** hurts. And it should serve as a massive wake-up call for UConn Athletics; it's time to find a conference for football."

Keep these receipts

 

[UCTitleTown]

Jim Mora Sr. is 90 and lives in CA. I could understand JM wanting to be closer to his aging Dad, but "Colorado State? Colorado State? You're talking about Colorado State????"

 

[uconnyankee]

I would love to hire the JMU coach, but I think he may be looking for a bigger opportunity. A young up and coming offensive minded coach would be nice, but at this point in our development I think we need a big name. Part of the attraction of UConn to kids was the Mora name and his NFL connections.

He’s a target for PSU. That says it might be a stretch. But he’s a local guy.

 

[Sea Goat]

... except for the fact that it almost certainly has nothing to do with our conference situation...

The truth is we don't make enough money playing as an independent. Mora made 2.1 mm this year with some incentives. He was extended at 2.5 by 28. Take a washed up Bill O'Brien at BC. He has a base of 5 mm with incentives on top. The way you get there is the ACC payout which ranges as high as 45mm per year.

We just don't have the dough to compete at that level. So sadly it really comes down to conference and conference payout.
We are in one that doesn't pay well and doesn't even have football. Until we move, football is clearly at risk. Even BB will eventually be affected because P4 conference payouts will give P4 schools more buying power.

 

[uconnyankee]

Coach Mora was the best thing to happen to Uconn football. Thanks for putting us on the map.
AD Dave is the best AD in UConn history. He'll figure it out.
It's an exciting time to be a Husky.

Thanks again, JMJ

I love the enthusiasm. I’m a little nervous. Admittedly was a little underwhelmed by the Mora hire.
He proved me wrong.
Regardless of the hire, I’m all in on the program. I just hope whoever the hire is, it keeps the same trajectory as Mora had us going.

 

[UCTitleTown]

He’s a target for PSU. That says it might be a stretch. But he’s a local guy.

Chesney's getting the Penn State job. He's the last man standing in that process and they need a hire by 12/1 for a number of reasons.

 

[JwittersPAC]

Yeah, IMO conference is probably the biggest factor. The best case scenario is a ACC or Big12 invite but not for several years. Mora doesn't have that time. I'm super bummed but it's hard to blame the guy.

All that said, I choose to be optimistic. Benedict is no fool. Some will say he hired Edsall 2.0 -- which turned out to be a disaster -- but that was when the university gave him nothing. "Go get a coach for free," they said. "We're losing money and we don't care about football." And yeah, he got Edsall 2.0 but he also got Rhett Lashlee. Lashlee didn't stay but he did spend a year here -- and did wonders for the offense -- but the point is that Benedict made a great move. Then he got Mora out of nowhere. Also a great move.

Both times, Bendict had to maneuver out of the muck to make those moves. This is the first time he will be hiring a coach while the program is actually in a good place. So I do have faith in him. We're not going backward. We're going upward.

Mora contacted DB. Perhaps our next head coach will reached out to him again,

 

[UConnDan97]

The truth is we don't make enough money playing as an independent. Mora made 2.1 mm this year with some incentives. He was extended at 2.5 by 28. Take a washed up Bill O'Brien at BC. He has a base of 5 mm with incentives on top. The way you get there is the ACC payout which ranges as high as 45mm per year.

We just don't have the dough to compete at that level. So sadly it really comes down to conference and conference payout.
We are in one that doesn't pay well and doesn't even have football. Until we move, football is clearly at risk. Even BB will eventually be affected because P4 conference payouts will give P4 schools more buying power.

Dan Hurley makes almost $8 million per year, and we were able to keep him from going to the Lakers.

I'll say it again so that the folks in the back can hear clearly: CONFERENCE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH MORA GOING TO COLORADO STATE...

 

[uconnyankee]

The truth is we don't make enough money playing as an independent. Mora made 2.1 mm this year with some incentives. He was extended at 2.5 by 28. Take a washed up Bill O'Brien at BC. He has a base of 5 mm with incentives on top. The way you get there is the ACC payout which ranges as high as 45mm per year.

We just don't have the dough to compete at that level. So sadly it really comes down to conference and conference payout.
We are in one that doesn't pay well and doesn't even have football. Until we move, football is clearly at risk. Even BB will eventually be affected because P4 conference payouts will give P4 schools more buying power.

Let’s be clear. For BB, Big East is on par with the P4 media deals.
Problem is, it doesn’t pay for football and UConn just so happens to field a team to compete at the highest level.
The situation currently works for BB as long as BE stays at the current level. But, there are some cracks with some members. Are they all willing to invest? Are they able to invest?
UConn has that to worry about PLUS they have to self fund FB.
That is a massive obstacle. That plus they don’t have a conference in FB so they are on an island.

What DB and Mora have done these past several years is simply amazing. And now we want DB to do it again.

I just hope DB doesn’t leave. He’s been a miracle worker. That guy will be difficult to replace.

 

[maple]

The Storrs Central thread has me feeling a lot. Better than I did 10 hours ago.

This is going to be the thing that makes me finally give in and subscribe, I guess.

 

[JMick]

Dan Hurley makes almost $8 million per year, and we were able to keep him from going to the Lakers.

I'll say it again so that the folks in the back can hear clearly: CONFERENCE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH MORA GOING TO COLORADO STATE...

If it's not the lack of a conference then what it is? Mora has semi complained about it his entire stint here

 

[Windham4th]

We've been burned by both retreads AND up-and-coming. Need to thread this needle. Would not be suprised if Sammis gets it. I wouldn't mind that. He seems like a good coach in my honest expert opinion. I stayed at a holiday Inn express last night, if you are questioning my credentials...

 

[UConnDan97]

If it's not the lack of a conference then what it is? Mora has semi complained about it his entire stint here

There are about 12 threads currently going, all of which point out the fact that he's headed back west because he never established here (he was renting his place for years, for Pete's sake!).

If anyone can make a credible argument to me that being with a middle-of-the-road team in the "new Pac12" G5 conference is so much better than our current situation, I'd love to hear it. Even Nick Saban would love to hear it, apparently.

Make sure to bring data though, and not nonsense anecdotes...

 

[Banta55]

Do people forget that Jim Mora never even bought a house here? We all knew that this was only a temporary position, even Coach himself.

I said that from the beginning, pretty telling