UConn has made progress, still has a long way to g

[Papa_Bull]

Article created: 07/17/2005 04:21:11 AM  

UConn has made progress, still has a long way to go

Part IV in an occasional series: UConn football recruiting

NEILL OSTROUT nostrout@ctpost.com  

With the first bowl victory in school history and its first two NFL draft picks in more than a decade, the UConn football program has begun to make its way onto the national stage.

The Division I-A neophyte, preparing to begin its second tour around the new-look Big East, has made a moderate amount of noise from New Hampshire to New Orleans as head coach Randy Edsall and his staff have shepherded the Huskies through an upgrade and into a BCS conference.

The Huskies, however, are still fighting a battle to keep most, if not all, of the state's top recruits close to home.

Once an afterthought for big-time high school Nutmeggers who were bound for Penn State, Boston College or Syracuse, UConn has become a prime option for most of the state's brightest gridiron stars. "When we first got here, we couldn't even get our foot in the door with a lot of kids," said Edsall, whose team was 8-4 in 2004 and beat Toledo 39-10 in the Motor City Bowl. "Now we're able to recruit those kids  some that we're getting and some that we're not."

But are the Huskies ready to take the final step in their recruiting progression and stop the Wisconsins, Iowas and Notre Dames of the college football world from raiding their back yard?

Many of the region's top high school coaches, all of whom have sent players to the Division I-A ranks, believe the Huskies can do it  but most agree the job isn't done.

"I don't see kids in-state going to other places soon. The place to be is going to be the University of Connecticut, if it's not already," Staples coach Marce Petroccio said. "They may not always get the kid who wants to go to Wisconsin right now. But eventually they will."

While UConn has several numbers in its favor at this point  its first bowl victory, two draft picks, a two-year-old stadium  it hasn't finished its climb in most people's minds.

Work to do

"They're moving in the right direction. I don't think they've caught up," Fairfield Prep coach Rich Magdon said. "A lot of those other schools are established, big-time programs. They have more of a track record; UConn is the new kid on the block. They've covered a lot of ground in the last four years, and they're going in the right direction. They're moving into that circle, but they have some work to do in order to be thought of in the same light as these teams that have been to countless bowl games."

Petroccio, for one, has enjoyed a good relationship with the Huskies in recent years, having watched as Sean Mulcahy moved from Westport schoolboy talent to UConn team captain. Staples senior quarterback D.J. Stefkovich might not end up following Mulcahy to Storrs  Edsall and his staff are keenly aware of Stefkovich's talents but are unlikely to take any quarterbacks in their upcoming recruiting class. But Petroccio says he and his fellow coaches have seen a change in the UConn coaches.

"There's been a huge difference. Coach Edsall and his staff do a great job of getting to the high schools in the area, finding the talent, and really going after them hard," Petroccio said. "In the past, a lot of high school coaches felt that UConn really didn't care much about us. But that's definitely not the case now."

Edsall says he has tried hard to include many in-state high schoolers in his summer camp and has run various clinics with some of the state's teams.

"We've tried to cultivate relationships with the high school coaches," Edsall said. "We had to overcome some long-standing relationships that coaches had with other universities."

Some of those ties obviously are harder to break than others.

UConn will welcome a pair of Connecticut high school stars into the fold soon as Seymour offensive tackle Mike Hicks and Danbury safety Glen Mourning join the team. But the Huskies this year watched as Norwich Free Academy defensive end Matt Shaughnessy opted for Wisconsin, Hyde defensive back Willie Harriott chose Penn State and Bloomfield running back Kory Sheets backed out of his verbal commitment and went to Purdue.

In truth, the Huskies had backed off Harriott a bit, and Sheets' decision was something of a positive for them (UConn already had too many talented running backs for Sheets' liking), but the casual observer still was left with the impression that UConn couldn't keep its home-grown talent around.

Edsall has a few opinions about such cases. First, he says, the Huskies are clearly committed to the state's stars.

"We've recruited this state harder than any other state," Edsall said. "I've got seven coaches in Connecticut, one for each of seven different leagues. We've put an emphasis on recruiting kids from in-state. There isn't any other area where I have seven coaches involved."

But just because a high school star is from Connecticut, doesn't mean he necessarily is interested in the Huskies.

Constant pressure

"With some in-state kids, they think there's too much pressure to play here at home," Edsall said. "Because of the constant media pressure that goes with that, they don't even want to deal with it. There's some kids that can handle that, there's some kids that can't."

And even if a player is from Connecticut and has interest in UConn, the Huskies aren't automatically going to take him.

"Just because we're in the state of Connecticut, doesn't mean we're just going to take kids from the state," Edsall said. "Our job is to recruit the best players, the best student-athletes that fit our system and fit the needs we have.

"And some of those kids the so-called experts deemed top kids have not gone here, and not fared well or played well at other places," Edsall continued. "There's some kids that people think we should recruit, but they don't know the total package like we do. I feel very good about what we've done in-state, because I know all the ins and outs."

Among the other state standouts who earned Division I-A scholarships for the upcoming season were a pair of Newtown High products. Defensive lineman Dan Cascone is going to Wisconsin and tight end Brennan Coakley is off to Penn State.

The Huskies did not actively recruit Coakley, but had their eyes on Cascone. One of the deciding factors for Cascone, was the uncertain future of the Big East and UConn's place in it.

"What was a little bit up in the air before, was what was happening with the Big East," Newtown coach Ken Roberts said. "With Dan Cascone, that was kind of an issue: 'Who are they going to play? What type of league is it going to be? Are they going to be bouncing in and out of leagues?' "

Roberts and, obviously, Edsall say that is no longer an issue.

"Now that it seems to be straightened out and they have a really good lineup in the Big East, I don't think it's going to be much of a concern anymore," Roberts said.

The UConn football program received some unwanted attention this spring as five of its players were arrested following a pellet gun shooting in Willimantic. All five were briefly suspended by Edsall for their roles and one player, safety Donta Moore, has since been expelled by the school.

But there appears to be little evidence of negative recruiting because of that incident. Across the landscape of college football, many teams have recently experienced more serious legal problems.

The recruitment of Connecticut high schoolers as a whole certainly was given a boost in 2000 when a lanky young gunslinger from Shelton High committed to the Huskies. And when Dan Orlovsky finished his career in December as the school's all-time leader in passing yardage and passing touchdowns, Edsall had the football version of a Chris Smith  a stay-at-home-blue chipper that showed what could be done in nearby Storrs.

As much help as Orlovsky has been to the Huskies' cause, Edsall points out that his former star is something of an anomaly.

"Dan was different. Dan wanted to be that guy. He wanted to be that poster child. There's a lot of guys that don't want to be that," Edsall said. "A lot of kids don't want to be compared to anybody. They want to be their own person."

The next great quarterback from Connecticut could well come from the region again; Seymour junior Ryan Osiecki has certainly caught the Huskies' eye. Whatever Edsall's intentions with Osiecki, whose father, Sandy, played briefly in the NFL and was a star at Ansonia High, it's a good bet the coach will be direct with the player.

"We're going to be up-front and honest with kids. We're not going to tell them what they want to hear," Edsall said. "We're going to tell them that it's hard here. We're going to tell them you have to work hard. That way, the relationship can always be strong. If you tell them anything different during the recruiting process, now you've got credibility issues with your own team."

Hard to avoid

The region's coaches have gotten a taste of that honesty already.

"We're fortunate that we have a kid now who's getting a lot of attention. He's being recruited by a lot of people," said Magdon, referring to Prep lineman Garrett Brown. "And they (UConn coaches) have done a great job. They've conducted themselves as well as anybody who's come to talk to him, whether it be a Big Ten school, ACC school or SEC school. They're right on par."

Brown, whom Magdon said has drawn interest from Purdue and Virginia, is a 6-foot-2, 295-pound offensive and defensive lineman.

Among the other top prospects in Fairfield County is Newtown linebacker Marc Inderman. UConn is not necessarily hot on the trail of Inderman, who is being recruited by UMass, James Madison, Villanova and Maryland, according to his coach, but the Huskies have maintained a good relationship with Roberts. And the players themselves in Connecticut appear to be watching UConn a lot more themselves.

"I think after going to a bowl game last year, the impact that Dan Orlovsky had, I think Connecticut kids see a program on the rise," Roberts said.

Between newspaper coverage and television exposure, both locally and nationally, it's hard to avoid the Huskies sometimes.

"Kids are definitely paying more attention to them," Magdon said. "They can't help it now that UConn has become a focal point with the local media. UConn is getting more attention all around the state, and they're definitely looked at differently than they were before."

While Rentschler Field in East Hartford is now something of a big stop on the tour the UConn coaches give recruits, they'll soon have a closer complex to show off. A facilities building with offices, meeting rooms and locker rooms is being erected on the Storrs campus, with a domed indoor practice facility going up right next door.

These latest additions to the UConn football arsenal of recruiting weapons, which are slated to be ready in about a year, could put the Huskies over the top.

"They've made inroads against those people, especially against the Syracuses and BCs," Petroccio said. "The last piece of the puzzle for them is their facilities. Rentschler Field, of course, is beautiful. But now they're going to have on-campus facilities that can rival the top ones in the country."

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[dw4uconn]

Thanks Howie for posting this awesome article on my beloved Huskies. The State of Connecticut has made a huge investment in the university ($2 billion) and plans to be a top 10 state university and championship caliber FB program - to go along with all their other successful programs.  Of course the Huskies decided to jump into Div IA because Miami promised they were committed to the BE, but oh well -it happens.  Not all is lost however. We do have some hope that schools such as USF can step to the plate and make a similar investment ....... ya right : Though I am excited about Uconn future, TWO BILLIONS DOLLARS of state tax payer money !!!!!   :o ^$&%# Well, it is a done deal so I may as well not fret and just enjoy it.  USF likely doesn't need to make such a large investment being in a warm climate and having a pro stadium to play in, yet it still will take quite a bit of money to be successful.  How committed is USF and where will they get the $$$$?

AS for Uconn FB, not only are they drawing more in-state interest, the talent pool in CT is also growing. Football has become very popular here and kids are starting (in masse) at very early ages. Schools that could support FB when I was young are now playing it.  The population is also growing in CT rural area and these small towns are regionalizing for sports such as football.  Connecticut has a very promising futue in deed.

DW

[bullwark]

dw4uconn, doing some research on USF will answer your questions.

[Papa_Bull]

The USF board of trustees has recently approved $50 million to make improvements to our Basketball arena, the Sun Dome, and to  build or rrenovate our Baseball, Softball and Soccer stadiums, so they are committed to improving all the sports facilities.

Since we use  Raymond James Stadium, we don't need quite as large an athletic budget as many other Big East schools, but we need to improve that significantly over the next five years. Right now, USF thinks it is wiser to put that money into upgrading facilities rather than just dramatically increasing the athletic budget for show.