Serious question I asked before...

[whaler11]

We had 23k for the Illinois game, coming off of a 1-11 season and a whole decade of suck. Do you mean to tell me that we couldn't squeeze an extra 8k (assuming 5k were Illinois fans) if we were ridiculously good for 3 years in a row??? It's ludicrous...

[EDIT: before you comment on the free tickets, we had 19k for the Wagner game when we were still charging money]

we did not have that attendance. stop.

and they papered the house for wagner too.

Wagner was like 13-14. Illinois was like 18 on the most perfect weather day you can have before kids sports start.

if you want to say attendance will be x because you can publish any absurd number youd like then sure it will be 38k

the kind of schedule they need to play to get to 8-4 consistently would draw flies. it would be multiple fcs and total fbs dregs.

they couldnt recruit with a conference that plays on national tv with bowl tie ins. playing on flo sports against fcs teams - good luck getting any talent that can beat legitimate fbs outfits.

 

[UConnDan97]

we did not have that attendance. stop.

and they papered the house for wagner too.

Wagner was like 13-14. Illinois was like 18 on the most perfect weather day you can have before kids sports start.

if you want to say attendance will be x because you can publish any absurd number youd like then sure it will be 38k

Okay, let's call Wagner 14k (because it wasn't much less than that). That's a home opener against an FCS team after we went 1-11 last year, 3-9 the previous two years prior, and haven't had a winning season since the Fiesta Bowl three coaches ago in 2010.

Now you expect me to believe that the 14k wouldn't become 28k or 30k after we have multiple winning seasons??? Then you're on crack. I'm not giving you my standard undefeated m.o. right now. I'm giving you the honest to God truth about it. If we have 3 winning seasons in a row, we will be 3/4 full in that building and you can bank on it...

 

[whaler11]

Okay, let's call Wagner 14k (because it wasn't much less than that). That's a home opener against an FCS team after we went 1-11 last year, 3-9 the previous two years prior, and haven't had a winning season since the Fiesta Bowl three coaches ago in 2010.

Now you expect me to believe that the 14k wouldn't become 28k or 30k after we have multiple winning seasons??? Then you're on crack. I'm not giving you my standard undefeated m.o. right now. I'm giving you the honest to God truth about it. If we have 3 winning seasons in a row, we will be 3/4 full in that building and you can bank on it...

against the schedule they need to play to have mutliple winning seasons they wont draw flies.

they didnt draw 30 coming off the fiesta bowl and that was a whole different world of entertainment competition and before a lost decade of grads and negative demographic changes.

 

[kemba]

If we had a UCF like turnaround where we were nationally ranked we'd get back to consistent 30,000+.

Better question is if we have a more realistic turnaround, winning 6-8 games, being maybe a top 50 team, would that have a big impact.

 

[Block C]

If we had a UCF like turnaround where we were nationally ranked we'd get back to consistent 30,000+.

Better question is if we have a more realistic turnaround, winning 6-8 games, being maybe a top 50 team, would that have a big impact.

If we had a turn around like UCF. The NCAA would be investigating into us cheating lmao

 

[gopher2]

I'm generally optimistic but I don't see any scenario short of an entire schedule comprised of FCS and bottom feeder G5 Schools were UConn is going 10-2 or 11-1. If this is what it takes to achieve this kind of record would fans even turn out to watch?

UCF and to some extent Houston can have these incredible rebounds because they both can attract high level coaching with their access to talent and far less restrictive academics.

UConn's best bet would be to hire a young inventive OFFENSIVE coach from a lower level who is used to getting by with less. Play an entertaining brand of football and win some games against name G5/P5 Opponents and attendance will increase. Play CCSU, Sacred Heart, and Devry Institute and the only non players in the stadium will be the cheerleaders and vendors.

The Blue/White Kid will probably be there. Others might go too just to see the team finally wale the bejesus out of somebody.

 

[uconnfan68]

Lol the Rent will never be packed again.

Rolling Stones could do it.

 

[BlueDogs]

Bring in top tier brands and the stadium fills. Michigan proved that. It also helps recruiting tremendously.

 

[BugsyCT]

Winning cures everything, so yes, the Rent would see bigger crowds again. Our big problem is our stock is so low because of everything that’s happened since 2010, it may be too late to repair the damage. What’s keeping better recruits from coming to UConn? The coaches? The constant losing? The lack of tradition compared to many other P5 schools? The move to Indy next year?

Probably all of the above.

 

[HuskyDogArt]

If we won 10-12 games for 4-5 consecutive years we would have to expand the Rent, or build a new facility on campus.uh, forget that last part.

The town of East Hartford had the land and the state wanted the stadium near Hartford, so the Rent was built. East Hartford was divided, and Mansfield DIDN'T want it.

An on campus stadium has passed until it is time to replace the Rent.

 

[huskyrob1]

Honestly, the hard truth of Connecticut the state that I love is that fans only come out for winning teams here. HOWEVER....they ALWAYS come out for winning teams!

Does the football program need to be 11-1 to do it? I don't think so. I think if this team was perennially 8-4ish, you'd see in excess of 25k and closer to 30k in the stadium regularly. Especially if we were to pick up the regular win or two against a local rival (Rutgers / BC / Cuse / Temple / etc.). The hard part is getting to 8-4. The easier part is the CT fans coming back for a winner...

We're never going 8-4 with Edsall at the helm. Firing him might be just as bad, I'm hoping he realizes that he needs to step down gracefully, maybe even having some ceremonial title in the AD, but as football coach he needs to go. He recruits about as well as he conducts himself in front of reporters. That being said he could be of some value to the school but not as head coach.

 

[Bongo Fury]

We're never going 8-4 with Edsall at the helm. Firing him might be just as bad, I'm hoping he realizes that he needs to step down gracefully, maybe even having some ceremonial title in the AD, but as football coach he needs to go. He recruits about as well as he conducts himself in front of reporters. That being said he could be of some value to the school but not as head coach.

I believe he recruits well. Maybe not by a rankings but UCONN is not going to get high rated recruits. He doesn’t recruit height or “prototype NFL” Trying to recruit toughness and speed and developmental. They are still young.

 

[huskyrob1]

I believe he recruits well. Maybe not by a rankings but UCONN is not going to get high rated recruits. He doesn’t recruit height or “prototype NFL” Trying to recruit toughness and speed and developmental. They are still young.

Even during RE1.0, his recruiting was so-so. On occasion he would find a diamond in the rough so to speak, but remember back then he also had his team in arguably the best football conference in the country, and he had some terrific assistants. His ability to sell the program on his own and to inspire his players could be better IMO. That being said I would like nothing more than for him to prove this fan wrong.

 

[Chief00]

They would have to win 9-10 games a year against a legitimate schedule to consistently draw 30k into the actual stadium.

The fans are gone and probably not coming back.

The sport is dying locally at the youth and high school level. The students want no part. The population is aging quickly, the affluent are bailing. Spoiler alert when you live on out of state tuition your grads don’t settle in Bristol or Middletown.

Go to a UConn football or basketball game and find a minor child paying attention rather than playing a game on a phone. Good luck.

UConn’s game presentation sucks and the stadium is already showing its age and has zero amenities.

They have given the product away for so long that almost no one is ever going to pay for it again. Candidly how stupid would you need to be to buy a ticket for USF - this is a school dumb enough to still run the ultimate day of tailgating while moving the kickoff to noon because of a mosquito issue they are a month behind - lord knows they will panic and open the gates again.

Unfortunately some valid observations.

 

[kemba]

but remember back then he also had his team in arguably the best football conference in the country,

?

 

[huskyrob1]

They would have to win 9-10 games a year against a legitimate schedule to consistently draw 30k into the actual stadium.

The fans are gone and probably not coming back.

The sport is dying locally at the youth and high school level. The students want no part. The population is aging quickly, the affluent are bailing. Spoiler alert when you live on out of state tuition your grads don’t settle in Bristol or Middletown.

Go to a UConn football or basketball game and find a minor child paying attention rather than playing a game on a phone. Good luck.

UConn’s game presentation sucks and the stadium is already showing its age and has zero amenities.

They have given the product away for so long that almost no one is ever going to pay for it again. Candidly how stupid would you need to be to buy a ticket for USF - this is a school dumb enough to still run the ultimate day of tailgating while moving the kickoff to noon because of a mosquito issue they are a month behind - lord knows they will panic and open the gates again.

In Connecticut, yes I would definitely agree, high school football does not draw like it used to, and Pop Warner is not even close to what it was when I was a kid. That being said, high school football in the rest of the country seems healthy, it is especially crazy popular in Florida, Texas, and California.

The days of Boyle Stadium in Stamford drawing 11,000 people to watch Stamford play New Canaan or Hedges Stadium at Harding High School packed to the gills with 7000 people are long gone.

Al that being said it will be interesting to see how many show up for St Joe's vs New Canaan tomorrow night.

 

[huskyrob1]

?

Arguably.....2002 when Edsall was selling his program in earnest to potential recruits, Miami was ranked #2, West Virginia #25, Pittsburgh #16, Virginia Tech #18, BC also had a good team that year, beat Notre Dame and Stanford. 2001 Miami was ranked #1, Syracuse #14, BC #21, and a couple others IIRC.

 

[DAC17]

This whole conversation seems somewhat moot. Given no conference affiliation, no chance of getting to any decent bowl game, and a VERY difficult recruiting lift to get any quality players to come to this broken program, I don't see how we get even close to a .500 season. Now, why no one has paid the price for ruining this program is beyond me...

 

[Bobol]

pull the plug.

 

[Uconnalliance]

With every losing season we fall farther and farther from any hope of filling the seats, I gotta tell ya it’s getting old predicting undefeated seasons and goin 1-12

 

[kemba]

Arguably.....2002 when Edsall was selling his program in earnest to potential recruits, Miami was ranked #2, West Virginia #25, Pittsburgh #16, Virginia Tech #18, BC also had a good team that year, beat Notre Dame and Stanford. 2001 Miami was ranked #1, Syracuse #14, BC #21, and a couple others IIRC.

Even if that were true we are talking about a very small time period in Edsall's tenure. For the vast majority of Edsall's tenure the Big East was seen as the weakest BCS conference.

The dropoff from a BCS conference, to the AAC, to independence is a valid enough factor to bring up no need for crazy exaggerations.