One heck of a press conference.

[History Geek]

...I was told that I shouldn't be surprised if we end up with two new coordinators for football next season.

I hope this is a no-brainer.

 

[noeynox]

Thank you coach for ripping the scab off and revealing the bloody gushing mess underlying our football program.

Everything he said is 100% true and accurate and all rooted in the fact that this state, and our alumni by and large (at least the ones with firepower) simply DOES NOT take football seriously.

And that's gotta change otherwise you may as well either disband the whole program or just drop back to FCS. But we HAVE to make a decision because this whistling through the graveyard routine just IS NOT CUTTING IT.

Remember when Chris Murphy and the governor were saying UConn is not a broke athletic department? No one asked them to chime in, but they did and showed their ignorance to the reality of the situation. Without competitive NIL programs are going to be DOA at most places. Any players you develop are just going to get poached right off your roster. Basketball is no different, if you can't pay em, someone else will.

 

[Rdkid]

Remember when Chris Murphy and the governor were saying UConn is not a broke athletic department? No one asked them to chime in, but they did and showed their ignorance to the reality of the situation. Without competitive NIL programs are going to be DOA at most places. Any players you develop are just going to get poached right off your roster. Basketball is no different, if you can't pay em, someone else will.

I would hope that in their political lane they were stating indirectly that sports are important to UConn’s identity and health (and the state’s for that matter). And that a $30 mil or so AD deficit should not be of concern to the legislature in the grand scheme of the UConn budget. NIL is of no consequence to them. That belongs to the market - the overall interest in UConn athletics - of the few, of the many, whatever.

 

[Rich]

What a difference a year makes, LOL:

Sanders: Colorado 'not an ATM,' won't 'buy' recruits

"You’re not coming here to get rich unless you're really coming here with a plan to go to the NFL and get your degree," Sanders said.

theathletic.com

Colorado coach Deion Sanders knows his roster has holes, but has no plans to use money to fix it in the offseason.

“We’re not an ATM. That’s not gonna happen here,” Sanders said Tuesday. “If you come to Colorado to play football for me and the Colorado Buffaloes, it’s because you really want to play football and receive a wonderful education. All the business stuff will be handled on the back end. But we are not an ATM. You’re not coming here to get rich unless you’re really coming here with a plan to go to the NFL and get your degree. Not to come here and be Moneybagg Yo. That’s a rapper, right?”

 

[RSTuthill]

Only if you like winning. Trinity wins more games in an average year than UConn wins in 5.

I would remind you however that NIL will infect D3 if it has not yet already. D3 simply means no scholarships.

Regarding Trinity, they are interesting. You can't even recruit in NESCAC. So how is it they have built a dynasty?

 

[businesslawyer]

I would remind you however that NIL will infect D3 if it has not yet already. D3 simply means no scholarships.

Regarding Trinity, they are interesting. You can't even recruit in NESCAC. So how is it they have built a dynasty?

Primarily a combination of two things: the quality of your head coach and how flexible admissions will be with the academic qualifications of football players.

 

[Buffett10]

Mora should go out and hire Briles for $300k and use the rest of charlton's salary to up the DC salary.

 

[Dizzy21]

Mora should worry about coaching rather than calling the players he has crap. The cupboard is not bar according to every single other agency who rates this crap. JMU's talent was far less than ours. We got crushed because of crap coaching, not lack of talent.

 

[noeynox]

Mora should worry about coaching rather than calling the players he has crap. The cupboard is not bar according to every single other agency who rates this crap. JMU's talent was far less than ours. We got crushed because of crap coaching, not lack of talent.

You people are crazy. Folks must have forgotten the scores of games before he got here. Good luck convincing a better coach to sign up for this. "You'll have no money to pay assistants, and forget about NIL money, now go get em coach".

 

[UConnJim]

Primarily a combination of two things: the quality of your head coach and how flexible admissions will be with the academic qualifications of football players.

More to it than that. Look at the size of the rosters of the NESCAC schools and Trinity generally has a larger roster. Trinity just played Bowdoin. Trinity has a roster of 105 athletes and Bowdoin has a roster of 85 athletes. Huge competitive advantage especially in a league with no redshirting.

 

[billybud]

Transferring allows a developing athlete to move up...the trick is to identify them in the Portal and snag them...

Heck, Aaron Rogers began his career at Butte College before transferring to Cal. He was rejected by Bowden's FSU (he was 5'10 and 165 pounds) and Illinois and other Division I teams...after a stellar year at Butte, Cal snagged him.

 

[Dizzy21]

You people are crazy. Folks must have forgotten the scores of games before he got here. Good luck convincing a better coach to sign up for this. "You'll have no money to pay assistants, and forget about NIL money, now go get em coach".

We got massacred this year by teams who pay their coaches a third of what we pay ours and who objectively have less talent. Charlton gets almost as much as JMUs head coach. They don't even have a full allotment of scholarships yet and it's their second year in FBS football. Their recruiting classes have been 50 spots worse than ours and they have very few transfers. Their coach isn't complaining about NIL in the press conference, he is complaining that they aren't ranked by the CFP committee because of a rule that prohibits them from a bowl game in their second year, which he has done with far less University resources than Mora and while being paid a third of what Mora is paid.

There were many games this year where competent coaching would have made the difference. The talent on this team presently, if properly coached, was good enough to win a good amount of games this year. Maybe he should be taking accountability for that publicly and forming a plan to actually fix that, after all isn't that what he said he got hired to do.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

How many future NFL prospects do you need NOT to mediocre?

It's not the number, it's the poor pass rush, it's the abysmal tackling, the slow foot speed of DB's & LB's compared to opposition.

So everyone who wants a different OC should probably realize that if that is done, UConn will be back to running plain vanilla plays for half a year. Whole new playbook. That's what happens. No one is gonna come in and run the old playbook. That's not how it wor

New coaches come in all the time a jump start a different offense almost immediately.

 

[Patman]

Primarily a combination of two things: the quality of your head coach and how flexible admissions will be with the academic qualifications of football players.

Nothing new under that sun. Even within the NESCAC there's value to how good your football team is and even they know it.

 

[Derucky]

Think it was the shortest one by a winning coach. Seemed really upset about our lack of scoring. Also, who broke his arm?

The guy is pissed off - I think he's kept his composure AMAZINGLY since he came here. No DC??? Conference-biased refs? It's amazing that he stays here. The fans turning WILL BE THE LAST STRAW, AND HE WILL LEAVE. It's the same reason the Whalers became vulnerable and were taken away by a vulture.

 

[Buffett10]

We got massacred this year by teams who pay their coaches a third of what we pay ours and who objectively have less talent. Charlton gets almost as much as JMUs head coach. They don't even have a full allotment of scholarships yet and it's their second year in FBS football. Their recruiting classes have been 50 spots worse than ours and they have very few transfers. Their coach isn't complaining about NIL in the press conference, he is complaining that they aren't ranked by the CFP committee because of a rule that prohibits them from a bowl game in their second year, which he has done with far less University resources than Mora and while being paid a third of what Mora is paid.

There were many games this year where competent coaching would have made the difference. The talent on this team presently, if properly coached, was good enough to win a good amount of games this year. Maybe he should be taking accountability for that publicly and forming a plan to actually fix that, after all isn't that what he said he got hired to do.

More than 25% of their roster is transfers but hey don’t let facts get in the way.

 

[ZooCougar]

I absolutely believe that as OC Petrino could fix our offense immediately.

That said, even if Petrino would consider a coordinators job (at a G level school no less) I would be stunned if Mora would hire the that he was fired in favor of not quite too decades ago.

I ran into someone a couple days ago who is not a football insider but is a UConn insider. While this may be more speculation on his part than actual knowledge, I was told that I shouldn't be surprised if we end up with two new coordinators for football next season.

From your lips to God’s ears.

 

[Alum86]

The guy is pissed off - I think he's kept his composure AMAZINGLY since he came here. No DC??? Conference-biased refs? It's amazing that he stays here. The fans turning WILL BE THE LAST STRAW, AND HE WILL LEAVE. It's the same reason the Whalers became vulnerable and were taken away by a vulture.

LOL. Sure. That and the shiny palace known as the Civic Center.

 

[freescooter]

I would remind you however that NIL will infect D3 if it has not yet already. D3 simply means no scholarships.

Regarding Trinity, they are interesting. You can't even recruit in NESCAC. So how is it they have built a dynasty?

First of all, you can recruit. You can’t give scholarships. Though a recent Wesleyan report showed that the percent of athletes getting aid was far higher than the general student body, so there is that.

Admissions is also a big deal. Wesleyan was struggling for years until a new coach came. His wife came too. She was hired to work in the Admissions office reviewing athletic applicants. But she was highly qualified. Had the same job at Williams when her husband coached there.

 

[Blades]

Think it was the shortest one by a winning coach. Seemed really upset about our lack of scoring.

Well Uconn's numbers are final....when his OC is in the bottom of CFB ( 117th & 121st ), 2 years in a row, he might be on to something..

 

[RSTuthill]

First of all, you can recruit. You can’t give scholarships. Though a recent Wesleyan report showed that the percent of athletes getting aid was far higher than the general student body, so there is that.

Admissions is also a big deal. Wesleyan was struggling for years until a new coach came. His wife came too. She was hired to work in the Admissions office reviewing athletic applicants. But she was highly qualified. Had the same job at Williams when her husband coached there.

In D3 you can/could recruit. In NESCAC, however, they are (or were) more restrictive and could not/cannot recruit. Not sure if the rules have changed, but back a couple decades a coach could not even talk to a potential SA after a game. Visits to campus were allowed however as long as they were not paid.

 

[Patman]

In D3 you can/could recruit. In NESCAC, however, they are (or were) more restrictive and could not/cannot recruit. Not sure if the rules have changed, but back a couple decades a coach could not even talk to a potential SA after a game. Visits to campus were allowed however as long as they were not paid.

I can tell you back in 1999 they absolutely do phone calls.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

More than 25% of their roster is transfers but hey don’t let facts get in the way.

They seemed to be almost all on jersey numbers 1-40 which would be their skill players plus DBs.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Primarily a combination of two things: the quality of your head coach and how flexible admissions will be with the academic qualifications of football players.

Amazing having those two coaches around for such a long time. Remember Miller running a fun offense. Had a QB drafted in the NFL... Current coach had lost 20 games in 16 seasons. Just a wonderful football tradition. The Courant used to give them decent coverage.

 

[businesslawyer]

The guy is pissed off - I think he's kept his composure AMAZINGLY since he came here. No DC??? Conference-biased refs? It's amazing that he stays here. The fans turning WILL BE THE LAST STRAW, AND HE WILL LEAVE. It's the same reason the Whalers became vulnerable and were taken away by a vulture.

As someone who never cared about the Whalers, let me defend their fan base. An owner doesn’t get to spend decades not caring if they are fielding a competitive team, and then blame the fans for eventually not caring either.