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

[huskymedic]

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.

FWIW the odds appear to be getting beter...

1. Justin Cayenne (TE/DE) - The Bolles School, Jacksonville Florida (UConn Commit 5/7/20)
2. Pryce Yates (DL) - Reagan High School, San Antonio Texas (UConn Commit 5/15/21)
3. Maxwell Modeste (RB) - Byron Nelson High School, Trophy Club Texas (UConn Commit 5/19/20)
4. Femi Sakiri (OL/DL) - Byron Nelson High School, Trophy Club Texas (UConn Commit 5/21/20)
5. Joshua Tracey (WR/DB) - Bridgeport CT attending Avon Old Farms (UConn Commit 5/22/20)
6. Yakiri Walker (OL) - DeSoto High School, DeSoto Texas (UConn Commit 5/25/20)

#7 incoming today...

 

[Exit 4]

@don356

College football seems to be the only sport where many equate a rough decade as being terminal. What other sport does this get said as frequently? We are going to navigate this COVid financial crisis and then go from there. Independent football could be the spring board to some winning and a little winning is all we need.

 

[CL82]

@don356

College football seems to be the only sport where many equate a rough decade as being terminal. What other sport does this get said as frequently? We are going to navigate this COVid financial crisis and then go from there. Independent football could be the spring board to some winning and a little winning is all we need.

College football is the sport most vulnerable to bad hires. If a coach drives a program into the ground like P and (especially) Diaco did it takes a long time to fix. It's like trying to turn a supertanker. It takes time.

 

[kingdobbs]

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?"

At this point, it’s a “zombie brand”. One of many formerly prestigious news outlets like Newsweek or Forbes that exist mostly as content farms but trading on the prestige of the publication’s past for credibility.

 

[uconnric]

At this point, it’s a “zombie brand”. One of many formerly prestigious news outlets like Newsweek or Forbes that exist mostly as content farms but trading on the prestige of the publication’s past for credibility.

The only writers worth a damn at SI are long gone. It was once head and shoulders the best sports mag, with great writers. You just don't get the in-depth articles that you used to see in SI anymore.

 

[kingdobbs]

The only writers worth a damn at SI are long gone. It was once head and shoulders the best sports mag, with great writers. You just don't get the in-depth articles that you used to see in SI anymore.

That’s exactly it. It was one of the brands of newsmagazine that didn’t weather the transition away from print very well, and the only thing that really ended up having any value in the end was a prestige brand name to be able to put your low quality farmed content under so you could get those precious clicks.

 

[Huskygrad88]

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!

Based on the tone from some other members on the site, I assumed smugness and ridicule were acceptable attributes here!

 

[CL82]

Based on the tone from some other members on the site, I assumed smugness and ridicule were acceptable attributes here!

Probably a different standard for a magazine, no?

 

[buddy]

In my opinion for the hundredth time or more, the laziness of Warde and hubris of Suzie are responsible for the position that UConn finds itself now.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Given the economic mess the ACC may soon find itself in, I would not be shocked that some day, a few years from now, the conference may invite UConn as a member. It may be slightly different in terms of members, then. Some may jump ship, somehow avoiding exit fees. But if such an opportunity arises, UConn has to do better than last time.

 

[Dean Wormer]

Given the economic mess the ACC may soon find itself in, I would not be shocked that some day, a few years from now, the conference may invite UConn as a member. It may be slightly different in terms of members, then. Some may jump ship, somehow avoiding exit fees. But if such an opportunity arises, UConn has to do better than last time.

At this point waiting for the ACC to die from some unknown “economic mess”, is a little like Michael Corleone in Godfather 2 talking about gangster Hyman Roth and how “He’s been dying of the same heart attack for 25 years”.
Hoping for the ACC to break up so that UConn can be invited is fool’s gold mixed with wishful thinking. Just ain’t happening.

 

[Waquoit]

I would like to see the article that describes the perfect storm that knocked UConn out of the FBS picture.

 

[don356]

@don356

College football seems to be the only sport where many equate a rough decade as being terminal. What other sport does this get said as frequently? We are going to navigate this COVid financial crisis and then go from there. Independent football could be the spring board to some winning and a little winning is all we need.

Yep, it gets more money for a reason, and in a lot of the public's eyes it's the national sport. Witness the money the Nfl commands. Crazy. That said, it gets magnified when you leave for a bball only setup, and had really bad results at the end. However, i think you have to give AAC fball some credit. It was/is better than advertised. I've said this before and i stick with it. If anybody back 6 or 7 years ago would have told you that Uconn would be in a fball league in 2019 that had 4 teams in the final top 25 it would have been a revelation. However, when you are not one of the 4, it's not ideal. Just were not able to leverage that.

 

[hank970]

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.

Cincinnati has a professional soccer franchise to sate aficionados.

 

[huskysupporter]

I have never read a Pat Forde article, are they all this poorly written? Not the content, I actually agree with him on most of it (except his fixation on the Edsall bonuses - they are not a lot for a head coach and the drop down to FCS - that ain’t going to save as much money as he thinks), but they writing. I honestly think a 7 year old with no journalism training can write an article that flows better. Yikes.

we have to use some self awareness here too - he is right about the athletic department and administration being a dumpster fire.

 

[Dooooooomed]

I have never read a Pat Forde article, are they all this poorly written? Not the content, I actually agree with him on most of it (except his fixation on the Edsall bonuses - they are not a lot for a head coach and the drop down to FCS - that ain’t going to save as much money as he thinks), but they writing. I honestly think a 7 year old with no journalism training can write an article that flows better. Yikes.

we have to use some self awareness here too - he is right about the athletic department and administration being a dumpster fire.

His criticism of past ADs/administrators is fine, but the Benedict criticism is absurd.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

At this point waiting for the ACC to die from some unknown “economic mess”, is a little like Michael Corleone in Godfather 2 talking about gangster Hyman Roth and how “He’s been dying of the same heart attack for 25 years”.
Hoping for the ACC to break up so that UConn can be invited is fool’s gold mixed with wishful thinking. Just ain’t happening.

I like the Godfather movie. But did you see last week's news from ESPN: As more and more college athletic departments cut sports programs, the financial wreckage due to the coronavirus pandemic is becoming devastatingly clear -- and that's without factoring in a $4 billion loss if the 2020 football season is canceled, a development that would forever alter college-level sports.

No football would cost $4B, alter college sports

As more college athletic departments cut sports programs, the financial wreckage is becoming clear. And it gets even worse if college football doesn't return.

www.espn.com

 

[huskysupporter]

His criticism of past ADs/administrators is fine, but the Benedict criticism is absurd.

I think we give Benedict a tad too much credit - those basketball only fans love him but if you look at it globally, Big East move not so good.

I will say since the administration decided to pull plug on football and basically just try to get as much $$$ as possibly from the sinking product - Benedict has done awesome securing $$$ games with powerhouses and getting every last cent he could for tv contract.

 

[Dean Wormer]

I like the Godfather movie. But did you see last week's news from ESPN: As more and more college athletic departments cut sports programs, the financial wreckage due to the coronavirus pandemic is becoming devastatingly clear -- and that's without factoring in a $4 billion loss if the 2020 football season is canceled, a development that would forever alter college-level sports.

No football would cost $4B, alter college sports

As more college athletic departments cut sports programs, the financial wreckage is becoming clear. And it gets even worse if college football doesn't return.

www.espn.com

Agree. But your post singled out the ACC in particular as the conference that may break up due to economics. In reality the article says that some schools in the P5 Cartel are in better position than others, regardless of conference, and the G5 obviously faces lots more turmoil because they make less money.
And even if the ACC or Big12 or PAC broke apart, why would they wanna invite our clusterf%k of an AD with its running deficits and sinking football program? The state is hemorrhaging money and our future just got worse, not better. Hate to be the messenger but that's just facts, whether we wanna face it or not.

 

[Waquoit]

I think we give Benedict a tad too much credit ... if you look at it globally, Big East move not so good.

Explain please

 

[Husky68]

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.

I want some of what you got, mine isn't nearly strong enough!

 

[HartbeatHusky]

The article is ridiculous. The suggestion that a school of UConn's caliber in a market the size of the state of CT can't sustain an FBS football program is just wrong. The Pasqualoni hire was terrible and Diaco didn't work out. We'll see if Randy can get us back to where we were when he left within the next year or two. At the end of the day, we'll be making more TV money than MWC schools and I think the BE could see an increase if they extend their contract with Fox. UConn has shown an ability to put together solid indy football schedules well into the coming decade and has signed a national TV contract. Once we get some bowl agreements, we'll be in pretty good shape.

Moving to the Big East is all about sustaining a national championship level basketball program, which had become pretty elusive in the AAC. It was the right move given that is what UConn has built it's brand on. We're not P5. We can't sustain a P5 level AD. That's a hard truth we need to own up to but we can certainly be a dominant basketball school in the Big East and a solid FBS football program as an independent.

 

[buddy]

The article is ridiculous. The suggestion that a school of UConn's caliber in a market the size of the state of CT can't sustain an FBS football program is just wrong. The Pasqualoni hire was terrible and Diaco didn't work out. We'll see if Randy can get us back to where we were when he left within the next year or two. At the end of the day, we'll be making more TV money than MWC schools and I think the BE could see an increase if they extend their contract with Fox. UConn has shown an ability to put together solid indy football schedules well into the coming decade and has signed a national TV contract. Once we get some bowl agreements, we'll be in pretty good shape.

Moving to the Big East is all about sustaining a national championship level basketball program, which had become pretty elusive in the AAC. It was the right move given that is what UConn has built it's brand on. We're not P5. We can't sustain a P5 level AD. That's a hard truth we need to own up to but we can certainly be a dominant basketball school in the Big East and a solid FBS football program as an independent.

UConn was a micrometer away from an ACC invite. UConn can be P5. It flubbed its opportunity when it was presented. Whether another chance comes along is the big question.

 

[HartbeatHusky]

UConn was a micrometer away from an ACC invite. UConn can be P5. It flubbed its opportunity when it was presented. Whether another chance comes along is the big question.

I think UConn had a shot but I don’t think we flubbed the opportunity. I think we just didn’t have the pedigree to beat out Cuse or Pitt and when it came to Louisville they had more of what the ACC football powers desired.

 

[d1reality]

@don356

College football seems to be the only sport where many equate a rough decade as being terminal. What other sport does this get said as frequently? We are going to navigate this COVid financial crisis and then go from there. Independent football could be the spring board to some winning and a little winning is all we need.

Currently #118 recruiting class on 247sports.com, but catching up to #100 UMass - I'm not liking this springboard.