UConn Outbound Transfers for 8/1/23>7/31/24 Cycle

[Purple Stein]

It would be hard for our special teams to play worse next year, so I guess Shearer has nowhere to go but up.

Losing both kickers is just the cherry on top of the 2023 special teams sundae. Have to imagine they were recruited over but with the state of our special teams it’s also easy to believe these kids were just looking for a better situation.

 

[Windham4th]

In a 35 page largely off-topic thread (where some of the posts mention how off-topic it is), i get a posted deleted for mentioning the uselessness of bowls because I didnt quote the post directly before mine which also mentioned bowls and is still in thread.

I forgot what I wrote at this point but maybe since i quoted the post this wont get deleted.

Somewhat naive question regarding NIL. Is there a possibility that players get their payout contingent on playing in a bowl game should a team qualify for one? All these defections before the bowls, which used to be celebrated as a season's success, are now a bit diminished as kids opt out (to prepare [save themselves] for the NFL draft). I wonder if the boosters/NIL collectives start to put performance expectations on the payouts.

 

[KembaKek]

Hopefully, Ruelas will now come back. Great kicker.

These plans to transfer are internally known several days and in many cases weeks before they're announced. If that were ever happening, it likely would've by now.

 

[UCFBfan]

I'm lost on the McFadden transfer....he was clearly the starter after Ruelas left. Dunno what would make him leave except being told by Mora that it would be in his best interests. However, why would he tell him that if we don't have any other kickers?? Are we recruiting any Kickers?

 

[Dizzy21]

I'm lost on the McFadden transfer....he was clearly the starter after Ruelas left. Dunno what would make him leave except being told by Mora that it would be in his best interests. However, why would he tell him that if we don't have any other kickers?? Are we recruiting any Kickers?

We offered a good one from ULM.

 

[Coach J]

McFadden had an active social media presence recruiting others here until he got hurt and then he tapered off. And he actually made some high school All-American lists - it's too bad it did not work out. I suspect he was pushed to leave based upon his portal announcement which at least didn't include, "with that being said".

 

[husky429]

UConn's ST coach had a good 3 year track record at Miami (OH) so I think he can do a good job at UConn (and he is a UConn grad).

I'm sure he's a good guy, but he should be fired. There's no excuse to have a special teams as inept as ours was. No excuse.

 

[CL82]

@huskymedic would you be willing to put together a locked inbound transfers list like you have with the outbound transfers? in fact, maybe just add it to the outbound transfers locked thread. Yes, I know the inbound list is very short as of this moment.

I think as things stand now we have 23 leaving and one arriving?

 

[navery12]

I guess not technically a transfer, but...

 

[huskymedic]

@huskymedic would you be willing to put together a locked inbound transfers list like you have with the outbound transfers? in fact, maybe just add it to the outbound transfers locked thread. Yes, I know the inbound list is very short as of this moment.

Done

They are also noted/highlighted here: 2024 UConn Commit Only List

 

[JohnFSilver]

can we get Ruelas back? Why does this staff consistently back the wrong horse?

I'm lost on the McFadden transfer....he was clearly the starter after Ruelas left. Dunno what would make him leave except being told by Mora that it would be in his best interests. However, why would he tell him that if we don't have any other kickers?? Are we recruiting any Kickers?

mcFadden graduating. Maybe he wants to go somewhere else. When you graduate, it’s done. he isn’t na nfl kicker. Go and be a kicker at another place, preferably in the sun and get a masters.

 

[huskymedic]

mcFadden graduating. Maybe he wants to go somewhere else. When you graduate, it’s done. he isn’t na nfl kicker. Go and be a kicker at another place, preferably in the sun and get a masters.

They are both Grad transfers…

 

[Duncan Idaho]

In 2023, McFadden ranked #96 in kickoff distance at 59.9 yards per kick and ranked below the top 100 in FG % made at 53.8% (#100 was at 68.2%). And, he made 87% of his PATs which is below the top 100 as well (#100 was at 96%). Based on my eye, not all of the kicking problems this year were due to the kicker and, he didn't look like he fully recovered from injury.

In 2021, he ranked below the top 100 in kickoff distance at 57.9 yards per kick (#100 was at 59.8 yards) and he ranked #77 in FG % made at 70.5%. But, he did hit 100% of his PATs.

For his UConn career, he was 5 of 14 on FGs 40 yards or greater.

Special teams, except for punting, were a real problem this year. Short kickoffs, missed FGs, missed X-points,... Maybe we need a reset.

UConn's ST coach had a good 3 year track record at Miami (OH) so I think he can do a good job at UConn (and he is a UConn grad). His kickers stats over his 3 years there:

FG% = 81.4%
PAT% = 95.3%

Never got the ALL-American label.

 

[PackTheRent]

He is moving because he is setting himself up for a career, the NFL. Balling out at a competitive P4 team will be much better for his future earnings than making contacts for a job in NYC. Not sure when people are going to understand, that even if he got less NIL money, moving to a competitive P4 team is the choice that he should make for his future. The exposure to scouts and a national audience on a more regular basis, along with proving yourself at the top level of competition, makes it far more likely to get drafted and drafted higher. I mean maybe if he had zero chance at going to the NFL, then yeah, maybe you weigh some of the things you mention, but if your goal is NFL, then you have to put yourself in the best place to do that and prove yourself consistently against the best competition to improve your odds.

Largely agree. A vast majority of the time it makes sense for a kid with a meaningful chance (>25%) at the NFL to transfer to a P4 from UConn. You won't lose much in academics (unless you go to a weak school like Louisville, Miss. State, WV, Houston, USF, Baylor, Cinn) and you gain on the exposure/overall football experience. The NIL cash is much better too and that's imprtant to a lot of these kids where their parents are living month-to-month. If you have little shot at NFL, then stay at UConn or transfer to a superior academic school.

 

[Bongo Fury]

Go where you can make money and get a degree. I don’t believe a degree from UConn is anymore valuable than the schools listed above. Often it is who you know and the connections you make along the way. I don’t expect every athlete to be an engineering major. People can be very successful with soft skills.

 

[PackTheRent]

Go where you can make money and get a degree. I don’t believe a degree from UConn is anymore valuable than the schools listed above. Often it is who you know and the connections you make along the way. I don’t expect every athlete to be an engineering major. People can be very successful with soft skills.

I agree that there are many examples of people from "no-name" schools that surpass people from "elite" schools. But your odds of getting a good start in your career with a Duke/Michigan/NW/Wake/BC degree are higher than UConn, just like UConn is higher than Louisville, Miss State, Houston, WV etc. You can get more NIL money, better football, better degree with most P4 schools. That's why we will have a tough time in this new portal and NIL world. I hate it. Get the bleed-blue kids and let it shake out where it may.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[HuskyAlum012]

Far cry from SEC money.

 

[Nicklo28]

Joly to NCST is not much of upgrade from UConn.

 

[UCFBfan]

Well at least he knows his opponent

 

[businesslawyer]

Joly to NCST is not much of upgrade from UConn.

You can’t be serious. They finished third in the ACC. Compare their home attendance to ours and their bowl game to ours and repeat that it’s not much of an upgrade.

But is it Tennessee? Heck no.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Joly to NCST is not much of upgrade from UConn.

I'd trade circumstances/status for sure. Wouldn't you?

 

[gars44]

You can’t be serious. They finished third in the ACC. Compare their home attendance to ours and their bowl game to ours and repeat that it’s not much of an upgrade.

But is it Tennessee? Heck no.

Plus how much are they paying him. Look, I’m an employer. One thing I learned, often the hard way, is that people like money.

 

[Dizzy21]

Plus how much are they paying him. Look, I’m an employer. One thing I learned, often the hard way, is that people like money.

Surprisingly this is not really the case with the younger generation. They value being part of something far more than money nowadays and as he stated, that appears to be a lot of what he was looking for. It is sort of hard for me to comprehend at times, but I analyze the reasons people come to my company and leave my company, which has about 100k people, and wage rate is probably 6th or 7th on the list of reasons why people come or go. We have actually dropped turnover rates by doing things like having people volunteer with their workmates or having them take on more responsibility for the same rate of pay. Having that connection to actually doing something and working towards something is very important, more important than money for a lot of kids.

 

[ConnMan74]

You can’t be serious. They finished third in the ACC. Compare their home attendance to ours and their bowl game to ours and repeat that it’s not much of an upgrade.

But is it Tennessee? Heck no.

I think it’s obvious he was reading his own headlines and believes he is the next Travis Kelce and he very well may be. He is very talented for sure. But the portal is a brutal place for these kids and I would guess that just as Tennessee fell through, so did a lot of his interests and he grabbed onto one of the real offers he had. Wish he had stayed at UConn and been a big star. Maybe he could have influenced the staff to modernize the offense. I Hope he is featured in their offense as much as he hopes.