The next step for the program | Page 3 | The Boneyard

The next step for the program

What should we do?

  • Total voters
    141
Hire Pat Shurmer who was recently named Deion Sanders' new offensive play caller at Colorado to be the new UConn head coach.
 
ZooCougar said:
You don’t know that. If we sweeten the offer you never know.

Stop thinking like a Connecticut person.
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The AAC or PAC/MW are by far the best non P options as a FB only .
Give them. 2 men’s two women’s BB games annually
with a promise to upgrade football with a $20,000,000 investment in recruitment and upgrade coaching staff
Either one of those conferences gains instant viewership with strong UConn program .
Get it done Benedict you Turkey
 
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shizzle787 said:
There are a lot of opinions on what the football program should do. What's better than a poll to measure opinion?

There are two realistic options (assuming no P4 invite and we stay in the Big East for Olympic sports):

1. Stay independent and schedule 4-5 P4 H/H series a year

2. Accept a football-only invite from either the MAC or CUSA (if invited) with likely 2-4 game basketball slate as collateral

What say you?
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Take no. 2.
 
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CTBballfan243 said:
If UConn joins the MAC they could play their home games on campus at the soccer stadium. That would make the “UConn needs an on-campus stadium” crowd very happy.
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The schedule would actually improve in the MAC, we could still play four P4 games. (I'm personally sick of the P4 games, they all suck)

BTW let's stop pretending that these body bag games are something to be happy about, they are a horror show.

Anyone who wants to continue down our current path is delusional. How are we going to attract good coaching talent when our schedule makes it impossible to win? Mora is a terrific coach and the crazies in this fanbase are turning on him. Good luck bringing in anyone better.
 
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Give me Tulane's scheduling strategy. They play one P4 game this year and they are ranked, and likely on their way to a second straight New Year's Day bowl. Who wouldn't sign up for that? It's the same scheduling strategy that turned Gonzaga basketball into a powerhouse.
 
Funny thing about this OP is there was none of this (MAC) talk last year when Uconn was getting destroyed by MICH, CUSE and NC St. but
wound up 6-6 and then ended up hours from a Big 12 invite. Now the team loses a bunch of one scores games and part of the fan base is as quick to give up and submit to seat in the bottom of the FBS... as the fetal position hand offs/east west offense Charlton should be fired. As he blew the first part of the season and kept the 90% of the student section home, for good, after the Duke game. Until he realized that a pass down field isn't as scary as he thought it would be (way to late ! )

Personally I can't take weak minded quitters, narratives and the excuses (Yeah you Jim Mora too with your " poor me NIL" / "little Indy Uconn") that losing brings. Suck it up, stay the course and deal with it ...or go home and don't come back.
 
Palatine said:
The MAC is made up of second and third tier state colleges. We are a first rank state flagship university. We are a better school academically and athletically than most of the ACC, heck, we ahead than most of the B10.

We do not belong in the MAC.
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They have Buffalo, which is NY flagship and AAU
 
Need somebody to fix this mess that has the energy to recruit with a passion, that thinks O first and is ready to get after it. No more retreads.
 
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giddyup said:
Need somebody to fix this mess that has the energy to recruit with a passion, that thinks O first and is ready to get after it. No more retreads.
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Mora is here until he decides to leave (which very well could be after the season - I don’t think he realized how tough this was going to be)
 
The other thing people need to remember is that FSU and Clemson and others aren’t waiting until 2036 to leave the ACC. They will pay a heavy financial penalty to get out early. My guess is that the ACC will look different by 2030. That is six more seasons. We can hang in for that long.
 
metsfan2323 said:
Give me Tulane's scheduling strategy. They play one P4 game this year and they are ranked, and likely on their way to a second straight New Year's Day bowl. Who wouldn't sign up for that? It's the same scheduling strategy that turned Gonzaga basketball into a powerhouse.
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They played the CUSA newbies plus Ole Miss.
 
shizzle787 said:
The other thing people need to remember is that FSU and Clemson and others aren’t waiting until 2036 to leave the ACC. They will pay a heavy financial penalty to get out early. My guess is that the ACC will look different by 2030. That is six more seasons. We can hang in for that long.
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When the ACC is gutted it will be a mediocre G5.
 
I know the drop to FCS suggestion doesn't make sense financially or strategically for the university, but I'd be more interested in matchups against Yale, URI, New Hampshire, Maine, Delaware, Holy Cross, etc rather than directional Illinois, directional Michigan, Kennesaw St, etc that comes with the MAC and CUSA
 
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giddyup said:
No need to shut down. We need to actually invest in success and stop them nickel and dime, half in BS. We hire a good coach then give him an econo- budget staff. We have AD that is utterly useless with NIL, and a board of trustees half of which love FB failing. Screwed up school
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Our NIL is really good for basketball. What would you have the AD do for football NIL?
 
All this NIL stuff is so opaque to me.

How much do we have? How much do we need?

I feel like if this were articulated clearly and there was a defined ask a lot of small donors would step up. But maybe that’s insufficient?
 
I thought AD Benedict's/the university's objective was to make the program nationally respected and relevant in Division I. If we go to a mid-tier conference then how will that really help? Sure, we can try and become a big fish in a small pond but that's a step backwards in my view. The only way it could work is by building a strong out of conference schedule, and by beating some of those teams as well as performing well in-conference. And CUSA's geographic footprint does not look like a good fit for us, much like the AAC, maybe worse.

The conundrum is being able to recruit talent (both playing and coaching) good enough to beat those teams without having much to offer. Of course, as has been said many times, money is big part of the equation in generating results as far as recruiting, and maybe what @Purple Stein says about small donations can play an integral part. It wouldn't hurt to try as long as there are clear expectations and plans laid out so people knew what they were getting behind. I feel like the objectives do need to be articulated more clearly, especially as we toil and spiral downward in mediocrity.
 
superjohn said:
Our NIL is really good for basketball. What would you have the AD do for football NIL?
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I’d be marketing the hell of NIL for FB setting up meetings and scouring the state for support. Everybody knows it’s a total sham and UConn needs to start playing up to the line like others. You work with a NIL program, market by key positions and raise the money. There is literally nothing more important in saving FB. My guess is they are going full out on BB NIL and burning FB with a token effort.
 
Maybe we should form a team with UMass. One school provides the offense, the other fields the defense and special teams. I'm not sure if I'm joking here or not.
 
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The only non-P5 we should consider for football only is the Mountain West (or whatever comes from an MW merger with Wazzu/Oregon State) and the Sun Belt. Our recent games against Wyoming, Fresno and Utah State prove we can hang with them. It also would be a good conference to play OOC games with in basketball as part of a deal. SDSU, Boise, Utah State are usually tournament teams and plenty of others can be great in any given season. It's the best conference outside the P6 in basketball.

The Sun Belt may have less attractive names, but it has passed the AAC, MAC and CUSA in terms of talent. It's also in great football recruiting areas (TX, GA, Carolinas, VA). Ultimately, being independent isn't inherently going to stop the team from improving. I don't see issues like NIL money, coaching, fan attendance getting magically repaired in the MAC/CUSA/AAC. Good luck getting anyone to The Rent for Tuesday night MACtion, which is only designed for degenerate gamblers (I would know, I bet on both games this past week). There's virtually zero national attention given to the MAC/CUSA/AAC conference champion unless they're undefeated. A 10-3 UConn team isn't going to get an enormous national boost from winning a MAC title. The MW has the advantage of being the best G5 conference and the Sun Belt is trending closer towards the MW than the other 3.

Our future schedules over the next 5 years seem just as good as any of the ones BYU developed as an independent. As far as I can tell, the only "body bag" game currently on the future schedule is at Ohio State in 2025, so hopefully there are fewer games like Tennessee today and more like NC State this year (or more preferably, the BC win last year). The on-the-field and financial issues can be fixed to the point where we're a 6 to 9-win independent team with a nationally relevant schedule. That would set us up for the ultimate goal of breaking into the future P4 or a conference with ACC leftovers. Of course, the question is will the school or state actually make the needed investments?
 
BonaConn said:
The only non-P5 we should consider for football only is the Mountain West (or whatever comes from an MW merger with Wazzu/Oregon State) and the Sun Belt. Our recent games against Wyoming, Fresno and Utah State prove we can hang with them. It also would be a good conference to play OOC games with in basketball as part of a deal. SDSU, Boise, Utah State are usually tournament teams and plenty of others can be great in any given season. It's the best conference outside the P6 in basketball.

The Sun Belt may have less attractive names, but it has passed the AAC, MAC and CUSA in terms of talent. It's also in great football recruiting areas (TX, GA, Carolinas, VA). Ultimately, being independent isn't inherently going to stop the team from improving. I don't see issues like NIL money, coaching, fan attendance getting magically repaired in the MAC/CUSA/AAC. Good luck getting anyone to The Rent for Tuesday night MACtion, which is only designed for degenerate gamblers (I would know, I bet on both games this past week). There's virtually zero national attention given to the MAC/CUSA/AAC conference champion unless they're undefeated. A 10-3 UConn team isn't going to get an enormous national boost from winning a MAC title. The MW has the advantage of being the best G5 conference and the Sun Belt is trending closer towards the MW than the other 3.

Our future schedules over the next 5 years seem just as good as any of the ones BYU developed as an independent. As far as I can tell, the only "body bag" game currently on the future schedule is at Ohio State in 2025, so hopefully there are fewer games like Tennessee today and more like NC State this year (or more preferably, the BC win last year). The on-the-field and financial issues can be fixed to the point where we're a 6 to 9-win independent team with a nationally relevant schedule. That would set us up for the ultimate goal of breaking into the future P4 or a conference with ACC leftovers. Of course, the question is will the school or state actually make the needed investments?
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MWC for football would be great but I doubt they’d extend an invite - at least, not without a major G5 shake up.

The Sunbelt is slightly more realistic for football if they’re looking to expand their footprint & get more exposure. Maybe if we add some basketball scheduling & come in with a partner like Liberty or Western Kentucky, they’ll buy in.

It would be better than the MAC.
 
Hoophound said:
Since no one is bothering to say it: What if we join the MAC and still go 3-9 or 2-10? We aren’t going to be good in any conference without major staffing changes. At least now we have a good schedule.

I would absolutely not join MAC or CUSA until we’ve tried being Indy with a good OC and DC and competent special teams. I can pretty much guarantee you that if we had a Rhett Lashlee level OC right now, we wouldn’t be having any of these discussions today.
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Should have made him HC.
 
metsfan2323 said:
Give me Tulane's scheduling strategy. They play one P4 game this year and they are ranked, and likely on their way to a second straight New Year's Day bowl. Who wouldn't sign up for that? It's the same scheduling strategy that turned Gonzaga basketball into a powerhouse.
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I honestly would have gone for Tulane instead of SMU if I was the ACC
 
Kowalski said:
MWC for football would be great but I doubt they’d extend an invite - at least, not without a major G5 shake up.

The Sunbelt is slightly more realistic for football if they’re looking to expand their footprint & get more exposure. Maybe if we add some basketball scheduling & come in with a partner like Liberty or Western Kentucky, they’ll buy in.

It would be better than the MAC.
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Does Air Force join the AAC with Army and Navy?

If so they may need a 3rd for football when OrSU and Wash St join. UConn fb only Gonzaga bb only
 
Purple Stein said:
All this NIL stuff is so opaque to me.

How much do we have? How much do we need?

I feel like if this were articulated clearly and there was a defined ask a lot of small donors would step up. But maybe that’s insufficient?
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I think this has been the Athletic Department’s achilles for a long while - opacity in asking directly for what is needed from FANS. Fundraising strategy beyond what has been supported by whales has been lacking. The recent capital improvements from big donors such as Rizza, Toscano, et al. are great, but the small ball asks have always been lacking. Giving money to go in player’s pockets is noxious to many, but so is losing football. I’m concerned that a lack of transparency and stated strategy and accountability on football from the top down will get us more of what we have. This thread senses it, and I think there is reason for concern.
 
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