Why keep football ?

[dwalks93]

Many of the UConn men's basketball fans erroneously believe our several years of sub-par basketball is due to our current conference affiliation. In turn, these men's basketball fans then blame UConn being in the American conference on the UConn football program.

Football did kill the old Big East....not UConn football but ACC football, Big10 Football, and Big 12 football. At the time of the last realignment UConn football was actually respectable but we got passed over....the football disaster we have today occurred after the ACC destroyed the Big East. Ending our football program now won't bring back the "old world order" of the Big East.

UConn's football woes and men's basketball woes are largely self inflicted. Its not because of the conference but more because of bad hires and lack of investment in coaching. Sometimes it is easier to blame other factors than to look in the mirror. Basketball fans can hate football all they want but it is not going to change the college athletic landscape and there is no opting out.

There is no going back now because there is nothing to go back to....money and football insured that. To quote Winston Churchill "if you are going through hell, keep going." It can't get worse for our football program and Edsall deserves 4 years to turn it around. There is no other option.

As for the Op, sometimes it is better to suffer in silence...I understand the frustration (believe me, I had to walk out of the room multiple times in the game yesterday) but this is like a knife fight in an elevator....we are going to keep getting cut and there is no getting out. Fixing football is a multiple year slash fest.

 

[WhiteDressWes]

What boggles my mind in the investment in sports that don't matter. I.E. everything except football and men's hoops.

The subsidy is only going to get bigger and bigger while we continue to invest in softball fields.

I guess I missed the info on what the state donates to the athletic program. Thought that student fees, which includes intramurals, student exercise facilities, etc, is the only thing propping up the AD. If I'm wrong, please show some documentation. thanks.

 

[Dooley]

Many of the UConn men's basketball fans erroneously believe our several years of sub-par basketball is due to our current conference affiliation. In turn, these men's basketball fans then blame UConn being in the American conference on the UConn football program.

Football did kill the old Big East....not UConn football but ACC football, Big10 Football, and Big 12 football. At the time of the last realignment UConn football was actually respectable but we got passed over....the football disaster we have today occurred after the ACC destroyed the Big East. Ending our football program now won't bring back the "old world order" of the Big East.

UConn's football woes and men's basketball woes are largely self inflicted. Its not because of the conference but more because of bad hires and lack of investment in coaching. Sometimes it is easier to blame other factors than to look in the mirror. Basketball fans can hate football all they want but it is not going to change the college athletic landscape and there is no opting out.

There is no going back now because there is nothing to go back to....money and football insured that. To quote Winston Churchill "if you are going through hell, keep going." It can't get worse for our football program and Edsall deserves 4 years to turn it around. There is no other option.

As for the Op, sometimes it is better to suffer in silence...I understand the frustration (believe me, I had to walk out of the room multiple times in the game yesterday) but this is like a knife fight in an elevator....we are going to keep getting cut and there is no getting out. Fixing football is a multiple year slash fest.

Well said; every word.

 

[gtcam]

Look, I follow both sports but enjoy football better. I'm tired of the conference complaint from the basketball side. If it's such a bad conference, how come we've never won it in the regular season and needed a Jalen Adams miracle to go on and win the conference tournament once. Until UConn is dominating the AAC in bball, I don't want to hear about how it's hurting us. If we can't win in our current conference, what makes any of you think we'd be anywhere close to competitive in the Big East?

Because it hurts recruiting - it effects basketball much deeper that football because of the numbers

 

[hthusky74]

Is there any reason to?
A last ditch hope at conference realignment in 2020something?
Please.
We are the worst program in FBS. Have been and will continue to be.
Men’s basketball will be okay under Hurley but y’all don’t care because your football fans and for some dumb reason you can’t cheer for UConn football and UConn basketball.
No conference wants to pick a university whose greateast recent accomplishment is a final four loss in women’s hoops.
I never even considered cutting football or going FCS/Big East until today. Play the games at GD Dunkin Donuts Park for all it matters as this week the AD made it clear the sole purpose of UConn sports is staving off bankruptcy for Hartford.

We can’t even compete vs so~so teams from our own conference and never will be able to as we can’t draw in any half decent recruits. Maybe in three years this team will be ready. Hopefully in three years I can focus on keeping my yard in shape during Autumn Saturdays.

Seven years ago we were in the Fiesta Bowl. Since then we have had a couple of piss poor coaches. One hopes that in four years when all the players are Edsall's recruits we will start seeing improvement. How soon some people forget.

 

[Brochacho]

Seven years ago we were in the Fiesta Bowl. Since then we have had a couple of piss poor coaches. One hopes that in four years when all the players are Edsall's recruits we will start seeing improvement. How soon some people forget.

The worst BCS team of all time, some seem to forget. We would've been in the Bad Boy Mowers' Gasparillo Bowl if we didn't play in a league with an auto-bid.

 

[champs99and04]

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.

The conference definitely played a role. How much? Who knows. Would playing in the Big East have been enough to swing a player like Waters or Diallo? What about Abu? There are a bunch of players who chose to go elsewhere - even before the wheels began to fall off the Ollie train - for a bunch of different reasons. I don't think the conference was the biggest reason, but it was one of them.

Point being, it's still an obstacle. Good coaches like Hurley can overcome obstacles, but when you pile enough of them on top of each other, it's worth asking yourself what level of performance is going to be acceptable. We won the AAC Tournament and reached the round of 32 in 2016, and it was considered a disappointment by most people. The level of recruit Hurley's brought in thus far aligns with that as a baseline expectation. After a while, people will start to wonder what he could accomplish - especially since he's focused his recruiting efforts in the Northeast - in a Northeast based league.

It'd be hard to coach worse than Ollie did these last two years. However, swapping drivers might not make all the difference when the car is still fit to the first guy. To some end, it seems like the Hurley hire was made with an eye towards an entirely different future than the one they envisioned four years ago at this time. That doesn't mean they want to pull the plug on football, just that, if they have to, they're prepared to do so in a way that's congruent to their personnel.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

If the end goal is still P5, then ECSU can't be outclassing us when it comes to facilities in any sport.

We have literally the most dominant program of all time in NCAA sports in women's basketball, and nationally regarded soccer, baseball, and field hockey programs. It's all about football and market for football and men's basketball. It just is what it is.

You can just as easily make the case that it doesn't make sense to continually pour money into programs that continually piss it away by being an embarrassment on the field.

If football doesn't improve to to the point that it keeps our athletics department relevant at a national level, the non revenue sports may not have a future at all.

I guess I missed the info on what the state donates to the athletic program. Thought that student fees, which includes intramurals, student exercise facilities, etc, is the only thing propping up the AD. If I'm wrong, please show some documentation. thanks.

I'm fairly certain we are running about a $40M subsidy which is primarily covered by student fees. It's just hard for me to see how the school is going to continually invest in the non-revenue programs, knowing that even at their best, the school takes a loss and is asking the student body to cover it.

What further monetary investment would you like to see in the football facilities that will yield a meaningful difference in on the field results? We could build the Taj Mahal on campus and it wouldn't make a difference from where we are now.

At this point, Randy is our main guy for better or for worse, but what about breaking the bank for a new DC come the off season, or increasing the recruiting budget, or literally anything else that could be updated with our facilities.

 

[Woof 101]

In response to the OP with no malice or personal attack.

I get the frustration and anguish over our situation but the call to abolish football is simply silly. This much like the calls back when some of the so called fan base wanted UConn BB to go back to The Yankee Conference while languishing in the cellar of The Big East. Along came JC.........

Not willing to support the team in a very challenging situation is simply the mindset of losers and quitters. Nobody forces anybody to attend or watch games, those that choose should stay home and mow their lawn on Saturday.

Let the rest of us enjoy the tailgating, family camaraderie, meeting new friends and former players. That and the UCMB and their show. We are in tough times but nothing that can not be changed down the road. A game loss is not a very gratifying experience but in the big picture still better than no game at all.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

In response to the OP with no malice or personal attack.

I get the frustration and anguish over our situation but the call to abolish football is simply silly. This much like the calls back when some of the so called fan base wanted UConn BB to go back to The Yankee Conference while languishing in the cellar of The Big East. Along came JC....

Not willing to support the team in a very challenging situation is simply the mindset of losers and quitters. Nobody forces anybody to attend or watch games, those that choose should stay home and mow their lawn on Saturday.

Let the rest of us enjoy the tailgating, family camaraderie, meeting new friends and former players. That and the UCMB and their show. We are in tough times but nothing that can not be changed down the road. A game loss is not a very gratifying experience but in the big picture still better than no game at all.

Sad thing is I feel like if I cared less I could still go enjoy it but I’m too emotionally invested to just sit there and watch them rot.

 

[Waquoit]

The worst BCS team of all time, some seem to forget. We would've been in the Bad Boy Mowers' Gasparillo Bowl if we didn't play in a league with an auto-bid.

Not true. We would have won the Orange Bowl that year if we got in.

 

[whaler11]

In response to the OP with no malice or personal attack.

I get the frustration and anguish over our situation but the call to abolish football is simply silly. This much like the calls back when some of the so called fan base wanted UConn BB to go back to The Yankee Conference while languishing in the cellar of The Big East. Along came JC....

Not willing to support the team in a very challenging situation is simply the mindset of losers and quitters. Nobody forces anybody to attend or watch games, those that choose should stay home and mow their lawn on Saturday.

Let the rest of us enjoy the tailgating, family camaraderie, meeting new friends and former players. That and the UCMB and their show. We are in tough times but nothing that can not be changed down the road. A game loss is not a very gratifying experience but in the big picture still better than no game at all.

Tell it to the kids borrowing money to pay for it.

 

[huskymedic]

I'm fairly certain we are running about a $40M subsidy which is primarily covered by student fees. It's just hard for me to see how the school is going to continually invest in the non-revenue programs, knowing that even at their best, the school takes a loss and is asking the student body to cover it.

Of the $40m subsidy - I’m believe “only” $8.5m +/- comes from student fees.

 

[whaler11]

Of the $40m subsidy - I’m believe “only” $8.5m +/- comes from student fees.

It doesn’t really matter how you account for it. The students essentially cover it all because that money would be used for other things if it wasn’t dropped into a black hole.

 

[huskymedic]

It doesn’t really matter how you account for it. The students essentially cover it all because that money would be used for other things if it wasn’t dropped into a black hole.

I don’t disagree. As you well know through your real world, the numbers can be spun whatever direction is needed by the storyteller.

https://senate.uconn.edu/wp-content...Senate-UBC-Report-on-AD-Subsidy-to-Senate.pdf

Pages 2, 12-18 are the interesting ones. I know a lot of people here have seen this but there may be some who haven’t.

 

[RSTuthill]

2022. UConn plays on New Years Day.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I don’t disagree. As you well know through your real world, the numbers can be spun whatever direction is needed by the storyteller.

https://senate.uconn.edu/wp-content...Senate-UBC-Report-on-AD-Subsidy-to-Senate.pdf

Pages 2, 12-18 are the interesting ones. I know a lot of people here have seen this but there may be some who haven’t.

Does it ever define exactly what an institutional subsidy is?

At the end of the day, as whaler says, it doesn't matter what it's technically labeled, it's all from one bucket, no matter how your sparse out the many different cups that comprise it.

 

[uconnbill]

Is there any reason to?
A last ditch hope at conference realignment in 2020something?
Please.
We are the worst program in FBS. Have been and will continue to be.
Men’s basketball will be okay under Hurley but y’all don’t care because your football fans and for some dumb reason you can’t cheer for UConn football and UConn basketball.
No conference wants to pick a university whose greateast recent accomplishment is a final four loss in women’s hoops.
I never even considered cutting football or going FCS/Big East until today. Play the games at GD Dunkin Donuts Park for all it matters as this week the AD made it clear the sole purpose of UConn sports is staving off bankruptcy for Hartford.

We can’t even compete vs so~so teams from our own conference and never will be able to as we can’t draw in any half decent recruits. Maybe in three years this team will be ready. Hopefully in three years I can focus on keeping my yard in shape during Autumn Saturdays.

NO and NO again. Stick with basketball and leave football to those who love it and love UConn.

So tired of this crap

 

[UConnDan97]

Tough to swallow this game. Or this season. Or this decade, to be quite honest. Truth be told, my son and I left the game with an entire quarter to go, on a beautiful day, and I didn't even feel guilty.

Having said all of that depressing stuff, there are real reasons to have hope for the future. The offensive line is coming together and most of them have multiple years of eligibility, as do the two running backs. The defense mostly has 3 more years of eligibility each. 3 years to get bigger, faster, stronger.

This year will continue to be brutal, but there are real reasons to believe that we are looking at the dawn, not the dusk...

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

In the imagination of the basketball-only fan, here's what happens when you drop football:

A time machine appears and you're whisked right back to the halcyon days of the Big East, battling it out with the likes of Georgetown, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Villanova. Hurley can finally recruit again and they are right back to winning national titles without the embarrassment of UConn Football, which probably plays in Memorial Field again against Holy Cross or whatever.

The reality is something like:

After negotiating a financially crippling exit from the AAC, UConn enters the Big East, reviving great rivalries like Villanova, St. John's, Georgetown and, uh, I guess Xavier is good? And Creighton? Oh cool Butler is here too.

Luckily, the money and ratings are pretty dismal for the Big East cause it's on Fox Sports, but hey, at least the NCAA keeps most of the money from the extremely lucrative tournament.

Meanwhile terrible football schools in the SEC are making a cool $40 million but it's fine cause you don't get the channel to see us play DePaul anyway.

 

[Kemba429]

For the boys

 

[metsfan2323]

In the imagination of the basketball-only fan, here's what happens when you drop football:

A time machine appears and you're whisked right back to the halcyon days of the Big East, battling it out with the likes of Georgetown, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Villanova. Hurley can finally recruit again and they are right back to winning national titles without the embarrassment of UConn Football, which probably plays in Memorial Field again against Holy Cross or whatever.

The reality is something like:

After negotiating a financially crippling exit from the AAC, UConn enters the Big East, reviving great rivalries like Villanova, St. John's, Georgetown and, uh, I guess Xavier is good? And Creighton? Oh cool Butler is here too.

Luckily, the money and ratings are pretty dismal for the Big East cause it's on Fox Sports, but hey, at least the NCAA keeps most of the money from the extremely lucrative tournament.

Meanwhile terrible football schools in the SEC are making a cool $40 million but it's fine cause you don't get the channel to see us play DePaul anyway.

Yup, some want the battle cry for UCONN sports to become "We are St John's"

 

[whaler11]

That Mississippi State gets paid to have a football team doesn’t really enter the calculus here.

I’d hate to make a financially crippling deal - that would really hamstring us going forward. I wonder what washed up football coach is going to work for peanuts next.

 

[huskymedic]

Does it ever define exactly what an institutional subsidy is?

From a 2015 Daily Campus article when the student fee piece was $1.9m higher than now:

“According to the documents, which were provided by the Huffington Post, almost $10 million from student fees goes toward athletics every year. This represents nearly 30 percent of the General University Fee, a $2,882 expense that every full-time UConn student pays. This amounts to almost $3,500 going towards athletics per student over four years at UConn.

Student Health Services is the only other part of campus to receive as much of the General University Fee. The remaining 40 percent is divided among 10 other services such as the Student Union, Student Activities and Parking and Transportation, according to a breakdown from the Bursar’s Office.

Institutional funding to athletics is paid out of money UConn receives from what Jordan called auxiliary expenses, or funds that are not associated with tuition or academics.<<

I agree that all budgets can be smoke and mirrors especially with back office allocations.

 

[huskyrob1]

It doesn’t really matter how you account for it. The students essentially cover it all because that money would be used for other things if it wasn’t dropped into a black hole.

I don't think anyone cares about this except you and Medic and one or two other Boneyard regulars. So what if student fees support UConn athletics, and I really don't see students or their parents caring too much about it. UConn had 40,000 new student applications last spring, the vast majority were turned away and were told to get back in line. A sizeable amount are from out of state as well, kids want to come here, plain and simple. I don't think they would care one bit if asked to pay a little extra to help support athletics, both revenue and non-revenue sports.

 

[whaler11]

I don't think anyone cares about this except you and Medic and one or two other Boneyard regulars. So what if student fees support UConn athletics, and I really don't see students or their parents caring too much about it. UConn had 40,000 new student applications last spring, the vast majority were turned away and were told to get back in line. I don't think they would care one bit if asked to pay a little extra to help support athletics, both revenue and non-revenue sports.

It’s almost like you have to consider what the next state budget will look like. Then when the school is making massive cuts and raising tuition at the same time - what will probably be $50 million a year might come under some more scruitiny from the people paying it.

But since non-students from out of state who post on a sports message board don’t care - I bet no one else does either...

 

[billybud]

Not true. We would have won the Orange Bowl that year if we got in.

Not so sure about that...

The Huskies finished 8-5 and shared the BE title with WVU and Pitt... beaten by 28 points in the Fiesta. UConn, in season, had been blanked 26-0 by Louisville and had lost to Temple and Rutgers.

In the Orange they would have played Stanford...whose only loss was to the eventual BCS champion.

 

[UConnFranklin]

I feel like @Dream Jobbed 2.0 is blackout right now and in a dark place.

UConn football will rise again. Hang in there. I'm having trouble believing, too. Boneyarders stick together in these tough times.

I truly believe this. UConn football will rise again, just as our basketball will rise again. All schools go through ups and downs. I remember when North Carolina basketball went through a long dry spell for 5 or 6 years after Dean Smith retired.

I've been around long enough to remember this very same type of "give up attitude", "get out of the Big East" attitude with our Men's basketball program. "We're out of our league", "We need to go back to the Yankee Conference". Throughout the late 70's and 80's it looked like UConn could never compete with the rest of the Big East. We were the laughing stock of the league. Fans were not turning out for games in the Civic Center. Then the roof collapsed and we played home games in the New Haven Arena. Almost no fans in the stands. But with one great hire it was turned around!

Have faith in the football program! It will rise again! With the poor coaching hires after RE.1 even Urban Meyers would have difficulty bringing this program back. The cupboard was empty. I don't think Diaco or Pasqualoni ever got a recruiting class ranked higher than 96th. Edsall's last class ranked 86th I believe and it will get better.

Like the stock market, you don't sell when it is low, you buy!! Now is the time to buy into the football program. It will return. Have patience!

 

[J187Money]

Some of my thoughts:

- agree that the student fees are high - that might become an issue at some point in time - but probably only if the students organize around it.
- let's go back to the glory days when our 1-AA football team filled the coffers with money. Let's be real - the program always lost money - probably always millions - it is just a matter of degrees
- UCONN will not drop sports when the schools we are competing against for students are offering the same sports. To think that we would drop football completely or drop all non-revenue sports is just foolish.

But the hysteria is entertaining to say the least.

 

[UConnFranklin]

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

"No one cares about"? Shame on you. These are your classmates. They're in your classrooms with you. They at you gatherings. You socialize with them. And you don't care about them? Oh boy what an attitude!