UConn's Football Failures Are Catching Up to It, and the School Has Itself to Blame (P. Forde @ SI Column) | Page 2 | The Boneyard

UConn's Football Failures Are Catching Up to It, and the School Has Itself to Blame (P. Forde @ SI Column)

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Ok

I decided I would not read Pat Forde. Took 5 seconds

His Louisville worldview is to ... have a business (YUM or PapaJohns) front an obscenely overbuilt college sports venue AND cheat & Vice your way to victories.

Sorry. That’s against my Catholic upbringing. And so is Rick Pitino ... Iona.
 
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So Forde was laying in his bed reaching up and playing with his mobile when he hit on the idea - yeah I will write a hit piece on UConn for cutting sports that no one watches. SI paid him for this? Wow. Our biggest problem is Warde got waltzed around by his willie's with the Diaco and Ollie re-ups and even so we got the 2014 title to show for it. It is about time we cut these sports. Forde wringing his hands in the article like it is a mortal sin. In this world play right at the minimum level required and survive. Make the other sports better. Up yours Pat!
 
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Us and BYU are pretty much the only non-P5 schools that sponsor more than 18 sports. We're just finally adopting the norm. These doom & gloom "journalists" need to leave their basements.
 

formerlurker

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A blatantly one sided article masquerading as journalism. Blaming Benedict is beyond ridiculous when he has actually done an amazing job turning things around.

The better question to ask is, "Why does SI continue to slide into irrelevance?"

I haven't sought out SI content on purpose in 15 years. ESPN is next.
 
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We've tried more than anyone to financially keep up with the Jones's when you factor in all the subsidizing our AD we've done. Now because of covid we have to make cuts and hes trashing us?
I cant believe his editor approved this idea. Although with no sports I'm sure they are bored out of their skulls and desperate for anything over 100 words.
 
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Why the vitriol? I want to thank Pat for his interest in UConn athletics. UConn clearly piques the interest of sports fans/writers everywhere. Thanks Pat.
 
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I’m kind of torn on this. Most of the football-related moves have been disastrous since Edsall left us high and dry the 1st time.

However, with the move to the Big East for most sports and with football going independent while landing a TV contract (CBS sports network) and some big name games on the schedule, it seems like the potential to right the ship is the best it’s been in 15 years. Edsall is 80th out of 123 D1 coaches in compensation, so while Forde harps on his weird bonus structure, he’s still a relative bargain. I don’t think the school will pony up the required money for a needed replacement especially with the current state of the school’s finances and the pandemic’s impact on it. Hopefully in a year or two they’ll be in a better position to get someone new.

I think the choice is either to stay D1 or to dissolve completely. The UConn fanbase just won’t support a lower tier football program. We would also need to keep the team around to keep any hope of making into a power conference if they ever realign again into 4 mega conferences. A lot of the revenue issues should improve with less travel being out of the AAC and more sacrificial lamb buy games on the schedule where we go get pummeled by a good team for a paycheck.

It does suck for the sports that will get cut and the athletes, but we’re basically committed to basketball, baseball, football, soccer, ice hockey and field hockey and compete nationally in all but football currently.
 

CL82

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He seems unaware that all scholarships will be honored.
 
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I’m kind of torn on this. Most of the football-related moves have been disastrous since Edsall left us high and dry the 1st time.

However, with the move to the Big East for most sports and with football going independent while landing a TV contract (CBS sports network) and some big name games on the schedule, it seems like the potential to right the ship is the best it’s been in 15 years. Edsall is 80th out of 123 D1 coaches in compensation, so while Forde harps on his weird bonus structure, he’s still a relative bargain. I don’t think the school will pony up the required money for a needed replacement especially with the current state of the school’s finances and the pandemic’s impact on it. Hopefully in a year or two they’ll be in a better position to get someone new.

I think the choice is either to stay D1 or to dissolve completely. The UConn fanbase just won’t support a lower tier football program. We would also need to keep the team around to keep any hope of making into a power conference if they ever realign again into 4 mega conferences. A lot of the revenue issues should improve with less travel being out of the AAC and more sacrificial lamb buy games on the schedule where we go get pummeled by a good team for a paycheck.

It does suck for the sports that will get cut and the athletes, but we’re basically committed to basketball, baseball, football, soccer, ice hockey and field hockey and compete nationally in all but football currently.

Is the issue the money football loses or the fact the them has lost a lot?

People act like they can't win and they can't cut that deficit with good marketing and good football and better management.

Cincinnati cut soccer. That is a sport that is huge in Ohio. That is a bugger deal IMO than tennis.
 

BlueandOG

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We're going to be fine. The new schedules are very good, we have the best recruiting class in years, and the chaos from cornonavirus will destabilize the landscape and create opportunities. AD Dave is an absolute terminator focused on protecting UConn athletics. We are in the catbird seat.
 
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Has there been any official or UConn-related (former player or coach, for example) response to the article or its content? Not that I would expect it, but just curious if anyone has heard. It was shallow, but could be damning to recruits or outsiders. Thanks.
 

Exit 4

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Has there been any official or UConn-related (former player or coach, for example) response to the article or its content? Not that I would expect it, but just curious if anyone has heard. It was shallow, but could be damning to recruits or outsiders. Thanks.
Since the modern media cycle is 12.5 minutes, maybe you just move forward and ignore. AD David Benedict has to get his plan together for 25% savings over three years.

That said, it would seem very difficult for AD DB not to want to give a call and correct some of this slander.
 

Drew

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I wish Charlotte Caroll was covering UConn football in addition to hoops for The Athletic. Or at least was able to write a few articles about it. Would be helpful to be able to use her as a national mouthpiece in situations like this to combat dumb narratives.
 
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Since the modern media cycle is 12.5 minutes, maybe you just move forward and ignore. AD David Benedict has to get his plan together for 25% savings over three years.

That said, it would seem very difficult for AD DB not to want to give a call and correct some of this slander.

AD David Benedict has been on fire, particularly the last 12 months, but this might be lesson learned to not use the media to give warning to the fanbase for these types of things. It just created 4 snarky, doom & gloom pieces (2 locally, 2 nationally) that act as if the sky is falling like we are all shareholders and the sports that bring in revenue (MBB, WBB, FB) or sports that the university is highly competitive in (FH, BSB, MSOC, WSOC) are going to be lost.

I feel terrible that scholarships and programs will be lost in all of this, but the media coverage has far exceeded what's likely to transpire as a result of COVID and not because Bob Diaco cared about energy vampires more than punt returns or Hathaway scared Edsall off prior to the Fiesta Bowl.
 

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AD David Benedict has been on fire, particularly the last 12 months, but this might be lesson learned to not use the media to give warning to the fanbase for these types of things.

Its a little surprising he decided the media trial balloon because the results were highly predictable... but maybe there was a hidden strategy there to deal with the BOT and other university stakeholders.
 
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Its a little surprising he decided the media trial balloon because the results were highly predictable... but maybe there was a hidden strategy there to deal with the BOT and other university stakeholders.

I hope so. Otherwise you're giving sports writers something that is normally vegetables, but in a time where there are no sports being played, it's red meat served on a platter.
 
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Okay I’ll bite. Most parts of this article have been vilified on this board.
AD David Benedict screwed up on (fill in the blank for most items excluding Hurley hiring up until a few months ago)-check
Hiring Diaco was a mistake-check
Stadium 30 minutes away is bad-check
Bonuses are ridiculous-check
Paul P was a bad hire-check
Etc., etc., etc.
It hurts a lot, but predominantly spot on
 

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Okay I’ll bite. Most parts of this article have been vilified on this board.
AD David Benedict screwed up on (fill in the blank for most items excluding Hurley hiring up until a few months ago)-check
Hiring Diaco was a mistake-check
Stadium 30 minutes away is bad-check
Bonuses are ridiculous-check
Paul P was a bad hire-check
Etc., etc., etc.
It hurts a lot, but predominantly spot on
Its the smugness and the ridicule.... and the failure to acknowledge we run far more sports than most outside of the P5 and to acknowledge that we are far from alone - most universities outside the P5 have sports programs in similar difficult financial straights.... And fan attendance everywhere is falling - even in the SEC!
 
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For better or worse, the national opinion on Uconn football is that it is done and only a matter of time before it's buried with with the conference change and independence. That was before this Covid crisis. The only thing that will change that at this point is winning. When you're getting your tail handed to you in a conference, the likelihood of recruiting guys from other areas of the country as an indy is not a good bet. The question is if there is enough time to pull it back out of the swamp before the money runs out. They're on the clock so to speak and it got shorter with this Covid deal.
 

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