What UConn should/can do | The Boneyard

What UConn should/can do

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Short term, it appears that we may not be joining a new conference. LT, change is inevitable.

So, what should/can UConn do? In my opinion, focus on what you can control, not what you can't control.

1) Continue to build the sports programs. Increase investment. Build the basketball practice facility,...
2) Continue to improve out of conference football scheduling. Negotiate with ND for a new football series, possibly replacing Pitt.
3) Focus on building the fan base. Increase student attendance at games even if it means leaving some on the table. Building the fan base is more important to ST dollars. I think Lew Perkins understood this, but Hathaway didn't have a clue.
4) Use women's basketball to show UConn's value to key universities as most ADs would love to increase revenues from women's sports. Florida State, Clemson, Penn St., Ohio State..want to play?
5) Continue to focus on excellence in all athletic programs.
6) Reach out to alumni and explain our challenges. Now is the time for all of us to step up with donations, attendance, road attendance,..
7) Reach out to BC. Offer to play in all sports. If they aren't ready for football, offer men's and women's basketball. That would be hard for them to decline.
8) Focus on hiring a top notch AD with great contacts in college athletics to lead us into the future. Maybe Prendergast is the right person, maybe not. If Prendergast isn't the right guy, keep him as our chief fundraiser for the investments we need to do.

Finally, my most controversial recommendation of all. Increase the capacity of The Rent to 50k to 60k. With Michigan and Tennessee coming in to play and possibly others, we can sell out the stadium for some games. If we are committed to joining the Big Boys, you might as well increase the size of the stadium now. Reduce ticket prices for the worst seats. Increase student attendance. Interest rates are low and construction firms are looking for work. Politicians want to increase jobs, well here it is. Now is the time to do it.

Dammit, we are UConn! Now is the time to raise our game and move forward!
 

UConnSportsGuy

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No offense, but I am glad that Herbst is in charge of this ship and not you.
 
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ST I hope you are wrong. We need to join a solid BCS conference ASAP if possible. LT or ST we need to continue to do all you propose no matter what.
 
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SportsGuy, of course we should continue to look for a better conference, but we can not force anything. We have to focus on what we can control to continue to make us a desireable commodity, not what we can't.
 
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Jim, you are on the right track here and I endorse your to-do list. First, have no fear that Pres. Herbst will do what is necessary to position us for the future. Whether its upgrading to AAU status, expanding facilities, and most certainly raising the endowment, she will move boldly. I still believe she wants to position us for The Big 10 or ACC, but realizes, at least for the moment, we are forced to remain in the BE.
I strongly disagree, however, with those that say "what else could Marinnato have done? He was blindsided and those other schools would have left anyway."
Does anyone really doubt that a Larry Scott type of commissioner, rather than a Providence legacy man, would have made a world of difference? Competence and leadership, as Gars has pointed out, are highly valued and short in supply. One thing I'm pretty confident about is Herbst knows bad leadership when she sees it--just as she did with Hathaway. Don't be surprised if she quietly lobbies the other Presidents for a leadership change in Providence.
 
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Short term, it appears that we may not be joining a new conference. LT, change is inevitable.

So, what should/can UConn do? In my opinion, focus on what you can control, not what you can't control.

1) Continue to build the sports programs. Increase investment. Build the basketball practice facility,...
2) Continue to improve out of conference football scheduling. Negotiate with ND for a new football series, possibly replacing Pitt.
3) Focus on building the fan base. Increase student attendance at games even if it means leaving some on the table. Building the fan base is more important to ST dollars. I think Lew Perkins understood this, but Hathaway didn't have a clue.
4) Use women's basketball to show UConn's value to key universities as most ADs would love to increase revenues from women's sports. Florida State, Clemson, Penn St., Ohio State..want to play?
5) Continue to focus on excellence in all athletic programs.
6) Reach out to alumni and explain our challenges. Now is the time for all of us to step up with donations, attendance, road attendance,..
7) Reach out to BC. Offer to play in all sports. If they aren't ready for football, offer men's and women's basketball. That would be hard for them to decline.
8) Focus on hiring a top notch AD with great contacts in college athletics to lead us into the future. Maybe Prendergast is the right person, maybe not. If Prendergast isn't the right guy, keep him as our chief fundraiser for the investments we need to do.

Finally, my most controversial recommendation of all. Increase the capacity of The Rent to 50k to 60k. With Michigan and Tennessee coming in to play and possibly others, we can sell out the stadium for some games. If we are committed to joining the Big Boys, you might as well increase the size of the stadium now. Reduce ticket prices for the worst seats. Increase student attendance. Interest rates are low and construction firms are looking for work. Politicians want to increase jobs, well here it is. Now is the time to do it.

Dammit, we are UConn! Now is the time to raise our game and move forward!

Putting aside some of the specifics, as a general matter that is spot on -- we need to be making UConn a better program to increase (not guaranty but increase) our chances of having this come out right in the end.
 
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Short term, it appears that we may not be joining a new conference. LT, change is inevitable.

So, what should/can UConn do? In my opinion, focus on what you can control, not what you can't control.

1) Continue to build the sports programs. Increase investment. Build the basketball practice facility,...
2) Continue to improve out of conference football scheduling. Negotiate with ND for a new football series, possibly replacing Pitt.
3) Focus on building the fan base. Increase student attendance at games even if it means leaving some on the table. Building the fan base is more important to ST dollars. I think Lew Perkins understood this, but Hathaway didn't have a clue.
4) Use women's basketball to show UConn's value to key universities as most ADs would love to increase revenues from women's sports. Florida State, Clemson, Penn St., Ohio State..want to play?
5) Continue to focus on excellence in all athletic programs.
6) Reach out to alumni and explain our challenges. Now is the time for all of us to step up with donations, attendance, road attendance,..
7) Reach out to BC. Offer to play in all sports. If they aren't ready for football, offer men's and women's basketball. That would be hard for them to decline.
8) Focus on hiring a top notch AD with great contacts in college athletics to lead us into the future. Maybe Prendergast is the right person, maybe not. If Prendergast isn't the right guy, keep him as our chief fundraiser for the investments we need to do.

Finally, my most controversial recommendation of all. Increase the capacity of The Rent to 50k to 60k. With Michigan and Tennessee coming in to play and possibly others, we can sell out the stadium for some games. If we are committed to joining the Big Boys, you might as well increase the size of the stadium now. Reduce ticket prices for the worst seats. Increase student attendance. Interest rates are low and construction firms are looking for work. Politicians want to increase jobs, well here it is. Now is the time to do it.

Dammit, we are UConn! Now is the time to raise our game and move forward!

Great post. I would recommend that your "most controversial" remendation become the new #1 recommendation. UConn has not been attractive in all this raiding because it's football program is viewed as . . . kinda tiny?
 
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