Why keep football ?

[Rangers]

This is the worst sports team I have ever rooted for, and I'm a Baltimore Orioles fan. Edsall is to blame for such an inept defense. He could have hit the JC route Early and HARD like Jim Calhoun did in his early years here. Me and 10 of my fellow 1983 Uconn graduates could score off of this group of bums...Geeez

 

[whaler11]

To borrow a phrase from Fishy himself.

If you don’t think that eliminating the football team is going to be considered a legitimate option at some point in the future you are whistling past the graveyard because you don’t understand the depths of the state’s budget issues.

Nobody in the country is losing this much money playing sports. As the state’s contribution to UConn heads towards zero everything is going to be on the table.

The school is going to have to completely retrench - the gravy train is dead.

 

[huskyrob1]

Yeah MBB-only fans are pretty vocal about their anger towards the football program/desire for it to implode in a blazing inferno

That won't happen, but I still hate them. Most are pompous short sighted a ...holes.

 

[LoyalFanCT]

Before declaring the death of UConn football. just check the major research public universities. With few exceptions their teams are in the FBS division. They play bowl games. The teams also help create a unifying culture and popular image for the universities. This is not the only reason to keep a FBS program. But it is one I hope the politicians in CT do not forget.

 

[UCFBfan]

We are more likely to be kicked out of the AAC then anything else at this point. Football program is lost , I am not sure you could get a blind kid to play on this team in the future. The conference isn't that bad and we can barely recruit div 2 players at this point. The bear loss to Rhode island proved that.

This is why the football board needs to be locked for about 24 hours after a loss. You all need to have the alcohol wear off so you don't post stupid things like this. No one is kicking UConn out and while it seems impossible now, this team will turn around and be decent in a year or two.

Many programs have gone through something similar and survived. SMU almost went winless and I believe UCF did too.

Things will get brighter in the future. Maybe not this season but we'll see it.

 

[60'sfan]

The perception of the media and some UConn hoop fans is that simply dropping football and heading back to the Big East would somehow cure everything.

It's as if being a bad team at this moment in time is an utterly incurable condition for just this one school.

Spoilers - we're not dropping football. We've had a football team since like 1895. We're not dropping to FCS and heading to the Big East unless one of you has $10,000,000 and the remains of Memorial in your back pocket.

Just endure it. It's not like it can get worse. (I hope.)

Actually it could get worse. Uconn is 164 out of 256 college football teams according to the latest Sagarin ratings. I am a sports fan but I am big on return on investment. For the investment that has been put into Uconn football the return is abysmal. I'll admit that I don't follow Uconn football, but has anyone even heard of any top recruit considering coming to Uconn. Is there any reason to have hope?

 

[metsfan2323]

I'll admit that I don't follow Uconn football, but has anyone even heard of any top recruit considering coming to Uconn. Is there any reason to have hope?

Yes there were several high quality recruits with other P5 offers that committed to us just last year.

The reason for hope is that we are one of the youngest teams in FBS with a coach who has won here before. We have looked bad because we start so many Freshman and Sophomores and the previous head coach could not recruit at all. We also have had bad luck in that we have statistically faced the 5th most difficult schedule in all of FBS this year.

 

[Ewekon]

Schools that are able to skate by being horrible year after year aren’t paying rent on their stadium and not getting parking/concession money.

Oh. Is that why it was called "The Rent"?

But seriously. You have to remember we had a Governor who was duped into believing a 75,000 seat stadium for the Patriots would be built and shared by the school.

That could have been a game changer for recruiting and re alignment inclusion. Alas, it was a sham.

 

[Husk1881]

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find more than a few students who want a successful UConn football team more than they'd like to stop subsidizing the program 4 digits a year

I’m still a student and many of us want just average football. No one is gonna waste 4 hours of their Saturday to watch the team get smacked around by a team no one cares about

 

[BugsyCT]

You realize that we're playing just about ALL underclassmen on defense, don't you? Look at the depth chart. Loaded with freshmen. There's maybe 1-2 seniors sprinkled in there playing backup. Not like we have a surplus of veterans or JUCOs waiting on the sidelines to stop the bleeding. As much as it sucks and is torture to watch, this is what we have right now. It's no wonder the other teams put up basketball scores.

 

[mike012]

So your saying we are the equivalent of the 1989 Dallas Cowboys and we will go on to win titles in 4 years when they all become seniors........

 

[StepbackCity]

First off, it’s like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play. Secondly, when did this civil war of MBB vs Football fans come around? If your mad that MBB fans are saying football is a lost cause, then you gotta be nuts since no in the world can see the direction the program is going. “Edsall just needs his guys”, who in the world would want to come play here if they are actually good?

 

[metsfan2323]

First off, it’s like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play. Secondly, when did this civil war of MBB vs Football fans come around? If your mad that MBB fans are saying football is a lost cause, then you gotta be nuts since no in the world can see the direction the program is going. “Edsall just needs his guys”, who in the world would want to come play here if they are actually good?

Over the past 4 years there have been two groups of basketball fans, those that said the conference was killing basketball and those that said Ollie was killing basketball. It's still too early to make a final call here, but those of us that said it was Ollie and not the conference are looking pretty good right now, real good, it actually looks like a landslide so far. I've got my sunglasses on.

 

[StepbackCity]

Over the past 4 years there have been two groups of basketball fans, those that said the conference was killing basketball and those that said Ollie was killing basketball. It's still too early to make a final call here, but those of us that said it was Ollie and not the conference are looking pretty good right now, real good, it actually looks like a landslide so far. I've got my sunglasses on.

I’m part of that group too. But the conference certainly has an affect though, no denying that.

 

[minidarren]

56, 62, 49, 51, and 49. This is what we've given up in 5 games this year.

Eventually the other team stops trying to score and puts their subs in. It's hard to get worse than that.

So you're saying we've gotten better? Great success!

 

[BugsyCT]

So your saying we've gotten better? Great success!

Where did I say that?

 

[Carnac]

Don’t throw in the towel just yet. Not until you exaust all of your options. At present, UConn’s football program resembles a dumpster fire.

Since nothing else has worked, why not humble yourself, and simply follow the format that UCF uses. They are having unparalleled success. Stop scratching your head trying to figure it out. Their format is a proven winner. UConn football can only improve, I doubt it can get any worse.

Losing big is bad enough, but you’re doing it on national TV for the entire country to see. Something has got to change. We all know the definition of insanity.............Take the “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore “ approach. Enough is enough!!!
Turn this thing around.

C’mon UConn, you’re better than this.

 

[JMick]

Don’t throw in the towel just yet. Not until you exaust all of your options. At present, UConn’s football program resembles a dumpster fire.

Since nothing else has worked, why not humble yourself, and simply follow the format that UCF uses. They are having unparalleled success. Stop scratching your head trying to figure it out. Their format is a proven winner. UConn football can only improve, I doubt it can get any worse.

Losing big is bad enough, but you’re doing it on national TV for the entire country to see. Something has got to change. We all know the definition of insanity...Take the “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore “ approach. Enough is enough!!!
Turn this thing around.

C’mon UConn, you’re better than this.

the UCF model? Would you like us to move the school to Florida or another fertile recruiting ground?

 

[metsfan2323]

the UCF model? Would you like us to move the school to Florida or another fertile recruiting ground?

That school from the fertile recruiting grounds of Florida was 0 - 12 just three years ago. Some school named UCONN beat them 40 -13. I bet they are glad they didn't give up football.

 

[UConnNick]

Actually it could get worse. Uconn is 164 out of 256 college football teams according to the latest Sagarin ratings. I am a sports fan but I am big on return on investment. For the investment that has been put into Uconn football the return is abysmal. I'll admit that I don't follow Uconn football, but has anyone even heard of any top recruit considering coming to Uconn. Is there any reason to have hope?

That's difficult to accurately quantify. Who knows what donors may have contributed to academics since the program became 1-A that may have been due to football?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

SMU/Memphis/UCSF not applicable to our situations.

They get players who were overlooked by Texas, Tennessee, FSU.

We get players who only have other offers from Colgate and Army.

 

[J187Money]

Listen - when P was here we had a top 20 defense (with Don Brown) and the worst offense in the country.

We now have the 67th ranked offense (by yards) and the worst defense in the country.

I have no illusion we will be a top 25 program soon - but we are not a long way off from having a respectable program - we are playing a ton of freshmen.

 

[metsfan2323]

Listen - when P was here we had a top 20 defense (with Don Brown) and the worst offense in the country.

We now have the 67th ranked offense (by yards) and the worst defense in the country.

I have no illusion we will be a top 25 program soon - but we are not a long way off from having a respectable program - we are playing a ton of freshmen.

I love the potential of our young front 4 on defense. Kivon Jones also looks like a player and we have a top JUCO LB coming in next year. The potential is there to be very good.

 

[Dooley]

I just love these post-loss threads.

Once again (again and again and again), dropping football and moving hoops to another conference would apply the following exit fee terms/conditions:

1. $10M exit fee;
2. 27 month waiting period (can be negotiated down to 12 months for additional $1M-$2M minimum)...meaning we're looking at an exit fee around $12M to leave within 12 months.

I know losing games is tough to swallow, especially in the non-competitive manner that we lose 'em. But please remember that swapping conferences is far more complicated and would bring a very real, long-term consequence to our AD/school.

If you don't want to watch or attend games until we start winning again, fine. That's your money and your time/energy. Nobody would find fault in anyone not wanting to devote 4-8 hours on game days + $50/person to go watch us lose by 50 points to teams we used to be competitive against. I went down with the Whalers and saw the same thing happen to them. I got it then as a kid and I get it now as an adult. What I don't get is why UConn fans have to go that extra "drop football" step that literally no other fanbase went during their programs' tough patches.

The Old Money Club of college football is the Old Money Club because they've all endured these rough patches and survived. It stinks that football and not basketball has dictated what school/AD is paid obnoxious money and what school/ADs isn't. If it were the opposite, UConn would be entering their 10th season as a full member of the ACC here in 2018. But here we are - we're in our program's extreme rough patch that every Old Money CFB Club member had to endure 50-100 years ago. Hopefully, Edsall will be able to rebuild this program to where it was in 2010 but it will take several years. Several years. Let me say it again: several years. So tap out for a while if you want - nobody will think anything bad about you. When the programs begins to win again in several years, you will be welcomed back with open arms.

We're not dropping football. Ever. The sooner you guys/gals can wrap your heads around this, the better. Again, nobody will blame you if you decide to tap out of UConn football while we're this historically bad. But these types of threads and wailing does absolutely nothing to help anything in the program, the school, or the state. Unless you have $10M-$12M in your couch cushions, just back quietly out of UConn football while it's being rebuilt. No need to start yet another one of these tired threads about a tired concept that the Old Money Club and our geographic r1vals (BC, RU, Fruit, Pitt, etc) would LOVE to have happen - UConn tapping out of major competitive college sports.

 

[NowInStorrs]

I just love these post-loss threads.

Once again (again and again and again), dropping football and moving hoops to another conference would apply the following exit fee terms/conditions:

1. $10M exit fee;
2. 27 month waiting period (can be negotiated down to 12 months for additional $1M-$2M minimum)...meaning we're looking at an exit fee around $12M to leave within 12 months.

I know losing games is tough to swallow, especially in the non-competitive manner that we lose 'em. But please remember that swapping conferences is far more complicated and would bring a very real, long-term consequence to our AD/school.

If you don't want to watch or attend games until we start winning again, fine. That's your money and your time/energy. Nobody would find fault in anyone not wanting to devote 7-8 hours on game days + $50/person to go watch us lose by 50 points to teams we used to be competitive against. I went down with the Whalers and saw the same thing happen to them. I got it then as a kid and I get it now as an adult. What I don't get is why UConn fans have to go that extra "drop football" step that literally no other fanbase went during their programs' tough patches.

The Old Money Club of college football is the Old Money Club because they've all endured these rough patches and survived. It stinks that football and not basketball has dictated what school/AD is paid obnoxious money and what school/ADs don't. If it were the opposite, UConn would likely be entering their 10th season as a full member of the ACC here in 2018. So here we are - we're in our program's extreme rough patch that every Old Money CFB Club member had to endure 50-100 years ago. Hopefully, Edsall will be able to rebuild this program to where it was in 2010 but it will take several years. Several years. Let me say it again, several years. So tap out for a while if you want - nobody will think anything bad about you. When the programs begins to win again in several years, you will be welcomed back with open arms.

We're not dropping football. Ever. The sooner you guys/gals can wrap your heads around this, the better. Again, nobody will blame you if you decide to tap out of UConn football while we're this historically bad. But these types of threads and wailing does absolutely nothing to help anything in the program, the school, or the state. Unless you have $10M-$12M in your couch cushions, just tap quietly out of UConn football while it's being rebuilt. No need to start yet another one of these tired threads about a tired concept that the Old Money Club and our geographic r1vals (BC, RU, Fruit, Pitt, etc) would LOVE to have happen - UConn tapping out of major competitive college sports.

I only regret that I have but one like to give for this post.