Must Read: UConn Football Set Up To Fail By People Who Need To Support It Most

[Drew]

UConn football set up to fail by people who need to support it the most

There is no other conclusion to be drawn, lest you fall for UConn's disingenuousness like a mob informant into the Harlem River. UConn football is over. University leadership has signed the death cert...

www.theday.com

Let's just call it what it is: The Big Lie.

There's a plan in place for football, they'll tell us.

Football is still important, they'll tell us.

Football will have our full support, they'll tell us.

And then when the words become lies, perhaps we can identify the root cause of UConn's current malaise: bad leadership, from outgoing president Susan Herbst right on down the administrative ladder.

Straight up: The last person with a title at State U who had a plan for anything was Lew Perkins. Perkins wasn't rainbows and lollipops. But the guy never cared about anything else but making sure his people had the best of everything.

 

[Drew]

"UConn is a drastically different place now than the old days, folks. There was a time when Lew Perkins, Jim Calhoun, Geno Auriemma and Randy Edsall did it better than just about anyone else. They turned a regional university with a dairy barn into a national conversation piece.

And now? They're happy to be back playing Seton Hall. I guess all we need is a clip of the late Dennis Green telling us "we are who we thought they were."

A regional university with a dairy barn and two good basketball teams.

And a football program set up to fail by the very people who need to support it the most."

Just a fantastic article and not one part is inaccurate. Its so damning and yet because it fits peoples agendas nobody will care or be held accountable. Absolutely insane.

 

[UCFBfan]

David Benedict?.......
Now comes this Big East thing. Nice move for basketball. But athletic department people tell me Mr. Benedict's communication skills are a swing and a miss, evidenced by the number of people blindsided by news of the move to the Big East. I'm told that even some Board of Trustees members were unaware until media reports surfaced Saturday morning about the Big East

I found this to be interesting. I have no clue if any of this has any truth to it but if it does, it shows that no thought was given to any ramifications of this move. This means that, if this bit is true, this AD is screwed.

 

[whaler11]

I am no Benedict guy but he didn’t ‘get rid of Joe D’.

 

[UCSouth]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Benedict come from Auburn, an SEC school, where football is the end all? He was the Chief Operating Officer for the athletics department. I believe that his job consisted of operational planning, resource allocation, budget development and financial management. Seems to me that he is only trying to do his job in the way he knows how and unfortunately the football team is hemorrhaging money. How do you stop the bleeding? Surely you can't stay in the AAC, where eventually ALL of our teams would meet their demise. A P5 invite was a pipe dream then and a never going to happen now. I appreciate both sides of the argument, BB vs FB, but if you can take a step back and schedule FB games that give us a chance to get healthy in the win column the turnstiles will follow. Granted, the BB should turn quicker than the FB but it should happen. Instead of bickering amongst each other, get behind all this and see how far we can push this thing. Hell, we pushed it from the Yankee Conference and Memorial Stadium to Tempe and the Fiesta Bowl once. It looks like it needs to happen again. Been on the BY for a long time as an observer and thought it was time to put my 2 cents in.

 

[Jimdish255]

P5 wasn't a pipe dream. Our media partner was just more than too happy to let regional rivalries be turned into a negative when it was time to add one more team to the ACC. And while the B12 never seemed fully committed past the dog and pony show, there was probably still a shot until the Houston backers began to pull strings and agitate the rest of the conference. What happened aside from some cable box counting and wishful thinking of the B1G and Rutgers is still hard to rationalize. But the fact is while never knew how to play the game and made mistakes, we were certainly in the game more than once. We just never developed a strong enough ally to see us through. That and RE bailing which was a terrible look.

So while this looks like a desperation move (and it may be), it's still hard to predict the future. Stuff happens and sometimes it comes out of left field. The points made are valid but even the most likely outcome is not a guarantee. The one point of contention is whether this constitutes quitting. I need to see it play out before drawing that conclusion.

 

[Adios]

I am sure WVU is worried about regional rivalries.

 

[Adios]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Benedict come from Auburn, an SEC school, where football is the end all? He was the Chief Operating Officer for the athletics department. I believe that his job consisted of operational planning, resource allocation, budget development and financial management. Seems to me that he is only trying to do his job in the way he knows how and unfortunately the football team is hemorrhaging money. How do you stop the bleeding? Surely you can't stay in the AAC, where eventually ALL of our teams would meet their demise. A P5 invite was a pipe dream then and a never going to happen now. I appreciate both sides of the argument, BB vs FB, but if you can take a step back and schedule FB games that give us a chance to get healthy in the win column the turnstiles will follow. Granted, the BB should turn quicker than the FB but it should happen. Instead of bickering amongst each other, get behind all this and see how far we can push this thing. Hell, we pushed it from the Yankee Conference and Memorial Stadium to Tempe and the Fiesta Bowl once. It looks like it needs to happen again. Been on the BY for a long time as an observer and thought it was time to put my 2 cents in.

Never going to happen? So obtuse. We have more championships than a lot of P5 schools, as well as a larger market.

Some of you don't have the simplest grasp of business strategies.

 

[UCSouth]

Never going to happen? So obtuse. We have more championships than a lot of P5 schools, as well as a larger market.

Some of you don't have the simplest grasp of business strategies.

So what you are saying is that I wasted 4 years at UConn and my Degree from the UConn School of Business is just a worthless piece of paper. I guess that it is better to find out now.....Thanks Butch

 

[Redding Husky]

"UConn is a drastically different place now than the old days, folks. There was a time when Lew Perkins, Jim Calhoun, Geno Auriemma and Randy Edsall did it better than just about anyone else. They turned a regional university with a dairy barn into a national conversation piece.

And now? They're happy to be back playing Seton Hall. I guess all we need is a clip of the late Dennis Green telling us "we are who we thought they were."

A regional university with a dairy barn and two good basketball teams.

And a football program set up to fail by the very people who need to support it the most."

Just a fantastic article and not one part is inaccurate. Its so damning and yet because it fits peoples agendas nobody will care or be held accountable. Absolutely insane.

Don’t forget we have good ice cream!

 

[Fairfield_1st]

Instead of bickering amongst each other, get behind all this and see how far we can push this thing.

In theory this is what should happen, but it never will. There are too many people on here that aren't UConn fans. They are fans of UConn men's BB, women's BB, football, soccer, etc, but not fans of the entire university. I have no clue what's going to happen given all the current gray area, but being an alum and supporter of all things UConn, I pray that whoever is pulling the strings has a plan to put us in a better position going forward than we are in now. Given the possible exit and entrance fees on the table, I have my doubts.

 

[uconnfan68]

I am sure WVU is worried about regional rivalries.

They meant BC.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

In theory this is what should happen, but it never will. There are too many people on here that aren't UConn fans. They are fans of UConn men's BB, women's BB, football, soccer, etc, but not fans of the entire university. I have no clue what's going to happen given all the current gray area, but being an alum and supporter of all things UConn, I pray that whoever is pulling the strings has a plan to put us in a better position going forward than we are in now. Given the possible exit and entrance fees on the table, I have my doubts.

Beyond the exit fees UConn will have to pay to the AAC under the current mess, what if it ever wants to leave the New Big East. It would not shock me if these are between $50 and $100 million. This could become a real issue, too. If the ACC ever needs a replacement team or wants to expand, UConn remains a possible option.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

If the ACC ever needs a replacement team or wants to expand, UConn remains a possible option.

I would accept a partial with them for all sports except football in a heartbeat. They have an unbalanced league (Thank you ND) so it seems like a good fit. Just give us a little scheduling help with our independent football team and I'm in. I guess compared to what we appear to have now, no scheduling help would be fine too.

 

[LRock34]

I predicted the death of our athletic department YEARS ago when Louisville out maneuvered us for the ACC and people in here jumped down my throat about it. The Athletic Department has been in a steady decline since Big Lou left. I knew we were finished when as the ship was sinking a writer quoted an anonymous source from the AD saying that “we are happy in the Big East, the Big East has been good to us”. We haven’t had a big picture thinker in our AD in 20 years. It’s beyond sad, these idiots destroyed our programs.

I’ve had one foot out the door for a long time. It’s been a long time since I was a regular poster here. It’s been a long time since I followed scores are watched a full game. I’m someone who was a die hard fan between 1988 and roughly 2014. I’m also a die hard Knicks and Redskins fan. The fact that I still religiously follow the Knicks and Redskins but all but ignore a school that I actually attended should tell you all you need to know about how poor of job this Athletic Department has done over the years. This move is the nail in the coffin for me.

 

[noeynox]

Sue Herbst is the worst thing that ever happened to the athletic department.

 

[noeynox]

I take anything written by that fool with a grain of salt. He loves rubbing it in about UConn and how BC is secure. Fudge that guy.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

Sue Herbst is the worst thing that ever happened to the athletic department.

You misspelled “Jeff Hathaway.”

 

[noeynox]

You misspelled “Jeff Hathaway.”

Of course terrible decisions have happened post Hathaway but okay.

 

[VAHuskyFan]

Of course terrible decisions have happened post Hathaway but okay.

True, it has been a long road that’s led us here.

 

[UConnWingman]

I predicted the death of our athletic department YEARS ago when Louisville out maneuvered us for the ACC and people in here jumped down my throat about it. The Athletic Department has been in a steady decline since Big Lou left. I knew we were finished when as the ship was sinking a writer quoted an anonymous source from the AD saying that “we are happy in the Big East, the Big East has been good to us”. We haven’t had a big picture thinker in our AD in 20 years. It’s beyond sad, these idiots destroyed our programs.

I’ve had one foot out the door for a long time. It’s been a long time since I was a regular poster here. It’s been a long time since I followed scores are watched a full game. I’m someone who was a die hard fan between 1988 and roughly 2014. I’m also a die hard Knicks and Redskins fan. The fact that I still religiously follow the Knicks and Redskins but all but ignore a school that I actually attended should tell you all you need to know about how poor of job this Athletic Department has done over the years. This move is the nail in the coffin for me.

Boston College's position on UConn had more to do than whatever got reported re: Louisville "out-maneuvering" us.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

I’m someone who was a die hard fan between 1988 and roughly 2014. I’m also a die hard Knicks and Redskins fan.

Definition of die-hard from Merriam Webster: strongly or fanatically determined or devoted
You're not a die-hard UConn fan and never were. A die hard fan would never have a foot out the door. You got wrapped up in the NIT run and the championship years and quit on the team when they finally hit on hard times. That's the definition of fair weather.
The Knicks have had bad years and bad management (see James Dolan), but you've stuck with them, so you are a die hard Knicks fan.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

Boston College's position on UConn had more to do than whatever got reported re: Louisville "out-maneuvering" us.

Louisville being a football school had 10000x more to do it with anything to do with BC or "penciled in" or anything like that.

Clemson, FSU, VTech, Miami wanted a football school, and they generate the ACC money. Period.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Louisville being a football school had 10000x more to do it with anything to do with BC or "penciled in" or anything like that.

Clemson, FSU, VTech, Miami wanted a football school, and they generate the ACC money. Period.

And Irish Loop -- how is that going for the ACC? Louisville 2018 record 2-10 (0-8 ACC)

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It is surprising that a C level troll like DiMauro can still get people upset with his nonsense.