Randy, You're A Fine Coach....But We Can Do Better

There was one moment in UConn’s devastating Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma that accurately summed up why I’m not too upset Randy Edsall left town. After giving up a touchdown far too easily, the UConn offense mustered an excellent drive that left them deep in Oklahoma territory with a 4th and 1. Edsall was going for it, as he should. Unfortunately, he forgot one of the oldest truths about college football – get the ball to your All-American. In UConn’s case, there was an actual All-American on the field.

Well, technically, I should say in the stadium because UConn’s All-American running back Jordan Todman was on the sidelines. Yes, with a fourth-down against quite possibly the best team UConn has ever faced, Randy Edsall decided to hand the ball off to his backup running back. He didn’t get the yard. Oklahoma was soon up 14-0 and UConn was playing a game of catch-up it couldn’t possibly win.

The news of Edsall’s departure came in between flights back from the West Coast. It was an odd sensation because I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t upset, though I later would become upset for how he handled it. (Here's an excellent article from Tim Keown on ESPN.com about that) In fact, I must admit, I was sort of happy. The team I saw on the field Saturday night didn’t cut it for me as a fan. I don’t care that we were playing Oklahoma. UConn wasn’t in the same league as Oklahoma. That should never happen. I never want to root for a team that has no chance.

For all the praise heaped upon Edsall from the national football media, that same love has not always been there for him locally. I can’t claim to be a “longtime” UConn football supporter, since I jumped on the bandwagon in the early 2000s after the move to I-A was already in progress. Randy Edsall is the only football coach I’ve known. And I haven’t always been happy about it. In fact, it could be argued that Edsall actually regressed as a coach – his 2003 and 2004 teams were as good as any team he produced since.

More pressing, there have been times I wanted Edsall gone. During losing seasons in 2005 and 2006, head-scratching decision after head-scratching decision left me wanting a new coach. Even the school’s first Big East “championship” came after a six-touchdown loss to the real champion in 2007, West Virginia. In 2008, with four players set to be picked in the first two rounds of the NFL draft, UConn could do no more than a win in the International Bowl.

Then we come to this year and, in retrospect, UConn should’ve finished the regular season 12-0. Maybe 11-1, since Denard Robinson played so outstanding in the opener. The loss to Temple should never have happened, considering the game turned when an injured Todman fumbled the ball away. The loss to Rutgers should never have happened, blowing a fourth-quarter lead to a team that wouldn’t win another conference game. The Louisville debacle, the low point, caused many in the state to call for Edsall’s job.

Edsall, however, had the media in his pocket and the local writers, particularly the [expletive deleted] at the Hartford Courant, lambasted fans for wanting a change. They defended Edsall up and down and felt vindicated when he took UConn to the Big East crown. Never mind the fact we needed a complete Pitt meltdown, or seven West Virginia fumbles, or a win over a USF team starting a walk-on QB…Edsall had proven himself again. I appreciated Edsall for what it had done but I always felt like he was receiving an inordinate amount of praise.

Sure, this may sound like sour grapes after our coach just left town but, to be quite honest, UConn can do better than Randy Edsall. How do I know? Because 25 years ago, our men’s basketball program was in far worse shape and Jim Calhoun turned it into one of the absolute elite programs, matching Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke with multiple national championships in his tenure. Do I even need to rehash what Geno Auriemma has done?

But football is different, people say. It takes time, reporters write. You can’t win at UConn, critics lament. I want to know why UConn can’t succeed in the most populous section of the country but Boise State, who navigated their own path from I-AA and play in Idaho, has two BCS bowl wins and we have zero.

I want to know why everyone says there are no good football players from Connecticut but homegrown Aaron Hernandez is starting for the Patriots. I want to know why each year, the best Connecticut players head to Iowa and Penn State. I want to know why the five-star recruits from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, within a few hours drive, are somehow impossible for UConn to get.

The myth, perpetuated by the national football media and driven by Edsall himself, is that UConn is nearly an impossible job with almost zero chance of success. Excuse me? Did Jim Calhoun ever say that in the 1980s? Has Geno ever made that excuse? Of course not.

I will never criticize Edsall for how hard he worked or how he did, without question, build the program. But at some point, going 8-5 every year doesn’t cut it. Did we enjoy the victories? Of course. Did we hate the losses? You bet. But it’s different for a UConn fan.

You can call UConn a basketball school and some say that’s a deterrent, a reason why UConn fans as a whole haven’t embraced the football program. That’s false. This community was ready for football – the home opener at Rentschler Field in 2003 was sold out.

This community, though, has high standards. Our men’s basketball team has two national titles and countless Big East titles. The women…well, they just won 90 games in a row. Our soccer teams are always nationally ranked. Our baseball team – yes, our baseball team in frozen Connecticut – is becoming an annual contender.

At the University of Connecticut, you need to produce a winner. I don’t mean a “barely above .500” winner, I mean a “national title contender” winner. We don’t want excuses. We don’t want reasons why we can’t be that. We want to be that.

If I were a coach looking for a prime opportunity, UConn would make my mouth water.

A conference with no power team and an automatic BCS berth. One of the largest television markets in the country sandwiched between two of the biggest, in NYC and Boston. A television deal with SNY, a cable network in the nation’s biggest city. The largest sports network in history is literally right down the road. A brand name in UConn that is known practically the world over thanks to the basketball teams. A new stadium that could be expanded if necessary. New $30 million facilities on campus that are among the newest and plushest in the country. A day’s drive to some of the best high school football talent in the country in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

UConn is a better job than Maryland. We deserve a better coach than them too.

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