Where would you like to see UConn be in football?

[Guapo]

UConn football has several problems, but the biggest is the collapse of youth football in the state. How many Connecticut towns have combined teams with other towns just to field a high school football team? How many more will do that in the next 10 years. Where are the Orlovskys and Lutruses and Krugs? These guys were high D1 level talent out of Connecticut, and helped make UConn competitive in football very quickly after UConn upgraded 20 years ago. How much more talent back then came from surrounding states that are going through similar collapses in high school football in the late 2010s?

Every team that rises up is at least partially dependent on getting something from its local recruiting area, and UConn leaned pretty heavily on it the first time around. I don't see that working for UConn again given the decline in high school football in the region.

This is a problem for Syracuse and BC too. College football programs are going to be increasingly dependent on recruiting a shrinking number of states as youth football participation continues to drop in the northeast and west.

That’s a threat to the sport as a whole, for sure.

But, specifically to UConn, they’ve never relied on in-state talent.

First-term Edsall avoided Connecticut high school football coaches likes the plague

 

[nelsonmuntz]

That’s a threat to the sport as a whole, for sure.

But, specifically to UConn, they’ve never relied on in-state talent.

First-term Edsall avoided Connecticut high school football coaches likes the plague

We absolutely relied on Connecticut talent in the early days, along with players from New York, Mass, and other states in the area. The 2004 class alone had Branch, Daleston, Mclean, Deon Anderson, Dewar, Hernandez, Lunn from CT or the surrounding states. That was probably Edsall's best class ever. Hurd and Dan Ryan were from CT. Lutrus who I mentioned before. Kendall Reyes was from New Hampshire. Trevardo Williams was from Bridgeport. Fincher was from Mass.

These were high level D1 players that helped get UConn ranked within a few years of upgrading, and were enabling us to beat teams like South Carolina and Notre Dame.

Most of them weren't even the top players from the state, but back then Connecticut was producing enough talent that we didn't need to get the #1 recruit from Connecticut to still get a nice haul from the state. Those days are over. And New York and New England are trending the same way.

 

[Pudge]

Knock knock

In one moment in a recent home game, I counted 7 Connecticut kids playing defense. In my anecdotal view, neither Indiana or Illinois was replete with InState either - on their entire roster scholarship & walk on.

My view - I grew up in NY & life in NY today - is Connecticut is a good football State. Only slices of greater Boston have a more community football sense, in New England, than good swath of CT. Certainly upstate NY doesn’t. Not LI.

That still makes Bigtime Football a struggle. For whaler11, we ain’t dropping CFB at UConn. Not FCS either. We have to find a sweet spot; we did correctly choose to prioritize our Brand with the BE move. As someone who’s watched Institutions deal with late millennial and the last decades transition on space ... and then reinvest ... I don’t see a modern University walking away from this significant investment. There’s gonna be a UConn Program.

Water Polo? For a second, I thought I was back visiting my cousins in Long Beach CA.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Knock knock

In one moment in a recent home game, I counted 7 Connecticut kids playing defense. In my anecdotal view, neither Indiana or Illinois was replete with InState either - on their entire roster scholarship & walk on.

My view - I grew up in NY & life in NY today - is Connecticut is a good football State. Only slices of greater Boston have a more community football sense, in New England, than good swath of CT. Certainly upstate NY doesn’t. Not LI.

That still makes Bigtime Football a struggle. For whaler11, we ain’t dropping CFB at UConn. Not FCS either. We have to find a sweet spot; we did correctly choose to prioritize our Brand with the BE move. As someone who’s watched Institutions deal with late millennial and the last decades transition on space ... and then reinvest ... I don’t see a modern University walking away from this significant investment. There’s gonna be a UConn Program.

Water Polo? For a second, I thought I was back visiting my cousins in Long Beach CA.

2001 Connecticut was a solid state for finding a few high level D1 caliber talents.

2019 Connecticut is not.

 

[noeynox]

lol yeah... at least she liked duke lacrosse. this guy dreams of being mark spitz

Ugh. I'm hoping he's at least the guy who put into motion going back to the Big East to break the death spiral. What's this about Spitz? Lacrosse, is there a snootier sport than that?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Penn St’s second string QB from Madison had two TDs last night

 

[Guapo]

2001 Connecticut was a solid state for finding a few high level D1 caliber talents.

2019 Connecticut is not.

Eh, the top 7 recruits are all going to one of Michigan, Clemson or Penn State.

That sounds high enough caliber to me.

2019 Top Football Recruits in Connecticut

The 247Sports rankings are determined by our recruiting analysts after countless hours of personal observations, film evaluation and input from our network of scouts.

247sports.com

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Eh, the top 7 recruits are all going to one of Michigan, Clemson or Penn State.

That sounds high enough caliber to me.

Michigan’s obsession with NJ has definitely crept up into CT.

 

[noeynox]

2001 Connecticut was a solid state for finding a few high level D1 caliber talents.

2019 Connecticut is not.

I think you're overstating this. On this current team some of the major contributors are Travis Jones, Kevon Jones, Omar Fortt and Dillon Harris. Surrounding states has guys like Peart and Van deMark. Yes the team isn't good yet, but if there was a guy who neglected CT it was Diaco. He'd go into NJ and load up on a bunch of guys with Bucknell offers.

 

[Guapo]

Michigan’s obsession with NJ has definitely crept up into CT.

I can almost guarantee Harbaugh is a Bon Jovi fan

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I can almost guarantee Harbaugh is a Bon Jovi fan

Can’t sell out stadiums if you stink!

Sadly same goes for football teams.

 

[noeynox]

Michigan’s obsession with NJ has definitely crept up into CT.

It's Don Brown knowing the caliber of player in the state.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Eh, the top 7 recruits are all going to one of Michigan, Clemson or Penn State.

That sounds high enough caliber to me.

UConn was never getting those top tier players, not in 2019, not in 2006. We were getting the next tier down, and that tier was still pretty good in New England and New York. That next tier doesn't exist anymore.

You are arguing for the sake of arguing. Do you really think that recruiting in the northeast will get better as fewer kids play football?

 

[Purple Stein]

2001 Connecticut was a solid state for finding a few high level D1 caliber talents.

2019 Connecticut is not.

What are you talking about? Top 5 CT recruit destinations, past 5 years:

2015: Clemson, UCLA, BC, BC, Penn St
2016: Duke, Stanford, TCU, Wisconsin, Temple
2017: Michigan, Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan, BC
2018: Alabama, Penn State, Michigan, Nebraska, Wake Forest
2019: Michigan, Penn State, Penn State, Clemson, Michigan,

Granted, most of these kids are at privates. But the idea that there aren't high level DI football players at Connecticut high schools is crazy-go-nuts.

 

[whaler11]

michigan cleans up recruting these prep kids and sucks out loud...

 

[Guapo]

UConn was never getting those top tier players, not in 2019, not in 2006. We were getting the next tier down, and that tier was still pretty good in New England and New York. That next tier doesn't exist anymore.

You are arguing for the sake of arguing. Do you really think that recruiting in the northeast will get better as fewer kids play football?

My argument, actually, is kinda the opposite.

There’s never been a recruiting base large enough in the northeast to sustain UConn’s football program.

That’s why we should install the triple option

{yes I hate myself as much as y’all probably hate me, but it really is the conclusion I keep coming back to!}

 

[metsfan2323]

My argument, actually, is kinda the opposite.

There’s never been a recruiting base large enough in the northeast to sustain UConn’s football program.

That’s why we should install the triple option

{yes I hate myself as much as y’all probably hate me, but it really is the conclusion I keep coming back to!}

Don't hate yourself, it's not a crazy idea as there is some sound logic behind it. It would be tough to do it as an independent because it would make scheduling even more difficult as coaches would prefer not to have to prepare for it.

It's infuriating that we had a runner like Pindell last year and did not run any pitch option plays. GA State used it on occasion to beat Tennessee. We need to be more creative on offense to overcome our lack of talent. Everything should be on the table.