The spotlight is on Dave "Eggs" Benedict like it never has been or likely will be in the rest of his career in athletic administration. This is his big moment to show the UConn community that he was himself a worthwhile hire. He is going to need to sort out the opportunists from the loyalists and the Diaco-like pretenders from the real program builders...... I believe that all the kids in the UConn program would run through walls for him, and we need the same kind of guy as football coach.
Here's an interview with the
New Haven Register on
DB, RE and this hire:
" Typically, previous success is a great indicator of future success. And that certainly weighed heavy on my decision in bringing Coach Edsall back. But as we know,
things change and college athletics have changed a lot, so there are no guarantees.”
It sounds like RE tried to beat DB to the punch on his future with Uconn FB. " The day after the Holy Cross loss, a Sunday, Benedict reached out to Edsall to set up a Monday meeting. Edsall called Benedict back and said he was going to retire at the end of the season and that announcement was made.....
“I don’t know that it’s appropriate to get into a conversation about why I think it didn’t work out. I’ll do a lot of soul searching on that as we move forward, because
that’s something we have to take into consideration as we look at the type of person we want to come in.”
“We’re going to need someone who doesn’t look at [engagement] as being a burden or something they don’t want to do,” Benedict said. “We’re going to need someone who has the want-to, to get out in the state and this community and really sell our program and get people engaged. ( It's called Winning !) That’s a big part of what we need right now. It’s a critical component. ”......“We have to do a great job of bringing UConn to the ( HC candidates) we are interested in because you might not have the opportunity to bring them to campus,” Benedict said. “There’s a chance, if you’re not familiar with us, or have never been on our campus, that your assumption or opinion might not necessarily be accurate.”
Benedict said he feels for UConn players and that he’s confident the right leader can be hired.
" We’ve got to do better for them. We’ve got to help them be successful moving forward. … This is a great job and the right person will come here and be very successful.”
To me this isn't that complicated, anyone who doesn't want to play modern day offensive CFB should be out. And somewhere between the "play it safe", miserable old curmudgeon RE and the delusional (horrible recruiting) over the top wack job like Diaco (who also wouldn't play aggressive FB) , probably lies the truth. Dare to be great, aggressive and fun, while putting out a product that's worth watching needs to happen for Uconn FB !