Men - Would Jim Penders leave UConn? Nah… “It’s a Family” | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Men Would Jim Penders leave UConn? Nah… “It’s a Family”

Kemba Time said:
God this is lazy. Not only did Manuel not hire Penders, but UConn also most certainly did not make a Super Regional while Warde was here. UConn went to the supers in 2011 and Manuel came to UConn in Feb. 2012. Warde also seemed pretty content to have UConn baseball play in a glorified HS stadium before AD David Benedict came in and immediately stressed (this was from before he even started the job for example) the need to build facilities that would turn the program into a national power -- then got a stadium built that turned UConn baseball into a national power.

Look, maybe there's some reason we don't know about that Penders would consider another job two years after the school he's called the only place he ever wants to coach over and over built him an absolutely perfect stadium to get him even closer to the one goal he's ever stated for this program -- but it's sure as heck not going to be because Warde Manuel happened to have an office in the same zip code when UConn went to the Blacksburg Regional.
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A stadium didn’t turn UConn baseball into a national power. That’s crazy
But I do agree with you that the reporting is lazy
 
I’m interested to hear if they made any commitment to him. I’d like this not to be an ongoing postseason worry in the future.
 
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CL82 said:
If on the other hand, Dave Benedict wants to continue to have stores Connecticut...
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Stores Connecticut? I suppose the Germans also bombed Pearl Harbor. :p
 
CL82 said:
I’m interested to hear if they made any commitment to him. I’d like this not to be an ongoing postseason worry in the future.
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There's going to be speculation every season going forward as long as the going rate for P5 jobs keeps increasing and Penders continues to win. If we can get somehow get into the P5, then were all good.

Not for nothing, but the BIG EAST needs to get more serious about baseball. It's an absolute joke that a game between Butler and UConn couldn't be broadcast on a Saturday afternoon because Butler didn't have enough staff. And, what's more, having UConn and Creighton play doubleheaders over Easter weekend while the rest of the conference didn't was also not that well received.
 
CL82 said:
I’m interested to hear if they made any commitment to him. I’d like this not to be an ongoing postseason worry in the future.
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Commitment made… kudos to AD Dave!




-> There was a report last week connecting Penders with the opening at Michigan, and he was contacted Saturday, but by then talks with UConn were nearly complete and it went no further. The new contract runs until July 2027 and will pay Penders a $350,000 base salary per year with bonus clauses. Also, Penders’ staff, coaches Jeff Hourigan and Josh MacDonald, got raises. Along with volunteer assistant Chris Podeswa, it’s the longest-tenured staff in NCAA Division I.

“Jim leads the longest-tenured coaching staff in the sport through hard work, dedication, and class,” Benedict said. “And I look forward to Jim, Jeff, Josh and Chris continuing to serve as outstanding role models for the young men who don the ‘Hook C’ for many years to come. The 2022 UConn baseball season was exciting and the future is even brighter with Jim and his staff continuing to lead the program.” <-
 
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F—king love this man. And I love how that quote wasn’t only about getting to Omaha, it’s about winning the whole damn thing. If Penders says it, he believes he can do it, and I trust him to do everything in his power to make it happen.
 



Access to article through side door here <<

-> “You never want to take advantage of his loyalty to the university,” Benedict noted. “Sometimes, the squeaky wheels do get oiled, but Jim’s just not that way. You feel great to reward someone like him that is as committed and loyal to this program, and has achieved a great deal of success.” <-

-> “We wanted to be in a situation where he knew that we wanted to keep him, and we’d do everything we could do to try to retain he and his staff,” Benedict said. “But his value on the open market is probably 2 or 3 (times) what UConn can afford to pay.” <-

-> “Jim never asks for anything, he never makes any excuses for anything,” Benedict said. “He just goes about continuing to try to build and advance his program. If you’re waiting for Jim to ask for something, you’re going to be waiting a long time, because that’s just not his style. He’s driven by wanting to get our baseball program back to the College World Series. Of course people like to be compensated fairly, so that’s what we’re trying to do. I’ve enjoyed every moment of working with Coach and doing anything I can to support he and his staff.” <-
 
Looks like his salary about a 20% increase for Penders.

I honestly believe he’s the best college baseball coach in the country.

We are stealing that guy for $350k. Top coaches are getting about $1m +

Thanks for your commitment coach!
 
Terrific news about Coach Penders, no question about it. No question in my mind that he is a terrific fit for UConn baseball. Hard to imagine UConn baseball at this point without Penders, that's for sure. His ideals have really sunk in and become the center core to the ideals of the baseball program.

One other thing. UConn has a great tradition of some of its ex coaches turning into amazing ambassadors and spokesmen for the school. Dee Rowe and Andy Baylock are prime examples of this. I can certainly see Coach Penders turning into a Dee Rowe role as well after he retires. Of course, to a certain extent he has already become something of a Husky ambassador while he is still active in his UConn coaching career.
 
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Very proud of the program and athletic department today. Good people all around. In an age of mercenaries, great to see that loyalty runs both ways. The kids win by having continuity and top-notch people teaching them the game.
 
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This had to be resolved quickly, otherwise there could have been an impact on recruiting and possible transfers in and out of the program. After all, after the conclusion of the season, the recruiting season for college baseball really kicks into high gear during the summer.
 
dbmill said:
This had to be resolved quickly, otherwise there could have been an impact on recruiting and possible transfers in and out of the program. After all, after the conclusion of the season, the recruiting season for college baseball really kicks into high gear during the summer.
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… and transfer portal deadline of July 1 looming.
 
Probably grasping at straws but does the Penders extension have anything to do with a potential conference upgrade?
 
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Dream Jobbed 2.0 said:
I know they’ve been working on it for a while but so have conferences
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His previous 5 year contract was expiring next year… he would have been a candidate for a number of jobs that were open/becoming open - smart move by UConn to get it done now.

Tying it to conference realignment is a stretch in my mind.
 
Dream Jobbed 2.0 said:
Probably grasping at straws but does the Penders extension have anything to do with a potential conference upgrade?
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huskymedic said:
His previous 5 year contract was expiring next year… he would have been a candidate for a number of jobs that were open/becoming open - smart move by UConn to get it done now.

Tying it to conference realignment is a stretch in my mind.
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I totally agree with @huskymedic on this. I would say the new Penders contract is more due to the amazing success he has had at a northeastern school over the last 10+ years, which led to the interest that other schools such as Michigan were and are starting to show in him. If you don't upgrade his contract, there is a decent chance Coach Penders could have disappeared from UConn. Just don't see how it really ties into conference realignment. If you want to keep a quality coach, you have always needed to do things like this. You need to pay the piper, so to speak.
 
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