Today's UConn Daily (12/2/2019)

[RSTuthill]

Wow, they pull no punches. Pretty much says it all:

OUR TAKE: The leaps of faith UConn is asking fans to take in football are over. UConn now has to prove to fans that it is worth their support. Who thought when Edsall left the locker room in Glendale, Arizona, after the Fiesta Bowl that all of us would be in this position? Certainly not us. UConn goes into 2020 with a clean slate, but let's make no illusions about how difficultly independence will bring.

We are encouraged by the recent spate of commitments but we just don't know what the goal of the football program is any longer. Is it to compete in the top 25? Compete for bowl games? Help get the school into a Power 5 conference? Make money for the school? We don't know. No one does, and while Edsall is tasked with rebuilding the brand and football program on the field, Benedict is tasked with steering the ship toward something sustainable. The schedule is a start.

Just playing the games and fielding a team is not the result and direction we are looking for. The AAC is very good from a football standpoint, but the university just never came to grips with its football misfortunes over the last decade. Independent status means a less ambitious role for football at the school, and perhaps a chance to gerrymander the schedule for more money.

We're about to find out.

 

[RSTuthill]

I left out some of the good stuff:

IS EDSALL DONE? SHOULD HE BE? There is no indication that Edsall will be fired. It would have to have happened quick as he was due a $300,000 retention bonus if he was still head coach on Sunday. That may be more about where UConn is as an athletic department than a show of confidence in its head coach. UConn can't make its fourth coaching change in 10 years, has no money to pay a new coach and staff and is about as unattractive an FBS job as there is in the country, considering no one knows what is going to happen as an independent.

WE ARE NOT JOKING! That's the truth. Edsall is the only coach in this country that would have put up with AD Dave Benedict blindsiding him with the move out of the AAC, saying no to paying assistants and taking a job that should be in the $2 million range and doing it for a little more than $1 million. You get what you pay for and Benedict's actions have made it abundantly clear that the school is going to reduce the financial commitment to football and competing at a Power 5 level. No amount of rhetoric can convince us otherwise. The proof is in actions, not words.

HOW IS THE ROSTER? Still very young, but there is talent. Quarterbacks Jack Zergiotis and Steve Krajewski have ability, though both have some incredible blind spots in their games. The Huskies have a 1,000-yard running back in Kevin Mensah and we like young wide receivers Cam Ross and Matt Drayton. UConn needs to rebuild the O-line, but the offensive skill positions might be in the best shape. We didn't like Frank Giufre as an offensive coordinator. He stepped in when John Dunn left for the Jets. (Will he come back if Adam Gase is fired?) and we'll see if he continues in that role.

Defensively? There is some improvement from last year, and we like Lou Spanos' intensity, but it is so bad, especially the secondary, they could go out and get 11 junior college transfers and we wouldn't blink. If UConn had anywhere near the defenses they had in Edsall's initial tenure, the Huskies could very well be bowling this year.

 

[Pudge]

John & Zac are straight shooters. Intelligent & good writers; we are fortunate to still read their work

 

[Exit 4]

John & Zac are straight shooters. Intelligent & good writers; we are fortunate to still read their work

Oddly John is much better as a conventional writer than in twitter form where his hot takes seem off the mark.

 

[zls44]

Oddly John is much better as a conventional writer than in twitter form where his hot takes seem off the mark.

This is true for 98% of humanity.

 

[gioff2323]

This is true for 98% of humanity.

thanks for rounding down!

 

[SubbaBub]

Dave should speak on this now that the 2020 schedule is finished, but from my end nowhere near Section 241, it should look like this:

1. Get better on the field.
2. Play a more attractive home schedule.
3. Secure a media deal that pays more than what we'd be getting from the AAC and keeps every game on TV.
4. Secure bowl tie-ins
5. Improve the FB brand in the event of a 2026 CR armageddon.

A top 25 ranking comes with winning games. If App State can be ranked, so can we. I don't know if we'd be eligible for the G5 contract bowl spot if we ever ran the table. If not, Dave should work on that in case it ever happens. Not a huge priority at the moment as the deck gets reshuffled in 2026.

We lose the ability to win a conference championship as an 8-9 win team. Other than that, our lot isn't all that different outside of scheduling.

 

[Pudge]

Radical Change is needed in this Football Program. And I am not fully overboard on the edsall-apologista label NOR totally bereft of Hope.

The significant move of our OLine to the Transfer Portal has to be addressed. Please save Spanos - if merely for continuity of a wise voice. Continuity is important for a fragile group. Lots of Talent at DB - though not great results; little Talent at LB (excepting Morgan & young Mr Mitchell). And that Modern Football Game ... we aren't going to advance far without a good shakeup. Giufre done at OC; thanks for the effort in a pinch.

We had - from my jaundiced eyes - a good solid S&C off season; and the product improved ... but not enough for 3 wins. That is shocking. We do have 5 winnable games - easy - next year.

I do think Edsall is on the clock. Benedict has surprised us in other moves. I would endorse a infusion of Youthful leadership - yeah - a Coach in Waiting is on my mind. Edsall can leave w a good legacy.