Much ado about nothing.

[60'sfan]

If Uconn stays in the Big East and I think they probably will, we will survive. As far as men's basketball is concerned, the competition is still pretty good. I think we will still lose Cincinnati but there are some very solid basketball schools left. IE. Georgetown, Villanova, St. Johns, Providence, Marquette, De Paul, Seton Hall and Temple and Memphis and others are on the way. For most of those schools, basketball is the prime sport and they are not going anywhere. Kevin Ollie will be able to bring in good players. The ACC cannot recruit them all. When Jim Calhoun joined the program in the 80's the team talent level was less than it is now. We were the door mat of a relatively new and unknown conference. It was the solid coaches who made the conference what it was. Rollie Massimino, John Thompson, Jim Boeheim, Rick Pettino and Jim Calhoun made the Big East what it was. That can happen again.

Uconn has never been a big football school and I don't think it ever will. Randy Edsall seemed to have us on our way but we never quite got there. Unless the University is willing to spend a lot more money for football, we will not be a legitimate candidate for one of the "football conferences". It took Jim Calhoun over ten years to turn Uconn into a top tier basketball school. It would take more than ten years and a lot more money to do the same in football. I don't think we have the heart for it.

 

[rbny1]

I totally disagree. There's no way I can accept the idea that we will merely "survive." I want UConn to be a national contender in every sport, including football. IMO, with the right coach, we have an opportunity to be the dominant football program in New England and a top 25 program nationally year after year. But to do this we need to get into one of the major conferences. Hopefully that will happen.

 

[ChrisSmithsPart]

I totally disagree. There's no way I can accept the idea that we will merely "survive." I want UConn to be a national contender in every sport, including football. IMO, with the right coach, we have an opportunity to be the dominant football program in New England and a top 25 program nationally year after year. But to do this we need to get into one of the major conferences. Hopefully that will happen.

Boise & TCU didn't need a big conference to attain that status & being in a big conference has helped FAR fewer programs get that status than people make it seem. There are only 10-15 programs that have the status you are referring to & at least half of those schools would have that status regardless of conference...no excuses just win baby!

 

[60'sfan]

I totally disagree. There's no way I can accept the idea that we will merely "survive." I want UConn to be a national contender in every sport, including football. IMO, with the right coach, we have an opportunity to be the dominant football program in New England and a top 25 program nationally year after year. But to do this we need to get into one of the major conferences. Hopefully that will happen.

It would be nice if it were that simple. First of all you have to find a coach that is willing to take a chance on a school that may not take football seriously enough. Then you have to pay the coach and allow him to add his own staff. Next if you want to leave the Big East you have to pay the exit fee. If you really want to be a big time program, you probably need to have a new larger stadium and a first class practice facility with modern weight rooms. Now, that new coach has to go out and recruit quality ball players competing against Notre Dame, Alabama, USC, Oklahoma, Texas etc. I don't think Uconn has the time or the $$$$$.

 

[Husky68]

It would be nice if it were that simple. First of all you have to find a coach that is willing to take a chance on a school that may not take football seriously enough. Then you have to pay the coach and allow him to add his own staff. Next if you want to leave the Big East you have to pay the exit fee. If you really want to be a big time program, you probably need to have a new larger stadium and a first class practice facility with modern weight rooms. Now, that new coach has to go out and recruit quality ball players competing against Notre Dame, Alabama, USC, Oklahoma, Texas etc. I don't think Uconn has the time or the $$$$$.

I didn't realize you were pillow talking with Herbst and knew she took endowment, AAU membership, # professors, AD seriously but not football.

In case you have been watching I love Lucy reruns and haven't had a chance to catch up with latest Uconn football: no longer in Yankee conference, have a 40k stadium that can be expanded to 55k; have state of art practice facilities, pay head football coach more than lot of BCS schools and beat ND recently.

Is it easy, if it was BCU would have done it.

Never is a long, long time.

 

[ctchamps]

There is an advantage to having strong athletic programs but the correlation is far from perfect. There a lots of factors that determine the success of a university other than sports.

 

[60'sfan]

I didn't realize you were pillow talking with Herbst and knew she took endowment, AAU membership, # professors, AD seriously but not football.

In case you have been watching I love Lucy reruns and haven't had a chance to catch up with latest Uconn football: no longer in Yankee conference, have a 40k stadium that can be expanded to 55k; have state of art practice facilities, pay head football coach more than lot of BCS schools and beat ND recently.

Is it easy, if it was BCU would have done it.

Never is a long, long time.

What I have been watching is this. First, just when Uconn seemed to have been making strides toward a first class football program, it's head football coach, Randy Edsall, decided that the grass was greener somewhere else. I know that some will argue that Randy was not that good but I remember posts that suggested that someday we could be looking at National Championships in men's and women's basketball and football.
Second, Uconn did not go out and hire a top level coach to replace Edsall and the football program is deteriorating. Third, the ACC and possibly the B!g shunned us for other schools. Frankly, I don't see the commitment and given the cost to get there, I am not sure that it is worth it.

 

[zls44]

Waaaah its too hard waaaah we should give up waaaahhhhhh

 

[freescooter]

What I have been watching is this. First, just when Uconn seemed to have been making strides toward a first class football program, it's head football coach, Randy Edsall, decided that the grass was greener somewhere else. I know that some will argue that Randy was not that good but I remember posts that suggested that someday we could be looking at National Championships in men's and women's basketball and football.
Second, Uconn did not go out and hire a top level coach to replace Edsall and the football program is deteriorating. Third, the ACC and possibly the B!g shunned us for other schools. Frankly, I don't see the commitment and given the cost to get there, I am not sure that it is worth it.

Replacing a football coach is hard. Absolutely no guarantee of success. if there were it wouldn't have taken Notre Dame 25 years to get somebody who can finally bring them the level of success Hotz had. You look at Louisville. When Petrino left they landed Kragthorpe who was being hailed in the media as the hottest guy out there. Jurich was hailed as a genius for beating some others in landing him. Now Kragthorpe has become a verb meaning to screw up a football team. Michigan took Rich Rodriguez, a supposed offensive genius at West Virginia. How'd that work for them? We have made 1 coaching change in the D1 era. though it doesn't seem to have worked out, let's wait and see what happens next. As far as facilities, UConn's are as good as any in the country. Sure the Stadium is on the small side, but it is expandable and we get decent attendance. When the team is good, it is better than decent. And when you compare it with some places, Pitt, USF for example, who play in pro stadiums, I think it is preferable.