Some pretty blunt assessments from Jim Mora

[ZooCougar]

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.

I guess that doesn’t matter as much as you think now does it.

Reality check.

 

[noeynox]

We recruit at the highest level for basketball.. is the money there for basketball but not football ?

Lol. Is this a real question?

 

[JMick]

I guess that doesn’t matter as much as you think now does it.

Reality check.

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

 

[McLovin]

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…

 

[superjohn]

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.

This post doesn't make sense.

 

[Bonamassa]

Glad Mora is making noise. Hopefully he's making those who can facilitate change squirm and get on the stick. Otherwise what are we doing?

 

[UCFBfan]

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.

 

[RioDog]

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.

I believe Xi Jinping would donate generously in exchange for a listening post...

 

[uconnyankee]

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.

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.

 

[Hoophound]

I guess that doesn’t matter as much as you think now does it.

Reality check.

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.

 

[noeynox]

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…

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.

 

[DoctorWho85]

Lol. Is this a real question?

That has to be rhetorical. It feels too naive to be on this board.

 

[GoConn]

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.

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.

 

[NowInStorrs]

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.

Hard things are hard.

 

[McLovin]

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.

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.

 

[freescooter]

If you haven't listened to the Coach's show this week then you might check it out. It's in the third segment after a pretty cool part on the virtues of our Gordon "Gordie" Sammis,

So Mike Crispino asks this softball question about how it was so great because we schedule Duke 4 times and we have Wake and UAB and other schools on the schedule.

I am pretty sure Crispino expects the stock "Yeah AD Dave is doing a great job bla bla bla".

Instead, Mora goes off on a semi-rant. Paraphrasing: , "Recruits don't care about that, they don't care who we play, they don't care about facilities, they do care about conferences, which is the other thing that is killing us at the moment. What recruits care about is money. What we need is money."

So then genius Crispino says "You mean NIL money?" As if there is another kind of money that Coach could possibly talking about.

Mora says yeah NIL Money. And if we don't get that going then we won't get better players and you can see some tough days ahead.

And then he caps it off with "It works the same way in basketball"

I think it's interesting because the people here on the BY have always held these unfounded beliefs that scheduling "name" opponents helps us recruit (when it clearly does not). And while we may have above par on campus facilities that really doesn't count for much.

Mora of course has no filter. But he is not wrong.

I didn’t hear it but yeah. Mora has been out recruiting. He KNOWS what matters. For those of you who love independence and playing 6 P5 teams a year, listen to the guy who is trying to deliver.

 

[ZooCougar]

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.

5K a year for Sun Belt Sports!

 

[Patman]

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…

Ok sure. But if the money people spoke up during the whole b12 thing maybe we wouldn't be independent next year.

We all know it's cart and horse but if you're interested in uconn football and uconn athletics and you have big pockets at some point its on you for not stepping up.

Do I know the money didn't step up in August and July and make phone calls to Benedict and yomark? No. But it makes one curious.

Now others. Sure. They only want uconn for mutual advertising. Those dollars are on mora's rough start. But the big dollars? I think they don't exist but if they were man were they really quiet. The program makers were dead silent

 

[BlueandOG]

To paraphrase Homer Simpson, "Money - the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

We need more money for NIL, coaches' salaries, and facilities. I have not seen the data, but I suspect their is a strong positive correlation between football investment and football performance.

What can we do?

• Donate to NIL (I gave $100 to one of them highlighted on the BB board).
• Buy season tickets for football.
• Buy player NIL gear.
• Buy some crap from the UConn Foundation auction.
• Bug AD Dave about the need for football spending.

 

[freescooter]

It doesn’t matter who you play if you aren’t in a conference I think was his point.

Exactly. Play in a conference…almost any conference although prefer a major one, and win and people notice. Sorry. They just do. You want to talk James Madison? Look who they played? 1 ACC game against a really bad Virginia team they beat by a point. But they are at or near the Top 25. Look at Tulane. TULANE. Remember when you guys all whined about being in a league with Tulane? Lost to Mississippi but are 5-1 with Memphis maybe as their next biggest win. But they are 5-1 and ranked. That is how it works. You win and people care. You get noticed.

 

[UCFBfan]

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.

Any team that can see that he recruited well at a school with zero support, no conference, and little to no NIL support. If I'm a G5 school and I see what he did with this left for dead program last year, and the level of recruits he has been able to bring in this year, I'm hiring him. Name value also carries weight as well as NFL experience. 1-5 is one season. There are plenty of things he can point to for why things were going down hill. He seemed to lay a lot of it out in his truthful rant.

 

[McLovin]

Ok sure. But if the money people spoke up during the whole b12 thing maybe we wouldn't be independent next year.

We all know it's cart and horse but if you're interested in uconn football and uconn athletics and you have big pockets at some point its on you for not stepping up.

Do I know the money didn't step up in August and July and make phone calls to Benedict and yomark? No. But it makes one curious.

Now others. Sure. They only want uconn for mutual advertising. Those dollars are on mora's rough start. But the big dollars? I think they don't exist but if they were man were they really quiet. The program makers were dead silent

I don’t know that $1 billion in a NIL fund would have changed the Big12 decision. It appears clear they used us as a stalking horse to get the 4 corner schools.

The fact that Yorkman has since said any talks about adding UConn are dead pretty much confirms that.

 

[ktuck911]

There is no reason why we cannot be in the mix to be a top G5 team nationally. We need to get better quickly.

As many folks that were downplaying G5 affiliation (for football only) on this board, amongst others... I'm sure those conferences payed attention to what we was being written here at some point... and probably prompted those conferences to sour a bit on us... I remember most posters hated that we were in the AAC... And all those schools promptly whooped our tails pretty much throughout our entire time in that conference...

I, for one, would love to see us get into one of those conferences, football only, stay in the Big East for hoops...

Another idea (wishful thinking) would be that just maybe some sort of New England/Midlantic G5 conference can be set up... There are schools that we could maybe bring together into something similar to the old Yankee Conference, but, again, at the G5 level, which would be pretty cool.. It would help keep FBS football alive and well in these parts with all the other schools in the area not named Syracuse, BC, Rutgers... Again that's wishful thinking (let's hope it gets some legs and takes off though)

 

[jostar1]

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.

He had no business telling recruits we were going to the ACC or Big 12.

 

[KryHavok]

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.

This is also what I've been writing for a while since he called us horseshit. He may not be a quitter, but he doesn't like being a loser either. Right now the team losing conference opportunities, losing winnable games (last week not withstanding), losing public court of perception, and losing the NIL race for football. That's a whole lot to have him overcome.