What do we have returning for '26?

[Hogoff]

You can see things however you want, but I don't think that's a rational conclusion from the post. Doesn't mean he isn't done, but there is no reason to think that because his mother is happy that while pursuing his football degree he graduated from a state flagship. The only conclusion to draw is that she has more respect for what should be important than many of us fanatics do.

Fair. Thank you for bringing back to reality.

 

[Coach J]

What a great and heartfelt post!
Congratulations to Nick. It's hard to put in the time and effort to play D1 football and keep up academically.......I only know because of a fraternity brother that played O line and did so with typically three 3 hour labs a week along with a (then) full fifteen credits of classroom work. Today the training and physical development work is way beyond what it was "back in the day" so the kids today have a tougher road.
Nick, you've done the right things and made your family proud. Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year!

Is she suggesting a Fagnano situation where he may get a magical extra year of eligibility? With the 1-2 years more comment? Anyhow he bid his time like a professional now he gets his shot, best of luck to him!

 

[uconnbill]

Nick can get another year, but due to his second injury, he lost a year.

 

[BRS24]

Mea culpa. I think I misread this initial tweet.

 

[Scrutineer]

Glad he got his degree but I can't help but wonder who's advising him. The next school will be his fifth. Does he really believe there's a future for him in football but he just hasn't found the right school, the right offensive scheme, etc.?

More power to him if he can find that school but Joe Fagnano found it on only his second attempt.

 

[RSTuthill]

Glad he got his degree but I can't help but wonder who's advising him. The next school will be his fifth. Does he really believe there's a future for him in football but he just hasn't found the right school, the right offensive scheme, etc.?

More power to him if he can find that school but Joe Fagnano found it on only his second attempt.

Guessing he just wants to play.

 

[Coach J]

Guessing he just wants to play.

So it so puzzling why he didn't take the chance in the Fenway Bowl, kind of doesn't make sense.

 

[Hoophound]

His mom also expects he is getting a masters degree. So, he will be a grad student and try to get on the field elsewhere.

 

[Purple Stein]

Glad he got his degree but I can't help but wonder who's advising him. The next school will be his fifth. Does he really believe there's a future for him in football but he just hasn't found the right school, the right offensive scheme, etc.?

More power to him if he can find that school but Joe Fagnano found it on only his second attempt.

Joe found it at his first school. He was great at Maine, only left because following Charlton opened an FBS opportunity.

Evers, well - he's still searching...

 

[ZooCougar]

Glad he got his degree but I can't help but wonder who's advising him. The next school will be his fifth. Does he really believe there's a future for him in football but he just hasn't found the right school, the right offensive scheme, etc.?

More power to him if he can find that school but Joe Fagnano found it on only his second attempt.

Can you imagine what the UConn coaches will say about him when schools call around to get info on him? I doubt Sammis will hold back much.

 

[RSTuthill]

Can you imagine what the UConn coaches will say about him when schools call around to get info on him? I doubt Sammis will hold back much.

Exactly. What goes around comes around.

 

[Alum86]

Can you imagine what the UConn coaches will say about him when schools call around to get info on him? I doubt Sammis will hold back much.

“The mashed potatoes and stuffing must have been really good.”

 

[UCFBfan]

Someone posted this in another thread and I was bored and watched it, lol. It was actually pretty interesting to see why he left the schools. Outside of decommitting from Florida (Mullins recruited him and then got fired), he basically went to OU and Wisconsin knowing he’d have a chance to start because both of their QB rooms were empty or filled with backups. He wasn’t able to win the starting job at either spot as they also brought in another transfer. So he went to UConn and played two games before getting knocked out. Bad luck for him here, but once again, he couldn’t earn back his starting job from Joe after he was healthy. So bottom line is he just wasn’t good enough. What was interesting was that he played WR and QB in high school and could have gone either way.

I’ll be curious to see where he lands.

 

[ZooCougar]

Someone posted this in another thread and I was bored and watched it, lol. It was actually pretty interesting to see why he left the schools. Outside of decommitting from Florida (Mullins recruited him and then got fired), he basically went to OU and Wisconsin knowing he’d have a chance to start because both of their QB rooms were empty or filled with backups. He wasn’t able to win the starting job at either spot as they also brought in another transfer. So he went to UConn and played two games before getting knocked out. Bad luck for him here, but once again, he couldn’t earn back his starting job from Joe after he was healthy. So bottom line is he just wasn’t good enough. What was interesting was that he played WR and QB in high school and could have gone either way.

I’ll be curious to see where he lands.

We were sold a bill of goods on this kid.

Truth: He was always just a three star who was subjectively upgraded to a 4 when he committed Florida or Oklahoma or whichever of the multitude of schools he committed to in High School. Honestly, Tucker McDonald might end up with a better FBS career than Nick Evers.

 

[hardcorehusky]

I would think teams want a leader at QB. What Evers just did is the exact opposite.

 

[tiger paw]

2026. Any thing can happen. Watched the Rate Bowl / Phoenix . They said New Mexico (10-2) had averaged 3 wins per season each of the previous 8 years. A new coach + 70 new players. Lost in OT to B1G Minnesota. Hope Candle can build + sustain a high level of success in short time. Every year is a new chapter that can look completely different than the previous season.

 

[Kowalski]

Guessing he just wants to play.

So since he didn’t play all year because the guy ahead of him was great, you’d think he’d be pumped at the opportunity to take the reigns for the bowl game and show everyone, including Castle & other programs, what he’s capable of.

Maybe there’s more to the story that we don’t know, like an injury. I think many are otherwise going to speculate that he lacked the confidence to get the job done because of the few other opt-outs on offense.

 

[Bonamassa]

All the transferring and failing to become a sustained starter says to me that he lacks/lacked the ability to read defenses and or grasp offenses.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Really tired of dealing with all the "what ifs" and unsubstantiated rumors, so I'm going to try something else. Let's ignore who is in the portal, all the twitter noise, who Candle may bring with him, formation changes and everything else. Let's pretend that we know that everyone with eligibility will be back in blue and white next fall, no system changes and ask where we are in terms of personnel and what we would need, either with transfers in or subs moving up the depth chart.

On defense, while it wasn't good, we have the possibility of 5 starters (as listed on UConn's last depth chart) returning. Carroll-Jackson up front, Diomande at LB, Cam Chadwick at corner and Mal McLean and Lee Molette at the back. That would be 4 more returning starters than we had this year where only D'Mon Brinson returned. Add to those 5 Matt Hoffman, who played a lot at DE, Osiris Gilbert at CB, who played some and we were really high on, and Suchanic at Safety, who played special teams almost exclusively but we were also high on. And we really bring back a large core. Hopefully the D upgrades as a whole by using NIL money to not just replace but improve the really open positions: MLB, the hybrid LB and a pass rushing DE. And if we can improve upon Carroll-Jackson and Hoffman up front, all the better.

On offense, skill position players are largely replaceable, but you have to start with a QB and an OL. We're in good shape on the OL if everyone returns. Per the depth chart Murawski, Ty Chan and Cassady all come back, as does Brady Wayburn and Toriyan Johnson. Someone needs to play Center but we're in good shape. We lose the QB who if he's done (not playing in the bowl game — he is not coming back) may have just finished the best year a QB has had in our FBS era. But we do return Evers, who the staff liked and started half of last year (even though from what he showed on the field he didn't usually look like a starting QB). We lose an amazing WR in Bell, plus probably our #2 in Murphy, but return Porter (who if he can just put it all together ...), Neider, who could be a star next year, and Jackson Harper. We lose two experienced TEs in Honig and Hansen, but Juice played a lot and Chirchi forced himself on the field. And basically the entire RB room could come back, including Edwards who is not the best TB we've seen in the modern era, but may very well be the toughest. But Brown, Rosa Lundberg Coleman and Terrence Smith are all back.

On specials, we need a Kicker and a Punter. Maybe Sullins is that guy -- who knows. The long snapper returns but .... And both punt and kickoff returners are back.

So the bottom line is that if Candle can keep our starters with eligibility left, it won't take tons of numbers (although where we have holes we need real quality) to have another good team next fall. We would need a Center, a QB, a stud WR, an upgrade in the DL room and some new LBs. But we don't need two new units, so the resources can be focused on some key portal or Toledo adds rather than a whole new roster. Or most of our returning starters can move on and Candle can reload (hopefully) or rebuild from the ground up. We'll see.

I am with BL. Got a lot to say on topic. Hard to follow this team IMO with the lack of information? Good or bad.

We'll see what the team looks like in August. Interested in who are the QBs this spring, Brown, Edward's, Rosa at RB and maybe WRs that are here. Everything else?

Does it matter? I am thinking 50 new players on the roster. Candle got a chance, Its gonna be like a pro team. Ya gotta get into free agency and get going with your targets and prices. Try and lock guys down early.

 

[hardcorehusky]

New schemes coming. All 3 units will be radically different. Hard to tell who will fit and who won't.