Joe Schmit: Gophers have made contact with Randy Edsall of UConn

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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Schmit tweet:

"The Gophers have made contact with Randy Edsall of UConn. No word if he is interested. 4 bowls in 6 years. Tom Coughlin protege."

Go Gophers!!
 

Wow. He's not my first choice, but he's built UConn from the ground up.
 

I would be OK with this. Seems like a straight shooter. He beat N Dame (I know everybody else did last year too) and I thought he was in the mix for that job. I think his teams play good defense and I believe he is using his 3rd team QB this year.
 

69-69 overall record, no 10 win seasons, only one top 3 finish in Big East (T-1 in 2007).

No thanks.
 

We could do a lot worse. Assuming this is true, it might be a sign that we've gotten the "thanks but no thanks" from Peterson, Harbaugh, etc.

I'd take Edsall over Fulmer or Trestman. I think he could do well here. And we could use someone with a Coughlinesque discipline streak.
 


I used to be higher on him, but not as much now. He seems to platueaed at Mason-like level in the Big East, which is not really that impressive. Still not an awful choice, but well behind Richt, Bellotti, Calhoun, Golden and even Fulmer for me.
 

ruralgopher said:
69-69 overall record, no 10 win seasons, only one top 3 finish in Big East (T-1 in 2007).

No thanks.
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I feel similarly, but if the Peterson level candidates pass this is the kind of guy we're going to get.
 

Too Long in the Wasteland said:
We could do a lot worse. Assuming this is true, it might be a sign that we've gotten the "thanks but no thanks" from Peterson, Harbaugh, etc.

I'd take Edsall over Fulmer or Trestman. I think he could do well here. And we could use someone with a Coughlinesque discipline streak.
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+1 on all these thoughts.
 

ruralgopher said:
69-69 overall record, no 10 win seasons, only one top 3 finish in Big East (T-1 in 2007).

No thanks.
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UCONN just became D1 in 2000 and didn't officially join the Big East until 2004...
 



His Big East record scares me the most. 18-26 in just over six years. Very Greg Schiano-like.

I think he'd do OK here (3-5, 4-4) but wouldn't necessarily be a HUGE hire.
 

IDK how much it has to do with it but the Big East is a basketball conference. What relation that has to football I have no idea, I'm just stating a point.
 

ruralgopher said:
69-69 overall record, no 10 win seasons, only one top 3 finish in Big East (T-1 in 2007).

No thanks.
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That doesn't tell the whole story as he was moving and building a program from 1-AA to 1-A, his record the past 8 years has been 53-37. I thinks it's unfair to include UConn's first three years in 1-A in his record.
 

Maybe he would do well here, but it's not all that inspiring a choice. One winning season in the Big East? Is this a name that is going to restore faith among the fans? If he's named the coach, I will certainly give him a chance, however.
 





ruralgopher said:
Fair point, but his success isn't exactly back-loaded. He is regressing in an easy conference.
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This is my concern too. A year ago, I'd have been much more on board with this. And I don't recall his exact age, so someone can correct me, but I believe he's in his later 50's so not much younger then the Bellotti's/Fulmer's of the world.
 

I'd be OK with Edsall but I think I would prefer Sumlin/Calhoun if it were between the three.
 

howeda7 said:
This is my concern too. A year ago, I'd have been much more on board with this. And I don't recall his exact age, so someone can correct me, but I believe he's in his later 50's so not much younger then the Bellotti's/Fulmer's of the world.
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He is 52. To backpack on your comments how much stock do we put into a coaches record in 2010 in relation to other years?
 

Definitely Gopher level hire. Seems like just the kind of sub-par hire Maturi would make.
 

gophmeister said:
Wow. He's not my first choice, but he's built UConn from the ground up.
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That's not true. Skip Holtz turned UConn around in the 1990's and built the foundation for Edsall. Connecticut was a high seed in the 1998 playoffs under Skip Holtz - their first playoff appearance. Connecticut also beat eventual 1998 division 1 national champion Massachusetts twice that season, both home and away, before losing to runner-up Georgia Southern in the playoffs. Skip Holtz then moved on to offensive coordinator under Lou at South Carolina and Edsall was hired.
 

To be fair, Edsall is fighting a pretty big uphill battle at UConn. Program with zero tradition, plays in a stadium 22 miles from their campus, and plays in a region not really known for being "football-rich".

That said, I'm still not that excited about the prospects of him becoming our next coach. I fear he may have plateaued.
 


goldengophers said:
He is 52. To backpack on your comments how much stock do we put into a coaches record in 2010 in relation to other years?
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I'm not sure. You don't want to eliminate someone over 1 bad year and I dont' follow UConn's recruiting, etc. But the Big East is awful this year. Even Syracuse has passed them by. It doesnt' fill me with confidence. To contrast it with the other post about Calhoun, if Air Force was in the Big East, I think they would win the conference.
 

howeda7 said:
I'm not sure. You don't want to eliminate someone over 1 bad year and I dont' follow UConn's recruiting, etc. But the Big East is awful this year. Even Syracuse has passed them by. It doesnt' fill me with confidence. To contrast it with the other post about Calhoun, if Air Force was in the Big East, I think they would win the conference.
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+1
 

If he's hired, the fans are going to say "meh". I don't think that it will do a lot to restore faith. If they REALLY think that this coach is "THE GUY", then go ahead and hire him. If he does well, the wins will restore faith. But I think the fans are down enough that they really need a boost, someone with an impressive resume that makes you think this could really be good. But a poor record in conference, with what looks like a padded nonconference schedule isn't too inspiring.
 

Edsall is a really good coach. I don't care if he gives fans a wow factor he's a quality coach who will run a good program and is a professional that can clean up Brew's mess.

Keep in mind this doesn't mean he's the ONLY one they've contacted, just that he's one of the names in the mix.
 

I am a fan of Randy Edsall.

I think its fair to point out the mediocre Big East record of UConn, but I guess I have a ittle different perspective. I have watched a lot of Big East games over the past 5-10 years (for a bunch of reasons, the primary being that they tend to play a lot of weeknight games) and I tend to think that he always coaches his guys up. Meaning that he seems to have average atheletes playing above-average football. I never recall seeing him make obvious coaching mistakes.

In the end, I think Randy Edsall is a very good X's and O's guy, a very good motivator and a very good disciplinarian.

The question is whether he is a poor recruiter or whether UConn just has a competeive disadvantage to its peers. I can't imagine why Rutgers or Pitt or Boston College would be a better place to go play football, so I'm guessing that his recruiting is not stellar.

I guess as conclusion I would say that I would be thrilled with Edsall if he could have the ability or be given the resources to recruit more succesfully than he has in Connecticut.
 

What are they doing contacting anyone?

I thought the whole advantage of using a search firm was specifically not to play this game.
 

That tweet may mean contact through their proxies.
 

Will he run a good program? He'd have to have better results here than he's had at UConn to do that. If the new coach doesn't restore the fans faith, there are going to be a lot of empty seats next season.
 

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