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Great read by Chris Vannini from The Athletic.
theathletic.com
>>Edsall’s reluctance to go too deep into his thoughts illustrated the awkward cloud that hung over the American’s media days on Monday and Tuesday. A league celebrating consecutive New Year’s Six bids in football, successful men’s basketball and baseball seasons and a new media rights deal worth $1 billion over 12 years is also dealing with a member jumping ship.
When news of the potential exit leaked into media reports on a Friday night last month, conference commissioner Mike Aresco was asleep. He realized what was going on when he woke up and checked his phone. He spoke with Benedict and UConn president Susan Herbst and got the sense things were moving in that direction, though it wasn’t final. Shortly thereafter, it was.
Aresco was somewhat surprised by UConn’s decision, but he and other people in the league weren’t stunned.
“It probably wasn’t a shock, but it wasn’t something you thought was imminent,” USF athletic director Michael Kelly said.<<
>>Where this leaves UConn football is also uncertain. Independence is most likely, as other Group of 5 conferences don’t appear interested in a Huskies program that is 7-29 over the past three years. Since the announcement, some have interpreted the move as UConn pulling the plug on competing in major college football.
Benedict scoffed at that. On the day the Big East news came down, UConn opened a new football locker room.
“Look, we were voted to finish last place in our division. Regardless of where we go, we’re in a challenging situation trying to rebuild our program,” Benedict said. “We’ve got a chip on our shoulder, and that’s the way UConn football always has been, even when we were successful. I don’t quite understand that mentality. I don’t understand where people are coming from, because that would suggest — what about the hundreds of other programs, are they all dead? Is every program not in the American or a Power 5 dead?”<<
>>Edsall, the same coach who brought this UConn program up from FCS to FBS in 2000 and reached the Fiesta Bowl with a Big East championship in 2010, sounds determined to see this through. He, too, dismissed the notion that the program is dead or isn’t getting support. Still, without a national brand through a religious or military background, independence is not where football teams want to be.
“I would think the people who have the power to make decisions and believe in the program aren’t feeling the same way, wouldn’t express that we’re dead,” Edsall said. “Everything in life is what you make of it. You don’t concern yourself with it. You see it, but it’s in one ear and out the other. The good thing is I’ve got a hearing aid and don’t hear most of it anyhow. I take it out when I don’t want to listen to people. You go with what you’ve got.
“To me, it’s who I am. I love when people tell me I can’t do something. I’ve been told that my whole life. From where I grew up, one signal light in the town, all those things, I thrive on that. I love when people say you can’t do that. People said that when we did this before. You put the blinders on and go to work.”<<
UConn football tries to ignore the noise as its post-AAC future is debated
How the Huskies football team reacted to the impending American Athletic Conference departure and what’s next for the league.
theathletic.com
>>Edsall’s reluctance to go too deep into his thoughts illustrated the awkward cloud that hung over the American’s media days on Monday and Tuesday. A league celebrating consecutive New Year’s Six bids in football, successful men’s basketball and baseball seasons and a new media rights deal worth $1 billion over 12 years is also dealing with a member jumping ship.
When news of the potential exit leaked into media reports on a Friday night last month, conference commissioner Mike Aresco was asleep. He realized what was going on when he woke up and checked his phone. He spoke with Benedict and UConn president Susan Herbst and got the sense things were moving in that direction, though it wasn’t final. Shortly thereafter, it was.
Aresco was somewhat surprised by UConn’s decision, but he and other people in the league weren’t stunned.
“It probably wasn’t a shock, but it wasn’t something you thought was imminent,” USF athletic director Michael Kelly said.<<
>>Where this leaves UConn football is also uncertain. Independence is most likely, as other Group of 5 conferences don’t appear interested in a Huskies program that is 7-29 over the past three years. Since the announcement, some have interpreted the move as UConn pulling the plug on competing in major college football.
Benedict scoffed at that. On the day the Big East news came down, UConn opened a new football locker room.
“Look, we were voted to finish last place in our division. Regardless of where we go, we’re in a challenging situation trying to rebuild our program,” Benedict said. “We’ve got a chip on our shoulder, and that’s the way UConn football always has been, even when we were successful. I don’t quite understand that mentality. I don’t understand where people are coming from, because that would suggest — what about the hundreds of other programs, are they all dead? Is every program not in the American or a Power 5 dead?”<<
>>Edsall, the same coach who brought this UConn program up from FCS to FBS in 2000 and reached the Fiesta Bowl with a Big East championship in 2010, sounds determined to see this through. He, too, dismissed the notion that the program is dead or isn’t getting support. Still, without a national brand through a religious or military background, independence is not where football teams want to be.
“I would think the people who have the power to make decisions and believe in the program aren’t feeling the same way, wouldn’t express that we’re dead,” Edsall said. “Everything in life is what you make of it. You don’t concern yourself with it. You see it, but it’s in one ear and out the other. The good thing is I’ve got a hearing aid and don’t hear most of it anyhow. I take it out when I don’t want to listen to people. You go with what you’ve got.
“To me, it’s who I am. I love when people tell me I can’t do something. I’ve been told that my whole life. From where I grew up, one signal light in the town, all those things, I thrive on that. I love when people say you can’t do that. People said that when we did this before. You put the blinders on and go to work.”<<
