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

[CCSUblue]

That's not fun. Here's hoping we can bring in more quality. Are all of our legs from this season gone to graduation or the portal now?

 

[businesslawyer]

We are moving farther and farther from the O'Bannon lawsuit. I am interested to see a deep dive into the effects of all this change on the individual student athletes when enough data is available. Right now, all I can see is that kids have money that didn't have money, so that is good. Will the overall "health" of the whole College athletic system suffer to the point that it negatively impacts a segment of the student-athletes, or will it in fact be stronger, and provide equal or better opportunity for all of the student-athletes.

LIke anything that is money driven, you can bet your house that it will help those at the top of the pyramid -- not just the top top athletes but the administrators of the top power schools -- and hurt those at the bottom. How? Once you're no longer playing for a national championship, why pour so much money into football? Why not see if partial scholarships can keep you competitive at your level instead of full scholarships.

 

[businesslawyer]

Would appear there is a quick fix available to staff (w/ a vig) if this was about future playing time

Ruelas should also be given a scholarship, if he hadn't already.

 

[CL82]

Yes! A transfer fee paid to the losing school. This could actually be really healthy for college football.

Agree. I like this idea a lot, particularly if that transfer fee could be used for NIL compensation. Devils in the details, though. How effective it would be will be based upon what the dollar amount is.

 

[KryHavok]

Ruelas should also be given a scholarship, if he hadn't already.

Maybe Ruelas changes his mind and gets some $$$ his way.

I wonder what the over/under will be for our portal losses.

 

[Dizzy21]

Mixed feelings here... he was great 2 years ago, then hurt and Ruelas played even better last year. Not sure why Ruelas lost out to him this year, and even worse, now both are gone.

Yeah, this one was such an odd situation. Why did they not play Ruelas?

 

[Windham4th]

Kicker is the least of our worries.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Managed to alienate both kickers. More bummed to see Ruelas go because he was the better kicker.

So long McFadden.

 

[BigTenFan]

This one is definitely on the coaching staff.
Ruelas has a lot more opportunities at another school.

 

[kibblesnbits]

Good for him. That’s definitely more eyeballs on him than with us. Can’t hate that move

Not when Deion recruits over him. More than any other position group, backup offensive linemen are invisible. The goal is to get 5 cohesive starters and play them as close to 100% as possible. Subs generally get significant playing time only when the starter is hurt or the lead is large. Linemen that start at "lower" schools should, and hopefully do, consider that when thinking about a transfer.

 

[king conn]

Kicker is the least of our worries.

Are you serious

They are the only way we score

 

[RSTuthill]

Though non competes are illegal in most states so I doubt they would do that.

I do not get that impression. Do you have data? I know that things were moving in that direction for regular employees but I didn't realize they had got that far. And I am not sure if there is a difference between At Will states and Just Cause states. Anyway, a moot point if the players are independent suppliers doing gig work under contract. The contracts can say anything that the parties agree to.

 

[Windham4th]

Are you serious

They are the only way we score

If we tank the season we get a better draft pick

 

[UCMB88]

Although nothing should surprise us about college football anymore, a little surprised at McFadden. Clearly, he was not the same after the ACL injury, yet the staff stuck with him this season. Ruelas goes in the portal, leaving McFadden as the only kicker on the roster, meaning he certainly had the inside track on the starting job next year, but he opted out. Odd. Who knows - maybe he wants to be closer to home in Texas Maybe HCJM had a convo with him regarding his future?

 

[uconnfan68]

Yeah, this one was such an odd situation. Why did they not play Ruelas?

He did play a few times during the year. Don’t remember if it was all in the same game. At least he could reach the endzone on kickoffs.

 

[RSTuthill]

Although nothing should surprise us about college football anymore, a little surprised at McFadden. Clearly, he was not the same after the ACL injury, yet the staff stuck with him this season. Ruelas goes in the portal, leaving McFadden as the only kicker on the roster, meaning he certainly had the inside track on the starting job next year, but he opted out. Odd. Who knows - maybe he wants to be closer to home in Texas Maybe HCJM had a convo with him regarding his future?

I would not be surprised if he did not opt out.

 

[Dizzy21]

He did play a few times during the year. Don’t remember if it was all in the same game. At least he could reach the endzone on kickoffs.

Yeah, I suppose I should say why did they not play him more. He kicked 4 FGs and 3 XPs too.

 

[BigTenFan]

Probably because they didn't want to admit the non-scholarship kicker was better than the kicker on scholarship

 

[KryHavok]

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.

 

[Rich]

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.

The contracts are generally tailored to the player with the better the player the more leverage the kid has to dictate terms.

 

[UConnJim]

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%

 

[huskymedic]

Probably because they didn't want to admit the non-scholarship kicker was better than the kicker on scholarship

I might be missing the point you are trying to make but why would this staff care - neither Ruelas or McFadden were recruited by this staff? Hell, Ruelas as a Hometown Husky would be an easy sell to the fan base.

 

[Hoophound]

Hopefully, Ruelas will now come back. Great kicker.

 

[UConnJim]

Not when Deion recruits over him. More than any other position group, backup offensive linemen are invisible. The goal is to get 5 cohesive starters and play them as close to 100% as possible. Subs generally get significant playing time only when the starter is hurt or the lead is large. Linemen that start at "lower" schools should, and hopefully do, consider that when thinking about a transfer.

Colorado has grabbed 6 portal linemen so far this year so someone is not going to start.

 

[UConnJim]

Hopefully, Ruelas will now come back. Great kicker.

The kicker offered from Louisiana-Monroe had better stats this year than any of the UConn kickers over the past few years.