New Head Coach Criteria/Wishes

[Bongo Fury]

It’s about picking the right NIL players and building a good team. There are teams with highest NIL and still not successful.

 

[UCONNRPh]

here's my real objection to sammis. He may, in his tenure, learned how to do things. I'd wonder about him as a recruiter. That being said, can he find a good replacement for himself.

I'm convinced the head football coach is more a GM than ever and that means the real X's and O's coaches are your coordinators. Gone are the days of the head college coach calling the plays.

I wish Benedict all the luck finding a new coach. I can't imagine this is easy

My issue with Sammis is that the majority of his plays called were focused on a handful of guys. Many on the team were frustrated (i.e. Rosa)

It could easily be ANY of the aforementioned HCs or even one not mentioned will be successful at UConn as long as we have the funds to hire a VERY solid support staff.

 

[JwittersPAC]

He's gone. I'm not on his bandwagon.

I don't get why you're hell bent in saying he sucks. He did great here. You yourself said a team needs resources to succeed. He got a little NIL and did something with it. You're even trying to use that as a knock.

He is NOT irreplaceable, but is not a slam dunk the next guy will be as good.

Never said he sucks. All I said he was not a successful NFL coach. He is a good college coach. Great at management but terrible at in game and halftime adjustments.

 

[ScottVib]

Herman was 6-16 at FAU...

Lyndon Johnson was always one of the key assistants for Edsall... that said, he's been out of things since 2023 and had been demoted from coordinator to position coach by Towson. Could he be an asset or an assistant still? Maybe? Anything more than that... nope. I'm not wild about higher end donors lobbying for obscure candidates, that's how you end up with Pasqualoni squandering a boatload of talent in 2011.

 

[JMick]

Herman was 6-16 at FAU...

Lyndon Johnson was always one of the key assistants for Edsall... that said, he's been out of things since 2023 and had been demoted from coordinator to position coach by Towson. Could he be an asset or an assistant still? Maybe? Anything more than that... nope. I'm not wild about higher end donors lobbying for obscure candidates, that's how you end up with Pasqualoni squandering a boatload of talent in 2011.

Yeah I don't love it either

 

[CCSUblue]

There are a couple of Ferentz boys on staff for the NYG. Maybe they can be Co-HC. One for either side of the ball, lol. I think one is an OL coach, the one that played. And one is a LB coach. Maybe... As long as they don't hire big brother Brian to be the OC!

 

[ArtTheFan]

Men’s soccer are going to the Sweet Sixteen with their second year coach, does he not count as a hire? Also, which one of Mora and Hurley were bad hires?

And didn't Dave hire Mike Cavanaugh, the men's hockey coach?

 

[Fatroony5]

The names you see get thrown around here are insane, Tom Herman? Come on guys. Focus needs to be on P4 assistants than can bring talent with them from the portal immediately or G5 coaches IMO. I could be swayed on Cahill but I’d be nervous about grabbing an FCS coach. If we’re going the fired coach route, Billy Napier is a name I could get behind. The last Florida fired coach is doing pretty dang well at UNLV…

 

[ArtTheFan]

I’ll take Bob Kaufman throwing around some Bain money and hiring Nick Saban for $5, Alex

As Bob used to say in his commercials: 'I doubt it'. Bain is really advertising Bob's here in Florida.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Going off topic, but Jr is having a pretty good career so far. OC at Ole Miss. Seems like a future head coach.

Charlie Weiss Jr is 32. Would certainly be a splash hire

 

[BlueandOG]

We need to go to 3-5 mill a year and up the assistant coach salary pool too. If we want a big name coach UConn has to open the check book

Can a fan donate specifically for the football coaches' salaries?

 

[FightOnCT]

Ryan Carty is still an option, has Delaware bowling in year 1 of their FBS tenure. He could easily bring along their QB, who I’ve been high on, one of the most underrated in the country imo.

 

[Blades]

And didn't Dave hire Mike Cavanaugh, the men's hockey coach?

Warde Manuel

 

[uconnfan68]

Can a fan donate specifically for the football coaches' salaries?

Cash only, small bills, but lots of them.

 

[psilotic]

Seems like this would be a good time for board stalwarts like huskymedic to post a poll with PLAUSIBLE candidates to get a feel for what the room is thinking

I'll start: Pat Fitzgerald, Joe Moorhead, Al Golden. expect incoming flak on the last two

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

And didn't Dave hire Mike Cavanaugh, the men's hockey coach?

Nah, hockey man Warde Manuel hired Cavanaugh.

 

[Palatine]

Brian Daboll. Very good offensive mind. Plays a pro system. New York/ New England pedigree. Canadian by birth. Looking for work.

 

[huskymedic]

Seems like this would be a good time for board stalwarts like huskymedic to post a poll with PLAUSIBLE candidates to get a feel for what the room is thinking

I'll start: Pat Fitzgerald, Joe Moorhead, Al Golden. expect incoming flak on the last two

@psilotic - go for it. Poll away:

 

[Devland]

Herman was 6-16 at FAU...

Lyndon Johnson was always one of the key assistants for Edsall... that said, he's been out of things since 2023 and had been demoted from coordinator to position coach by Towson. Could he be an asset or an assistant still? Maybe? Anything more than that... nope. I'm not wild about higher end donors lobbying for obscure candidates, that's how you end up with Pasqualoni squandering a boatload of talent in 2011.

UConn's history of former players that were loved hasn't gone well. Dom Perno and Kevin Ollie took a lot of guff from the fans as coaches. I actually like both. I run into Kevin on occasion through a mutual friend. He is not evil like some here would like you to believe.

 

[noeynox]

@psilotic - go for it. Poll away:

The number of messages that guy had scares me. Hurry and post something my guy!

 

[DJHurlhoun]

Herman was 6-16 at FAU...

Lyndon Johnson was always one of the key assistants for Edsall... that said, he's been out of things since 2023 and had been demoted from coordinator to position coach by Towson. Could he be an asset or an assistant still? Maybe? Anything more than that... nope. I'm not wild about higher end donors lobbying for obscure candidates, that's how you end up with Pasqualoni squandering a boatload of talent in 2011.

To be fair, Tom Herman was also 22-4 at Houston with a CFP/New Year's Six bowl win over Florida State. So just for the fun of it, let's combine those records from four years at non P-5 programs (at the time he coached them). 38-20 = 65.5% win percentage over 4 years.

Jim Mora was 27-23 at UConn = 54% win percentage over four years, and I would argue that UConn has had a much easier schedule as an independent. Don't get me wrong, I give Mora a ton of credit because we were one of the worst FBS football programs before he arrived.

One other point. In a 2024 study on the valuation of athletic programs, UConn was ranked #71 at $178 million with an annual revenue of 93 million. Florida Atlantic did not make this list as it was limited to the top 75. FAU athletics' operating budget for 2024-25 was 35.5 million. UConn spent 101 million.

 

[ScottVib]

Herman was successful over a decade ago. Then moved to Texas and lasted only four years despite having every advantage, being fired in part due to the way he handled the program (check out Texas' budget and compare it to UConn's at that time). He then only lasted a year as an analyst remaining unemployed a season before FAU gave him a shot and flushed him after 2 years.

I'm not saying he wasn't successful, but a lot has changed in the decade since he was last successful, his Texas departure and struggles to find a role that he could stick at since then (even analyst roles) raise red flags. You don't typically get fired from FAU and then move upward and I'd like to think that UConn is aiming a bit higher than someone who couldn't cut it at FAU.

 

[tiger8mush]

Focus needs to be on P4 assistants than can bring talent with them from the portal immediately or G5 coaches IMO.

It's a possibility, but Diaco is still fresh in our minds.

 

[tiger paw]

1. Wait for Penn State to hire it's new coach. Find out who the other finalist were and target them.
2. Who wants to live in rural CT ?
3. Who has a wife willing to endure living in rural CT.
4. Some one with Northeast ties.
5. Some one with NFL experience.
6. Some one willing to accept being 3rd fiddle to UC MBB +WBB.

 

[DJHurlhoun]

Herman was successful over a decade ago. Then moved to Texas and lasted only four years despite having every advantage, being fired in part due to the way he handled the program (check out Texas' budget and compare it to UConn's at that time). He then only lasted a year as an analyst remaining unemployed a season before FAU gave him a shot and flushed him after 2 years.

I'm not saying he wasn't successful, but a lot has changed in the decade since he was last successful, his Texas departure and struggles to find a role that he could stick at since then (even analyst roles) raise red flags. You don't typically get fired from FAU and then move upward and I'd like to think that UConn is aiming a bit higher than someone who couldn't cut it at FAU.

I agree that there certainly are some red flags, and he hasn't had success in a bit, but it's not like he was terrible at Texas. To put it in perspective, the three years prior to his arrival, Texas had three straight losing seasons. They were 16-21 under Charlie Strong. One could argue, he gave the program some stability with four straight winning seasons and bowl wins including a 2019 Sugar Bowl win over Georgia (not THAT long ago). His overall record was 32-18. Not great for Texas standards, but an improvement nonetheless.

Prior to Mora coaching at UConn in 2022, his last winning season was in 2015 at UCLA. He did not have a winning season at UConn until 2024 (an eight year gap). Tom Herman last had a winning season at Texas in 2020. So if we look at it this way, his path could be similar to Mora's. In addition, Tom Herman is 5-0 in bowl games.