Some pretty blunt assessments from Jim Mora | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Some pretty blunt assessments from Jim Mora

Gburyhusky said:
finding ways to get into the NIL and revenue game so that we are at least competitive at the G5 level.
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The challenge is NIL isn’t on the coach. It’s on the AD (to an extent) for outreach, but ultimately the funding comes from us, the fans. They need to boost the number of fans who are passionate enough to invest in the program even beyond tickets.
 
I was talking to someone the other day about UConn Football - someone who doesn’t follow it as closely as some of us do. What they said was UConn needs a major donor or two. He was right. We just don’t have the financial backing and boosters needed to compete. Plain and simple.

You can talk about other programs all you want, the fact is we dug ourselves a hole way too deep. To get out we need resources. If a recruit has to choose between UConn and a similar program that has had even a tad bit more success then us, they’ll go with the school with more recent success - unless of course they can get some money out of the deal.

It’s the way of the world at this point. Money drives the bus. Mora is right.
 
BPT2Storrs said:
I was talking to someone the other day about UConn Football - someone who doesn’t follow it as closely as some of us do. What they said was UConn needs a major donor or two. He was right. We just don’t have the financial backing and boosters needed to compete. Plain and simple.

You can talk about other programs all you want, the fact is we dug ourselves a hole way too deep. To get out we need resources. If a recruit has to choose between UConn and a similar program that has had even a tad bit more success then us, they’ll go with the school with more recent success - unless of course they can get some money out of the deal.

It’s the way of the world at this point. Money drives the bus. Mora is right.
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Sure the program needs money and financial support. I have no doubt that we are at a big disadvantage as compared to the Power conference schools. However I find it hard to believe that we are unable to compete with most of the G5. Do FIU and Georgia State have more resources at their disposal? Doubt it but I guess it's possible.
 
Gburyhusky said:
Sure the program needs money and financial support. I have no doubt that we are at a big disadvantage as compared to the Power conference schools. However I find it hard to believe that we are unable to compete with most of the G5. Do FIU and Georgia State have more resources at their disposal? Doubt it but I guess it's possible.
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This has always been our problem, and some thing that none of us seem to be able to figure out. We are clearly a bigger brand with more resources than schools like those yet we haven’t had a single winning season in a decade. I personally chalk it up to bad hires and the sense that the school just simply cares about basketball much more than football. Which is fine if you’re duke or Kansas in a power five conference but just can’t be the case when you’re in our situation. You gotta show that you’re invested. Recruits aren’t dumb. They know where our schools priority has lied since the OBE fell apart.
 
Hoophound said:
Its unfortunate, but it seems that way. Otherwise, I hope he knows he needs to push some buttons and that solutions exist. It wouldn't be the first time our administration failed to make changes when needed. Maybe, Jim is just playing politics.
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It doesn’t help the NIL cause when we started the wrong QB and lost to a couple teams we had no business losing to.

There is a variable here that Mora has control over.

I don’t think he is out of here. This is just how Mora talks. He doesn’t really BS.
DoctorWho85 said:
It's weird to hear a coach say what is needed to be said instead of all rah rah bs. Mora knows we have the facilities, we have the opponents and we have a great education. All that is nothing when a recruit is going to choose Syracuse or Rutgers over UConn because they know those two schools will have more money. It really comes down to money both for NIL and coaches. That's the only thing holding UConn back.
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It’s refreshing.
 
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Gburyhusky said:
Sure the program needs money and financial support. I have no doubt that we are at a big disadvantage as compared to the Power conference schools. However I find it hard to believe that we are unable to compete with most of the G5. Do FIU and Georgia State have more resources at their disposal? Doubt it but I guess it's possible.
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We did compete with them. We just didn’t win.

Without a booster and some NIL FIU and company are our level.

It doesn’t matter how many P5s we schedule. You can’t fake it until you make it.
 
Gburyhusky said:
I'm ok with the Coach making public statements like this. However he also needs to be accountable as a program builder, and part of that responsibility is (1) finding ways to win with what we have and (2) finding ways to get into the NIL and revenue game so that we are at least competitive at the G5 level. These are the minimum expectations for him and he is getting paid pretty well to assume these responsibilities. I doubt he took the job expecting that we would be in a P5 in year 2 of his tenure and also doubt that the Athletic Director made any such promises.
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How is it his job to source more NIL money?

Don’t we want him, you know. Actually coaching?
 
Gburyhusky said:
Sure the program needs money and financial support. I have no doubt that we are at a big disadvantage as compared to the Power conference schools. However I find it hard to believe that we are unable to compete with most of the G5. Do FIU and Georgia State have more resources at their disposal? Doubt it but I guess it's possible.
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No but they do reside in a far more fertile recruiting area conducive to snagging the best athletes the P5s pass on. No way around this, UConn will find donors to fund NIL or it will die a slow death. There are so few G5s in our area. All of our former mates in the Big East who we recruited against are P5. The G5s in our area are Temple, UMass and maybe Buffalo, but that is stetching it. I don't count Army and Navy as they are unique in the athletes they recruit.

Someone nailed it. Mora is feeling rug pulled. 1st he was telling recruits they were going ACC, then Big 12, now the reality is, we ain't going nowhere.
 
We recruit at the highest level for basketball.. is the money there for basketball but not football ?
 
To be clear, I am a fan of Mora's and I think he has done and good job thus far. You all have pointed out the challenges and the reasons why this is a hard job. No question about that. Mora took the job knowing all that. So he either needs to get it figured out, bust his but trying to figure it out, or move on so someone else gets a shot.
 
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BPT2Storrs said:
I was talking to someone the other day about UConn Football - someone who doesn’t follow it as closely as some of us do. What they said was UConn needs a major donor or two. He was right. We just don’t have the financial backing and boosters needed to compete. Plain and simple.

You can talk about other programs all you want, the fact is we dug ourselves a hole way too deep. To get out we need resources. If a recruit has to choose between UConn and a similar program that has had even a tad bit more success then us, they’ll go with the school with more recent success - unless of course they can get some money out of the deal.

It’s the way of the world at this point. Money drives the bus. Mora is right.
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We have some pretty wealthy football alums. I wonder if anyone is talking to the McEntees and their the Lorenzens.
 
ZooCougar said:
We did compete with them. We just didn’t win.

Without a booster and some NIL FIU and company are our level.

It doesn’t matter how many P5s we schedule. You can’t fake it until you make it.
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To some degree, you can. UConn football players are treated first class. FIU was having trouble getting money together for equipment a couple years ago. The experience of a UConn football player is at a P5 level. Food, travel, training facilities etc. are all at a much higher level than most of the G5, of not all of it.
 
Hoophound said:
To some degree, you can. UConn football players are treated first class. FIU was having trouble getting money together for equipment a couple years ago. The experience of a UConn football player is at a P5 level. Food, travel, training facilities etc. are all at a much higher level than most of the G5, of not all of it.
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I guess that doesn’t matter as much as you think now does it.

Reality check.
 
ZooCougar said:
I guess that doesn’t matter as much as you think now does it.

Reality check.
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It's just weird that it used to be of huge importance and now it doesn't matter at all? I think maybe he's just frustrated with the general state of things and that's where the comments come from
 
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I would be much more receptive to this type of analysis from the coach on our situation if we were beating the G5 schools on our schedule.

This just seems like an poor excuse after all the hype they built up around this program going into this year.

Him and his staff dropped the ball by letting this team get off to a 0-5 start and losing all momentum they built off last season.

Start the season 4-2 and I bet they’d be in a much better spot to attract NIL money from donors…
 
Skies2018 said:
This has always been our problem, and some thing that none of us seem to be able to figure out. We are clearly a bigger brand with more resources than schools like those yet we haven’t had a single winning season in a decade. I personally chalk it up to bad hires and the sense that the school just simply cares about basketball much more than football. Which is fine if you’re duke or Kansas in a power five conference but just can’t be the case when you’re in our situation. You gotta show that you’re invested. Recruits aren’t dumb. They know where our schools priority has lied since the OBE fell apart.
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This post doesn't make sense.
 
Out of curiosity, have we been losing out on recruits left and right lately? I haven't been following along.

Mora is 100% laying the groundwork to leave. He was probably told we'd be in the Big 12 because AD David Benedict thought the same. Now we are in no man's land with no where to go. He's proven he's not finished yet and can take a G5 job with resources and be successful. He could possibly show he should have a shot at a low P5 job. If he leaves, I don't blame him one bit. We are a sinking ship and for once, I really don't see a way back up.
 
Forte said:
Donating to their alma mater Ivy League schools multi-billion dollar endowments or other elite private schools. The argument that CT is wealthy and, thus, UConn should have strong backing or be flush with money is flawed. The big money in the uber-wealthy parts of CT isn't coming from 9-5 insurance company managers or directors around Hartford's suburbs. In-state students and alumni who choose/chose UConn factor in either scholarship or lower cost for a valuable education, which is usually the opposite of what the very wealthy do.

I could be wrong, and correct me if I am, but our last president, with the goal to keep UConn growing and academically competitive, opened the doors to more and more wealthy international students paying out-of-state tuition from Asian countries like China over in-state tuition students, and that the best /most expensive apartments in downtown Storrs (which I question the long term viability of) were often occupied by them. I seriously doubt the university can tap into that pool of alumni for NIL.
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I believe Xi Jinping would donate generously in exchange for a listening post...
 
ZooCougar said:
What of anything do you know about JMU? They have NIL money. They also have a history of football excellence and have committed to it. Along with numerous alums willing to write checks.
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My daughter goes there. I know I pay $5K or so for an athletic fee.

Great football tradition. Very solid program that was more than ready to compete at next level. Looking forward to the game in a few weeks.

Finally a game I can’t lose. Head and wallet will root for JMU, heart is with Huskies.
 
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ZooCougar said:
I guess that doesn’t matter as much as you think now does it.

Reality check.
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It matters a little. Again, get us in the top 25% of G5 football programs and we’ll be in good shape for the future. I’m not buying that the plush life of a UConn football player can’t help us out-recruit Georgia St or FIU.

I’m not talking about out-recruiting even BC, I’m talking about schools like Coastal Carolina. It’s ridiculous. These G5 schools aren’t paying big NIL at all. Some have collectives, but so do we. Collectives don’t mean much unless they pay big.
 
McLovin said:
I would be much more receptive to this type of analysis from the coach on our situation if we were beating the G5 schools on our schedule.

This just seems like an poor excuse after all the hype they built up around this program going into this year.

Him and his staff dropped the ball by letting this team get off to a 0-5 start and losing all momentum they built off last season.

Start the season 4-2 and I bet they’d be in a much better spot to attract NIL money from donors…
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I think you're underestimating the hole he had to dig out the program from when he arrived. This team was setting records in futility with the beatdowns they were taking. This year has been disappointing but they have lost games by 1 pt, 1 td, and 10 pts. It isn't gonna be easy here. If Mora can't do it or packs it in due to frustration, it will be interesting to see who they can attract. The one "up and comer" they got to bite was a wacko. Everyone else has been off the scrap heap and long past their best coaching days.
 
UCFBfan said:
Out of curiosity, have we been losing out on recruits left and right lately? I haven't been following along.

Mora is 100% laying the groundwork to leave. He was probably told we'd be in the Big 12 because AD David Benedict thought the same. Now we are in no man's land with no where to go. He's proven he's not finished yet and can take a G5 job with resources and be successful. He could possibly show he should have a shot at a low P5 job. If he leaves, I don't blame him one bit. We are a sinking ship and for once, I really don't see a way back up.
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Mora's gonna leave? He is 1-5 right now. Who do you think will hire him after we win 3 games this year? I ask that even as a big time Mora supporter.
 
Gburyhusky said:
To be clear, I am a fan of Mora's and I think he has done and good job thus far. You all have pointed out the challenges and the reasons why this is a hard job. No question about that. Mora took the job knowing all that. So he either needs to get it figured out, bust his but trying to figure it out, or move on so someone else gets a shot.
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Hard things are hard.
 
noeynox said:
I think you're underestimating the hole he had to dig out the program from when he arrived. This team was setting records in futility with the beatdowns they were taking. This year has been disappointing but they have lost games by 1 pt, 1 td, and 10 pts. It isn't gonna be easy here. If Mora can't do it or packs it in due to frustration, it will be interesting to see who they can attract. The one "up and comer" they got to bite was a wacko. Everyone else has been off the scrap heap and long past their best coaching days.
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It was always going to be a challenge and he’s not wrong that he has an uphill battle to fight.

But comments like this when he has already made his fair share of mistakes as a coach (picking the wrong DC, picking the wrong OC, picking the wrong QB1 this year) just seem like a lame excuse.

This team has the pieces it needs to be much better than 1-5, as currently constructed.
 
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