"The division of the spoils."

[Carl Spackler]

Credit to Brian Koonz, Danbury News Times.

A seven part article series on UConn football in division 1-A, written I believe 12 years ago.

http://apse.dallasnews.com/contest/2000/writing/under40.enterprise.fifth1.html

Series links are in the window on the right of the page, please read all 7 and enjoy.

Maybe, maybe nobody except a few crazies like me care about anything pre-2003 when it comes to UConn football, but so what. If you care at least post 2003, this article will mean a lot to you.

I wrote the following statements on another thread, but felt like posting this stuff on it's own, as our program navigates toward the future in the current landscape.

"Having observed many conferences through the years, I would suggest that the Division I-A members of this conference will become the dominant members and have the most significant role in the governance of the conference affairs," Kramer wrote. "Whether this may eventually be reflected in conference membership will be determined over time. I happen to believe the likelihood of this change to be very strong." - Roy Kramer, SEC Commissioner. speaking on Football in the Big East conference in 1996.

Roy Kramer wrote the blueprint for upgrading UConn football to 1-A, and wrote it specifically for UConn. His report was reviewed by the BOT in 1996, and approved, and official vote to upgrade happened in 1997.

I've said time and again, that Randy Edsall knew football. I had problems with the way he coached the game, but that's just because I look at the game differently than he did. The way the 2010 season opened, and the way we came out against Michigan and manged a total of 9 offensive possessions for an entire game? Oh man, I wanted to puke. THen the season falls apart.......made me start writing.

I also had problems with the way he recruited, because in the later years, - my opinion - he had a real hard time selling UConn to players, because the only way he knew how to sell UConn was they way he recruited Jamal Wilkins, cited in this piece. When we finally had the stadium and were in the big east, his strongest recruiting pitches, no longer had any meaning. He talked about big east championships, and he delivered on them, but his x's and o's and program for being competitive in the big east, basically handcuffed our offense and pigeon holed our defense. Randy Edsall was absolutely successful in his charge at UConn. He build a team that could compete and win Big East titles. Unfortunately, the program he built to do that, was capped out at Big East titles.

The program leadership now, is charged not just with competing for and winnign big east titles, but also becoming relevant on the national stage. That means the offense needs to get opened up, and the team needs to be able to play with anybody physically, on any Saturday from first weekend to last weekend. that means a depth chart that can hold up against anybody, on any day, with multiple players going down and out.

I can't wait for spring ball.

 

[Dann]

i thought this was going to be a thread on our new western division of the BE

 

[Carl Spackler]

i thought this was going to be a thread on our new western division of the BE

Read the articles kid. Read about how Randy Edsall recruited for UConn early on when we were still 1-AA.

"We're not going to be able to go in right now and beat people who have been established. We know that. We might be able to get one kid, or something like that, but for us to believe we're going to get every good kid on the East Coast isn't going to happen. We have to accentuate our positives: A player can come here and get a great education. A player can come here and play earlier. They can come here and make history and take us to a level no one ever expected."

Randy Edsall.


Randy essentially kept the same pitch all along, except he had to change the "make history" to "winning the Big East" - a level that no one ever expected...

 

[Carl Spackler]

We are a 1-A program now, and we've got to do things differently than they were done a decade ago. We are doing things differently.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I'm thumbing through this series of articles and there are more quotes in here that are profound so many years later, that I can imagine. Glad I stumbled across this thing again today.

Here's one more quote, then I'll just hope that all of you out there reading, actually take the time to read the whole thing, again this was in 1999-2000.

Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni, who led Western Connecticut to a 34-17 record from 1982-86, has six Connecticut players on his roster, more than anyone in the Big East and almost as many as the other schools combined.
Boston College and Temple have two Connecticut players, while Rutgers, West Virginia and Pitt have one, and Miami and Virginia Tech have none.
There are 13 players from Connecticut in the Big East, players who didn't have the option of staying home to play Division I-A football – until now.
Connecticut will never yield talent like Florida, Pennsylvania or Texas, but there are players. Just ask Pasqualoni. He's already established a pipeline to Syracuse, from New Britain's Tebucky Jones to Cheshire's Kyle McIntosh.
"How difficult it'll be for Connecticut to compete in 2005 really depends on who the players are on the Connecticut team. It's that simple and that hard," Pasqualoni said. "If Connecticut has the players, then, I think they'll have a chance to compete. If they don't have the players, I don't care who you are, you won't be able to compete. It's all based on your ability to sign players."



This is not to say Edsall will win a national championship in 2010. However, if he can keep Connecticut's top players at home, Edsall will have a blueprint to follow. This isn't "add water and stir" football. Progress is methodical. The Huskies will measure seasons with first-down chains, not miles of ticker tape.
"More than anything, I think their fans have to be realistic. In basketball, you can recruit one 7-footer and be great," West Virginia coach Don Nehlen said. "In football, it's a constant process of getting yourself about 12 to 15 quality players every year, and then, praying that none of them get hurt or flunk out.
"It's bound to take them some time to get established. But I've heard nothing but great things about the University of Connecticut and its athletic program. Kids from that neck of the woods can stay at home now and play some of the best schools in the country. People have to be patient. That's all you can do."

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

We are about to add Memphis to the Big East.

Susan, get us to the ACC.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I don't understand the problem. Temple isn't coming, ever, as long as Father Donohue is in charge at Villanova. Memphis was a target for expansion a long time ago for basketball reasons. This isn't a shocker.

The shock, that went along with expansion this time for the big east, is that football came first. The truth is simple at this point.

If the big east fails in the future to identify football as the primary market force and revenue stream for the conference, the conference WILL die. It won't go on.

I don't think they're going to do that, and adding Memphis - well every large football conference can't work the way the big east does with 8 teams. There will be teams every year that don't win games, and there will be teams that win 10,11,12 games.

I think the other 10 football playing members are pretty happy that Memphis is on board, and Memphis is too.

 

[NEforceUConn]

I don't think they're going to do that, and adding Memphis - well every large football conference can't work the way the big east does with 8 teams. There will be teams every year that don't win games, and there will be teams that win 10,11,12 games.

I think the other 10 football playing members are pretty happy that Memphis is on board, and Memphis is too.

Memphis - the Duke of the Big East

 

[Adios]

Memphis - the Duke of the Big East

Memphis has a much larger fan base to work with than Duke. Memphis leads the all-time series against Cincinnati by six games and are down four games against Louisville.

One little powerhouse football school that one has to wonder if they'll ever get an invite to a BCS conference is Southern Mississippi. They've played extraordinarily well.

 

[TRest]

Memphis has a much larger fan base to work with than Duke. Memphis leads the all-time series against Cincinnati by six games and are down four games against Louisville.

One little powerhouse football school that one has to wonder if they'll ever get an invite to a BCS conference is Southern Mississippi. They've played extraordinarily well.

If we add Southern Miss and ECU the rest of the league will probably vote UConn out, as we no longer fit the academic and regional culture.

 

[SAMCRO]

I think the other 10 football playing members are pretty happy that Memphis is on board, and Memphis is too.

None of the current BE FB members are 'happy' with the state of BE FB right now. Not one. All have their bags packed and are just waiting for an invitation to get out.

 

[MattMang23]

I saw it said on the Memphis board by a guy who claimed to be a Pitt insider that Memphis' addition was spurred on by Louisville, Cincinnati and Central Florida, as well as the basketball schools (no note on which basketball schools, but one would guess Villanova would be leading that charge). Apparently UConn and Rutgers were especially opposed to this addition.

 

[mattp]

hopefully the addition of Memphis was a preemptive move to keep numbers up after a UConn departure. on the conference expansion board there's an article suggesting FSU and Clemson move to the B12. wouldn't it be funny if that happened, they took us and Rutgers, and then the ACC pretty much looks like the preraid Big East, and the Big East looks pretty much like CUSA, but somehow everyone has bigger TV contracts and the schools are still losing money. what a mess

 

[Carl Spackler]

You've always got to follow the money. Memphis, while the football program does absolutely nothing positive to enhance the media perception of Big East football...it's not media perception that pays the bills. Media perception is what figures into the college football post season, as long as there is no true playoff system for a national champion among conference champions.

Memphis has a very big tie to Fed-Ex sponsorship in academics and research funding, as well as athletic funding, and a huge tie to the local community as the top institution in the Tennessee board of regents higher education system. There's a professional sports franchise in the town in basketball, and facility that I'm sure will be happy to host Big East basketball games against Georgetown, Villanova, UConn, Louisville, Cincinatti, Notre Dame.....etc. It's a 3-4 hour drive, but there's an NFL stadium and franchise in Nashville.......it's not unheard of for Big East football programs to be playing games at NFL venues within driving distance........

There's a division 1-A football program at the school, that is going to need funding to get up to speed.....and has a cash cow to tap in their backyard in Fed-Ex.


How does all of that compare to what the ACC is getting Syracuse? Last i checked, the Carrier dome isn't a new facility. as far as having a major industrial power in your community to tap into for financial resources? (Sorry syracuse people, just saying....

Recruiting just got a hell of lot easier for Memphis football, and hell of a lot harder for Memphis basketball.

P.S. I hope the article I linked to the front of this thing doesn't get lost in all this Memphis mess. If you haven't taken the time to read it. Read it.

 

[Carl Spackler]

None of the current BE FB members are 'happy' with the state of BE FB right now. Not one. All have their bags packed and are just waiting for an invitation to get out.

Interesting then, that all the presidents/AD's would vote in favor of an exit fee increase then, to be put into effect with the addition of Navy football.

There are way too many people out there, that really don't get the significance of what happened there, what 2 weeks ago now? and the espn empire has of course, more to say and write about Memphis to the big east, than Navy football. When Memphis to the big east, is a no brainer, and Navy football to the big east is a frigging earthquake.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Memphis has a much larger fan base to work with than Duke. Memphis leads the all-time series against Cincinnati by six games and are down four games against Louisville.

One little powerhouse football school that one has to wonder if they'll ever get an invite to a BCS conference is Southern Mississippi. They've played extraordinarily well.

Bad analogy on my part. My point was that if we're going to be producing Big East football teams that are of the 10,11,12 win variety, and more than one a year, there are going to be football programs on the bottom end of the scale.

THe thing about the big east, is that everybody (media) puts all this emphasis on the undefeated seasons to mark who good a team is. Look at West Virginia. Look what West Virginia did in conference in teh big east, and what they did to Clemson.

You can't have a 12 team football conference, that is as stacked from top to bottom and produce those teams. memphis, until they are up to speed, is going to have a hard time winning a lot of conference games. It will help the other big east programs that will be working toward those 10+ win seasons.

Initially.

Once they're up to speed? Who knows. I think that 6/6 format for football is less likely to produce the perennial bottom feeders that the inline conferences have yearly. I think the new Big East very well could have two divisions that are just as competitive from top to bottom right now, as the current big east.

That excites me.