What do we have returning for '26?

[BonaConn]

I'm just gonna assume literally no player on the 2025 team will return in 2026. That way, it'll be a pleasant little surprise if someone stays.

 

[ZooCougar]

I'm just gonna assume literally no player on the 2025 team will return in 2026. That way, it'll be a pleasant little surprise if someone stays.

It’s just so unappealing too.

 

[Hoophound]

Not when he first took the job, he was very visible and making the rounds everywhere then.

That said, different time different circumstances. Program was in a state that it needed more outreach, and the portal wasn’t as big of a deal quite yet.

Right now the only priority should be the roster and coaching staff. Once that’s complete I do hope he starts being more visible

I think Mora was doing more of that in the Spring, not Christmas.

 

[Milo65]

I know this happens when coaches leave but damn does this feel demoralizing for next season

We don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. It’s clear that coach Candle wants his guys on the coaching staff. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s having similar conversations with some of the players.

 

[RSTuthill]

Right now the only priority should be the roster and coaching staff. Once that’s complete I do hope he starts being more visible

And getting the family settled.

 

[Bandito2025]

I guess this is turning into an annual occurrence. Hopefully once he gets things going Candle's often alluded to loyalty will keep more of the guys he develops than previous coaches.

With the NIL it’s making players want to test the waters to see how much they can make. It will be a yearly occurrence for all the teams unfortunately.

 

[ZooCougar]

I think Mora was doing more of that in the Spring, not Christmas.

Mora was basically in the witness protection program during the off-season. I often wondered if he was even at Spring Practice.

 

[jmsjoejms]

Using UConn Football Roster - 2025 | Storrs Central as the basis for the roster and counting Transfers, Graduate, Senior (RS) and Seniors as out I get 59 out 59 staying (details below)

 

[zmart]

Unfortunately, of those 59, 25 are Walk-Ons.

 

[ArtTheFan]

Unfortunately, of those 59, 25 are Walk-Ons.

So what? I doubt walk-ons are bad. Maybe it is time to show the new coaching staff that they should get a scholarship...

Or maybe they get a scholarship in a non athletic area.

 

[zmart]

Really!!

 

[Tdaley]

It is fair to say that our roster has been gutted by Mora leaving and the new world the Portal. Candle has a big rebuild in front of him. The next few weeks will be interesting!

 

[Purple Stein]

I wish Candle would step up and be more visible. I’d don’t like this incognito mode. One thing I’ll give Mora is he hit the ground running in terms of PR and sold us hard. The job is mighty complex these days and being out in front engaging stakeholders is one of the keys to garnering support which, in turn, helps enable success. Not digging the silence at all. Just sayin. I’d don’t have time for the patience BS anymore. We’ve been through enough circuses.

You want him standing on top of the ball in Times Square or something?

If there's something to complain about after the portal closes in a couple of weeks, fine. But right now this feels like complaining for the sake of complaining.

 

[ZooCougar]

So what? I doubt walk-ons are bad. Maybe it is time to show the new coaching staff that they should get a scholarship...

Or maybe they get a scholarship in a non athletic area.

Are you for real?

 

[giddyup]

You want him standing on top of the ball in Times Square or something?

If there's something to complain about after the portal closes in a couple of weeks, fine. But right now this feels like complaining for the sake of complaining.

No. It’s just an observation. I’m not sold on Candle or any guy until they start performing. Been through 8 HCs (perm and temp) since Holtz. We also have had the luxury of having some the greatest BB coaches in the history of college basketball. So, you observe a few things along the way. It concerns me greatly when you have an HC not engaging the core fan base, especially after the turd dropped at Fenway. Not impressed, sorry.

 

[KryHavok]

No. It’s just an observation. I’m not sold on Candle or any guy until they start performing. Been through 8 HCs (perm and temp) since Holtz. We also have had the luxury of having some the greatest BB coaches in the history of college basketball. So, you observe a few things along the way. It concerns me greatly when you have an HC not engaging the core fan base, especially after the turd dropped at Fenway. Not impressed, sorry.

I hear you mate, and in the beginning I wasn't over the top thrilled at the Coach Candle hire, but I say this, I am more than willing to give the guy time to build us up. You're a passionate UConn fan, as am I, and after the high we were riding after the FAU game, our once bright outlook came crashing down hard several days later, so I definitely get what you're feeling. We've now experienced massive loss of coaching staff and have 30+ players declare for the portal (both aspects that got us 18 wins the past 2 seasons) with the numbers climbing daily. I don't need Candle to come out and give me some speech. I want him to work, and that's what he's doing. Get the staff rebuilt, bring in guys that can recruit, guys that players on other teams have responded to. That's what he's doing.

I too wish for him to come out and say we've landed this 3-star and that 4-star, but more than that, I want somebody who WANTS to be at UConn and will work FOR UConn. Having Candle do his schtick behind the scenes during this critical period is him walking the walk. He can talk to us later. Anything he says now can possibly be misconstrued ("he's not serious enough", "he doesn't get UConn", "we're not the MAC/Toledo", what have you). My point is, any coach can step to the mic and say something. He's got a young family that he has to move to CT, get ready for the portal, hit the recruiting trail, and prepare for Spring training. I'm willing to cut him slack. I won't disrespect you and tell you the same, but again, as a loyal UConn fan, I know what you're feeling, and as crappy as the last month has been with defections, portal entries, and bowl loss, this is our current state. As someone wrote in one of the threads recently, hope is not a plan, but I think Candle has a plan, so let's see what he comes up with. I'll end by saying I want a coach that choses UConn, his Twitter profile shows me something our ex-coach's profile didn't:

 

[Coach J]

Y

I hear you mate, and in the beginning I wasn't over the top thrilled at the Coach Candle hire, but I say this, I am more than willing to give the guy time to build us up. You're a passionate UConn fan, as am I, and after the high we were riding after the FAU game, our once bright outlook came crashing down hard several days later, so I definitely get what you're feeling. We've now experienced massive loss of coaching staff and have 30+ players declare for the portal (both aspects that got us 18 wins the past 2 seasons) with the numbers climbing daily. I don't need Candle to come out and give me some speech. I want him to work, and that's what he's doing. Get the staff rebuilt, bring in guys that can recruit, guys that players on other teams have responded to. That's what he's doing.

I too wish for him to come out and say we've landed this 3-star and that 4-star, but more than that, I want somebody who WANTS to be at UConn and will work FOR UConn. Having Candle do his schtick behind the scenes during this critical period is him walking the walk. He can talk to us later. Anything he says now can possibly be misconstrued ("he's not serious enough", "he doesn't get UConn", "we're not the MAC/Toledo", what have you). My point is, any coach can step to the mic and say something. He's got a young family that he has to move to CT, get ready for the portal, hit the recruiting trail, and prepare for Spring training. I'm willing to cut him slack. I won't disrespect you and tell you the same, but again, as a loyal UConn fan, I know what you're feeling, and as crappy as the last month has been with defections, portal entries, and bowl loss, this is our current state. As someone wrote in one of the threads recently, hope is not a plan, but I think Candle has a plan, so let's see what he comes up with. I'll end by saying I want a coach that choses UConn, his Twitter profile shows me something our ex-coach's profile didn't:
View attachment 115443

With the impressive diversity of high-end assistants that Candle has been able to bring here, I would imagine we will end up with some pretty impactful players out of the portal when it's all said and done, I think we will end up being pretty pleased with what he is able to put together.

If you notice players in the portal from the schools and positions the new coaches came from, think it's a high probability we land some of these guys.

BTW, I know it sucked for a while, but if the recruiting haul rivals the staff he put together, I don't care if he doesn't talk till Spring practice.

 

[Dizzy21]

I would imagine if someone came to any of us and said "Start this company, hire 50+ managers, 80+ rockstar contributors, put processes in place, make the organization functioning, in an area with extremely limited candidate pool, and everyone else in the industry attempting to do the same thing at the same time, a lot of them with more resources, in a few weeks", that most here who have experience even hiring a single individual for a skilled job would say that it was impossible to do. The work he has to do is insane and if he was out here schmoozing with the fans, then I would be seriously worried.

 

[Stinger92860]

My response to the OP

 

[Jimdish255]

I would imagine if someone came to any of us and said "Start this company, hire 50+ managers, 80+ rockstar contributors, put processes in place, make the organization functioning, in an area with extremely limited candidate pool, and everyone else in the industry attempting to do the same thing at the same time, a lot of them with more resources, in a few weeks", that most here who have experience even hiring a single individual for a skilled job would say that it was impossible to do. The work he has to do is insane and if he was out here schmoozing with the fans, then I would be seriously worried.

I don't want to hear from Coach until he can take a breath and feels like we have a foundation to talk about. And occasional quote on social media would be nice but he may not even know where he's headed from hour to hour.

 

[ZooCougar]

I hear you mate, and in the beginning I wasn't over the top thrilled at the Coach Candle hire, but I say this, I am more than willing to give the guy time to build us up. You're a passionate UConn fan, as am I, and after the high we were riding after the FAU game, our once bright outlook came crashing down hard several days later, so I definitely get what you're feeling. We've now experienced massive loss of coaching staff and have 30+ players declare for the portal (both aspects that got us 18 wins the past 2 seasons) with the numbers climbing daily. I don't need Candle to come out and give me some speech. I want him to work, and that's what he's doing. Get the staff rebuilt, bring in guys that can recruit, guys that players on other teams have responded to. That's what he's doing.

I too wish for him to come out and say we've landed this 3-star and that 4-star, but more than that, I want somebody who WANTS to be at UConn and will work FOR UConn. Having Candle do his schtick behind the scenes during this critical period is him walking the walk. He can talk to us later. Anything he says now can possibly be misconstrued ("he's not serious enough", "he doesn't get UConn", "we're not the MAC/Toledo", what have you). My point is, any coach can step to the mic and say something. He's got a young family that he has to move to CT, get ready for the portal, hit the recruiting trail, and prepare for Spring training. I'm willing to cut him slack. I won't disrespect you and tell you the same, but again, as a loyal UConn fan, I know what you're feeling, and as crappy as the last month has been with defections, portal entries, and bowl loss, this is our current state. As someone wrote in one of the threads recently, hope is not a plan, but I think Candle has a plan, so let's see what he comes up with. I'll end by saying I want a coach that choses UConn, his Twitter profile shows me something our ex-coach's profile didn't:
View attachment 115443

You guys are crazy. This was a gainfully employed and successful FBS coach.

And he hit all of my criteria and more. You don’t have to go Full Randy Edsall Apologista but you can feel confidently positive.

 

[RSTuthill]

I would imagine if someone came to any of us and said "Start this company, hire 50+ managers, 80+ rockstar contributors, put processes in place, make the organization functioning, in an area with extremely limited candidate pool, and everyone else in the industry attempting to do the same thing at the same time, a lot of them with more resources, in a few weeks", that most here who have experience even hiring a single individual for a skilled job would say that it was impossible to do. The work he has to do is insane and if he was out here schmoozing with the fans, then I would be seriously worried.

I like this, but 50+ managers????? That is not much span of control. How about 5?

 

[Viet Vet]

Sold…………..to the highest bidder.

 

[Windham4th]

If we starting signing up walk ons to replace scholarship players we will be worst team in FCS even though we are in FBS

 

[UCONNRPh]

I wish Candle would step up and be more visible. I’d don’t like this incognito mode. One thing I’ll give Mora is he hit the ground running in terms of PR and sold us hard. The job is mighty complex these days and being out in front engaging stakeholders is one of the keys to garnering support which, in turn, helps enable success. Not digging the silence at all. Just sayin. I’d don’t have time for the patience BS anymore. We’ve been through enough circuses.

I would think we will see Candle much more once the re-recruiting and portal recruiting are finished. His hard work is non-stop.