Some pretty blunt assessments from Jim Mora

[jdb50]

Does anyone here remember when Warde left how he made a point to say that UConn deserved to be in a top conference? Jim Mora is trying to recruit players to elevate the program. The Big 12 was a real possibility. And now we have the ACC taking SMU as we sit there. As an athletic department we can compete with P5 conferences in every sport but we are always excluded. Sure football has been poor for a decade but many other P5 programs are poor. Something else is going on. SMU to the ACC?

 

[giddyup]

We have the Hartford, Travelers, Cigna, Pfizer, Electric Boat, Gengras, Stanley, UTC, Eversource, Aetna, Gartner, Priceline and half a dozen hedge funds all capable of ponying up some Nil commitments. This is just AD Dave having no ability to organize and to think even inside the box. I suspect he largely reserved any of his efforts for basketball. You stack money for a few key impact players and build from there. They should be able to raise a few million in their sleep.

 

[pj]

ACC is NEVER adding us....idk how people still hold out hope for that.

The scheduling arrangements with ACC schools indicate the ACC is building the foundation for an invite.

I think it may be tied to the freeing up of basketball tourney revenue and/or the shift in cable to streaming, but changes in the landscape are turning in UConn’s favor.

 

[UConnJim]

Some of you think playing the likes of Akron, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois,... will help make UConn more competitive in football, attract fan interest, and drive NIL? You guys are crazy. I'm sure all of you will show up for MACtion Tuesday at the Rent against Buffalo in November.

Right now, the only option for UConn football is to play the independent schedule with 4 or 5 P5 games per year. Win those games, and you will get noticed. But how do you win those games in today's environment? UConn football needs more money for coaching salaries and NIL if we are going to compete against P5 schools. The question we need to answer is where is that money coming from?

 

[KryHavok]

The scheduling arrangements with ACC schools indicate the ACC is building the foundation for an invite.

The pessimist in me says that's not what's going on. The ACC teams are scheduling UConn cuz they think they can beat UConn to further prove that UConn doesn't belong in the ACC. Besides which, how many games did SMU have with the ACC before their invite?

No, there is no silver lining here, that conference has been emphatic in their singular objective to exclude and ostracize UConn. It's not just BC, or Clemson, or FSU, NONE of them want us. As much as we direly need their TV money to survive, I hate that whole motherducking conference and hope it suffers a worse fate than the PAC.

 

[History Geek]

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.

The coaches all did some recruiting during the bye week. Likely a new common theme.

 

[CTBasketball]

It’s pretty simple. All eggs went into the Big 12 basket and the Big 10 came in and screwed everything up. We had no back up plan

Then SMU buys their way into the ACC and we’re left yet again in no man’s land.

The only way to get out of this hole is to buy the talent to get out of this hole. Conference revenues won’t do it. Only NIL and big bags of cash will. Perhaps a creative way to charge more fees from students to fund the big bag needed to buy the talent will. It’s a world of unlimited free agency right now. Want to win? Give ‘em a bag

John Silver posted about this a few weeks ago and was spot on. It’s pervasive in lower level D1 hoops and 100x moreso for serious football programs.

Then AD should be on the chopping block for selling that rumor. We were never getting into the Big 12. We were a pawn.

He does need to find creative ways to sponsor NIL, but you better be beating G5 teams. It’s tough to see Mora start Fagnano, go 0-5, and then complain about no money or conference alignment. With the coaching decisions this season we’d still be a rich 0-5 if we were in a conference.

 

[ZooCougar]

Are you contending UConn doesn't have NIL?

For football. We effectively don’t. And what we have is so small it might not be worth mentioning.

 

[Scoe]

Good Mora needs to force change here not want change FORCE CHANGE there’s a difference. He’s calling it like it is there needs to be more of an effort to get creative. The higher ups need to be uncomfortable and called out for change to happen there’s way too many excuses.

There is no excuse not to have enough NIL money.

 

[Sky ball]

And when the team starts winning and generating revenue, reinvest in The Rent.

NO On Campus Stadium like a real school. Don't give me UCLA crap.

 

[JMick]

There is no excuse not to have enough NIL money.

Uhh there's plenty of excuses? You want the school to create football donors out of thin air? Where do you think NIL money comes from?

 

[noeynox]

That is my opinion. He should not have been telling recruits that we were going to a conference until the invite was signed and formally announced. Otherwise, he was promising them something he couldn't deliver.

Ah ok. Your opinion, i thought people in the admin were peed off about it.

My take is Mora is not seeing any progress on things discussed before he took the job and is getting frustrated. As a place becomes viewed more and more as an impossible place to win, the more you're going to have to pay for someone to come here and put their career on the line. We are teetering on becoming known as a coaching graveyard.

At some point, questions need to be asked if Benedict has any coherent plan as it comes to FB. Was going independent and signing TV deal that has good exposure but brings in no money it? How does that help to up the pay of the fb coaching staff?

 

[noeynox]

Then AD should be on the chopping block for selling that rumor. We were never getting into the Big 12. We were a pawn.

He does need to find creative ways to sponsor NIL, but you better be beating G5 teams. It’s tough to see Mora start Fagnano, go 0-5, and then complain about no money or conference alignment. With the coaching decisions this season we’d still be a rich 0-5 if we were in a conference.

Fagnano was the starter for less than 2 games. He's not the reason for 0-5.

 

[JMick]

Ah ok. Your opinion, i thought people in the admin were peed off about it.

My take is Mora is not seeing any progress on things discussed before he took the job and is getting frustrated. As a place becomes viewed more and more as an impossible place to win, the more you're going to have to pay for someone to come here and put their career on the line. We are teetering on becoming known as a coaching graveyard.

At some point, questions need to be asked if Benedict has any coherent plan as it comes to FB. Was going independent and signing TV deal that has good exposure but brings in no money it? How does that help to up the pay of the fb coaching staff?

Football is basically dead. After seeing the Big XII fawn over ASU and freaking Utah it's clear that the presidents and member institutions as a whole have no clue what they're doing. Most of these schools have fallen backwards into their seat at the table. Theyre no more or less deserving than any other school, they just got lucky. We didn't. It is what it is. I'm not sure what our athletic department can do at this point. SMU basically bribed themselves into a conference that's going to be dead in a decade, anyway.

 

[Scoe]

Uhh there's plenty of excuses? You want the school to create football donors out of thin air? Where do you think NIL money comes from?

Get football donors then, had Robert Burton and Hathaway fumbled that to say the least. The state could get involved, at the very least the University should be more outspoken instead of being in the fetal position behind closed.

Need to come up with ideas instead of excuses.

 

[uconnric]

That is my opinion. He should not have been telling recruits that we were going to a conference until the invite was signed and formally announced. Otherwise, he was promising them something he couldn't deliver.

You're saying he promised we were going into a conference? That's either a fact or not a fact, not an opinion. He probably discussed it when it looked good for us, but I doubt anything was promised.

Jim Mora mentioned the need to raise money for NIL at the preseason reception at the Rent in August. It's not the first time he mentioned it and it won't be the last. NIL is still basically unregulated, which is exactly how the football "haves" like it. The NCAA is always going to favor the powerhouse programs because it's afraid of them leaving altogether. NIL is a problem for the vast majority of schools.

 

[LetsGoUC]

At the end of the day just win. Winning will help bring more fans to games, and make us more attractive to recruits and a potential conference.

Just win.

 

[CTBasketball]

Fagnano was the starter for less than 2 games. He's not the reason for 0-5.

Correct but those were two winnable games, should be 3-3 right now. Who’s to say Roberson would’ve had a bigger impact with first team reps for most of the camp.

 

[UConnJim]

After seeing the Big XII fawn over ASU and freaking Utah it's clear that the presidents and member institutions as a whole have no clue what they're doing. Most of these schools have fallen backwards into their seat at the table. Theyre no more or less deserving than any other school, they just got lucky. We didn't. It is what it is. I'm not sure what our athletic department can do at this point. SMU basically bribed themselves into a conference that's going to be dead in a decade, anyway.

The four schools that the Big 12 took, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Arizona St. are traditional rivals between themselves and other schools in the Big 12. Number of football games played against the future Big 12:

Arizona: 261
Arizona St.: 203
Colorado: 400
Utah: 271

UConn: 42

And, the 4 corner schools were all coming from a P5 conference and they are closer to the old Big 12 schools than UConn. Yormark (and probably Benedict) didn't expect the Pac 12 to collapse and that is why UConn was pursued as #14 with Colorado as #13. The Pac 12 collapsed and everything changed.

 

[noeynox]

Funny cause it's true files,

 

[BigTenFan]

We have the Hartford, Travelers, Cigna, Pfizer, Electric Boat, Gengras, Stanley, UTC, Eversource, Aetna, Gartner, Priceline and half a dozen hedge funds all capable of ponying up some Nil commitments. This is just AD Dave having no ability to organize and to think even inside the box. I suspect he largely reserved any of his efforts for basketball. You stack money for a few key impact players and build from there. They should be able to raise a few million in their sleep.

Most of those corporations don't have local presence. Their headquarters are elsewhere and they have no vested interest in our state.
Unfortunately - that is a big reason why the Whalers left. The heads of Travelers, Aetna etc were big supporters of Hartford. That ship has sailed.
UConn needs to find money from Connecticut owned and operated businesses

 

[JMick]

And, the 4 corner schools were all coming from a P5 conference

Yes, like I said, they got lucky and administrators are clueless. They fall for ESPN marketing BS. It's a club we aren't getting into. The only qualifications are totally made up and over half of the schools that are a part of the club are no more deserving of their status than the next 30 schools behind them.

 

[JMick]

Get football donors then, had Robert Burton and Hathaway fumbled that to say the least. The state could get involved, at the very least the University should be more outspoken instead of being in the fetal position behind closed.

Need to come up with ideas instead of excuses.

Oh yeah it's that easy. And it's totally Dave's fault that Hathaway was an idiot.

 

[JMick]

Fagnano was the starter for less than 2 games. He's not the reason for 0-5.

I do wonder if it screwed with team morale. We came out the first few weeks looking like the season was already over. Idk if it was that, the Big XII stuff or other behind the scenes issues but something was off.

 

[uchusky32]

I do wonder if it screwed with team morale. We came out the first few weeks looking like the season was already over. Idk if it was that, the Big XII stuff or other behind the scenes issues but something was off.

It certainly took 1st team reps from Ta'Quan, early.

 

[Scoe]

Oh yeah it's that easy. And it's totally Dave's fault that Hathaway was an idiot.

Who said its easy, ya im totally blaming Dave for Hathaway being an idiot.

 

[gsmooth]

I do wonder if it screwed with team morale. We came out the first few weeks looking like the season was already over. Idk if it was that, the Big XII stuff or other behind the scenes issues but something was off.

Well, look at the in season exodus of some players to the transfer portal. I know doing that probably preserves their year of eligibility, but I think it's rare for players to actually leave during the season as opposed to when the season is over. There definitely was something wrong behind the scenes, but most of us will never know the full details, but the actions speak loudly.

 

[Hogoff]

NO On Campus Stadium like a real school. Don't give me UCLA crap.

Did I say anything about UCLA?

 

[JMick]

Who said its easy, ya im totally blaming Dave for Hathaway being an idiot.

"Just get more donors" is like saying "just plant a money tree!!"

I'm sure the university is doing plenty of outreach. We just don't have the same culture in Connecticut as other parts of the country. You can't change the culture of an entire region.

 

[Rdkid]

NIL money for players receiving full rides and being treated as well as any G5 team? Not sure about that. For a 1-5 team that came out flat to start a crucial season. Now that’s chutzpah!
Long term, with the mess that college sports is in, it is the only way to compete. People most invested in any one sport, get off the internet and pick up your pen and checkbook.