University isn’t publicly commenting on the matters.

So where does that leave the secondary?

Surprisingly, despite the fact he was the fourth leading tackler and a 2 plus year starter, the Huskies have options. Ty-Meer Brown is returning at safety and he proved in his time as a redshirt freshman last year that he is more than capable of playing safety. Brown’s a playmaker and seems to be entrenched in the lineup.

Then, there is rising sophomore Byron Jones, who at times was terrific filling in at safety and also at corner in place of an injured Blidi Wreh-Wilson. I like Jones and Brown’s ability, athleticism and upside and if Jones stays at safety, they will be all right.

Junior was a physical safety and made plays, but, he never seemed to develop those safety instincts. He always seemed a half a second late, or took a poor angle on a tackle.

As a redshirt senior, he can’t be far from graduation. I would hope that he either has enough credits for a degree or plans on getting one soon. It would be shame to come this far and not get it.

Summing it up, it’s a loss for the Huskies but I don’t think it’s one that will incite any kind of panic.

The conference has to find an 8th member and if it’s not Boise State, then there is going to be big problem. No other school can bring the national brand that West Virginia has. Boise State’s run is a decade long, and that should help sell some tickets. I am not sure what way the Big East goes, but 7 is not an option. And for UConn, losing West Virginia on the home schedule is devastating. Pitt and Cincinnati are the only home Big East games, a 2-4 home-road split. NC State, UMass,  Buffalo are the other home games.  Filling in with a FCS team is a last resort. The Huskies’ need to sell tickets and the loss of its marquee game isn’t going to help.

Where do you find a game at this late a juncture? I doubt there are any open dates left in the FBS.

As far as what the Big East means for the future, John Marinatto has come out and said that the Big East is willing to let Syracuse our in 2013 instead of 2014.  With WVU accepting a judgment that the Big East is right in its suit (that the league rules are enforceable), the leverage for exit is in the Big East’s hands. They can extract a premium ($$$$) from Pittsburgh and Syracuse to get out early.

I am down on the Memphis deal. It was a hoops decision and doesn’t help the football league at all. Memphis has been one of the most downtrodden football teams in a talent-rich area for a long-time. Good hoops school though.

The Huskies brought in three highly-regarded linebackers in Omaine Stephens, Jason Sylva and Jonathan Hicks. That goes with last year’s highly regarded recruits of Morgan Vann and Jefferson Ashiru.

They also took a pair of players as fullbacks in Jazzmar Clax and Wyatt Vinci that also could play middle linebacker. When you add in rising sophomore Yawin Smallwood to the mix and Maryland transfer Ryan Donohue, the position looks to be loaded in future years. There is also LB Andrew Opoku, who is a terrific athlete and holdover Jory Johnson who only started every game.

Did I forget Sio Moore?

What the heck are you going to do with all these linebackers?

Considering the loss of Kendall Reyes and Twyon Martin, I am betting we see much more 3-4 this year and in the future. The Huskies did go 3-4 last year in spots and have a multiple look design up front, but with all these linebackers coming in, and a lack of depth at DT, I would think it’s going to be Shamar Stephen at the nose, flanked by Jesse Joseph and Trevardo Williams and then 4 fast and physical backers.

On another note, UConn went after prototype size. Five years ago Kendall Reyes came to UConn at 6-4 and 240 pounds and was a defensive end/tackle prospect. Reyes played LB in high school. He’s 300 pounds now, but I am not sure you can do that regularly with recruits.

Across the board the Huskies have guys who fit the prototype mold, especially defensively. For example, DT Mikal Myers is 300 pounds now, the linebackers in Sylva and Hicks are already 235-245 pounds and big, and not 210 pounds like Scott Lutrus and Lawrence Wilson  were coming in. The Huskies don’t have a single linebacker prospect coming in under 220 pounds. Add 10-15 pounds of muscle on a strength program in the coming year and you can project some pretty good size.

The linebackers are going to be heavier than defensive end Trevardo Williams. That’s a style change. The safety prospects are tall and athletic and I know Pasqualoni is very high on DE Elijah Norris, who at 6-4, 230 could be a terrific tight end if they wanted. Pasqualoni thinks he can be a major pass rushing playmaker.

I will get into the WR corps later, but the transfers all have more size. It’s not going to be a small unit anymore.

Lastly, Claxx had 176 tackles last year at Neptune High. I imagine the competition is pretty good at Neptune in New Hersey so that number stood out –  176 tackles? He’s going to get a look at FB, but a guy with that many tackles has to have an innate sense of where the ball is. Moving a LB to FB worked out well with Anthony Sherman and that’s probably the quickest way on the field for the Huskies.

Here’s the Huskies list and here are some initial thoughts I have.

Here’s the question for the Huskies — Did they get what they needed?

To a certain extent. The Huskies are shaping up great at quarterback as they have Casey Cochran and Chandler Whitmer in the fold. That’s two nice additions after the previous regime bungled the QB position for a long time get added to incumbent John McEntee (he’s a less strong incumbent than Obama) and sophomores Scott McCummings and Michael Nebrich and the future doesn’t look so desolate. All but McEntee have at least three years of eligibility remaining.

As far as the pieces that go with the QB, Coach Paul Pasqualoni raved about RB Joe Williams’ speed. The kid has 10.6, 10.7 100 dash speed, that’s explosive fast.  He also loved WR Ricky Gutierez — the son of former baseball player — at wideout. Gutierez was somewhat off the radar after breaking his collarbone and missing seven games. When he came back, that staff love what he brought to the table. Sounds like they may have stole him out of South Florida.  JOhn Green is a kind of kick returner and explosive athlete.

Those are skill position players that the Huskies went after and that’s what this team needs. WR Neally Cunningham is headed the JUCO route, but he remains on the Huskies’ target list and may very well be a part of next year’s class.

To me, QB and explosive skill position players are what this team needs and they started to resurrect the WR corps.  Add in transfers Shakim Phillips, the return of Mike Smith, and the addition of Bryce McNeal this summer from Clemson to go with Geremy Davis, Tebucky Jones and Nick Williams and suddenly I see size, strength and explosion from the position. Joe Williams figures to be a guy who can play right away too coming off a PG year.

Now, the Huskies also added 0-linemen and got a ton of size and added two LB-FBs in Jazzmar Clax and Wyatt Vinci.

The defense is shaping up great at LB. I love what they did last year, and like the guys they got this year. I don’t know where all are going to play, but Jason Sylva and Jon Hicks and EJ Norris all were highly sought after. The position is loaded for the future with Jefferson Ashiru and Morgan Vann coming off a redshirt year to go with Yawin Smallwood, who started as a redshirt freshman. That goes with holdover Sio Moore and transfer Ryan Donahue. The position is loaded.

Of there is a concern in the class it’s interior d-line with only Mikal Myers coming, 6-0 300 lbs,  in and of course at defensive back where the Huskies lost Chauncey Lanier to Memphis  (Huskies encouraged a post grad year).

When you factor this class in with the transfers coming in it’s over a third of a new team from last year. That’s a lot of change.

That’s a quick run down. Plenty to digest here. Be back and parse it all done.

But, my initial reaction is they seem to have addressed the weaknesses at WR with some Florida speed and athleticism and some high profile transfers and also got a big-play RB, o-linemen and 2 QBs.

I am not sure much more you would. The recruiting is better than before, the Huskies’ class came from Florida and New Jersey not a small slice of central PA and New England. They are competing with other major schools for players and are at least competitive in recruiting. Storrs is an outpost, and it’s difficult to get people to commit to a rural school when there are urban choices so close.

That’s the difficulty.

Gotta pay the bills.

I don’t have an opinion oh him, but it’s a nice resume for a young coach so far.  Here’s UConn’s release.

Conn Athletic Communications – January 24, 2012 – Shane Day

 

STORRS, Conn. (January 24, 2012) – Shane Day, who spent the past two years as the quarterbacks coach for the Chicago Bears, has been named to the same position at the University of Connecticut. Day is an 11-year veteran of the coaching profession – and has worked at all levels of football, including professional, high school and college.

 

As a member of the Bears’ staff, he helped led the team to the NFC North Division championship with a record of 11-5 and the team advanced to the NFC Championship game. He worked alongside offensive coordinator and former NFL head coach Mike Martz in Chicago.

 

Day joined the Chicago staff after spending the 2007-09 seasons as a quality control coach for the San Francisco 49ers under head coach as he worked with the offensive coaching staff in game planning and practice preparation. He worked with the quarterbacks in 2007, the running backs in 2008 and the offensive line 2009. He was part of the coaching staff for the 2008 Senior Bowl along with Martz.

 

Day was an offensive quality control coach for the University of Michigan in 2006 working with the quarterbacks. Among his duties in Ann Arbor were the evaluation of quarterback recruits and the development of the QBs already in the program. The Wolverines played in the 2007 Rose Bowl (a 32-18 loss to USC) while Day was part of the staff.

 

Day began his coaching career at Auburn (Wash.) Riverside High School, where he spent one season coaching the wide receivers (2001) and three overseeing the quarterbacks (2002-04), adding the duties of offensive coordinator during his final two years.

 

Day played collegiate football as a wide receiver at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., where he also lettered in baseball. He graduated from Kansas State in 1999 with a degree in English.

 

Day and his wife Christie are the parents of a newborn daughter, Vivienne.

As far as the conference going forward, Navy, as an east coast team should help with TV contract and also bring a sense of history to the vagabond football conference.

So, where are we at with the New Big East-West football arrangement?

The East is

East Division: UConn, Rutgers, South Florida, Central Florida, Navy

West Division: Louisville, Cincinnati, SMU, Boise, Houston, San Diego State

That leaves 11, with one more team needed. Temple seems like the leader in the clubhouse. I know Nova wants in, but, I don’t think it’s feasible and the league needs a basketball school anyway. Jim Calhoun and Rick Pitino are strongly in favor of Temple.

Do I like it? It’s growing on me. If the league does do the divisional breakdown above the west is tougher than the east. I also wonder if a title game is worth it and what if the BCS auto bid goes away? IF that happens, there is no purpose to have this huge conglomerate.

UConn still would jump at an ACC invite. Maybe I am skeptical of this configuration ever getting off the ground in 2015 anyway.

STORRS, Conn. (Jan. 18, 2012) — Four University of Connecticut senior football players have been invited to play in upcoming postseason all-star games.

Center Moe Petrus (St. Laurent, Que.) will play in the East-West Shrine Game on Sat., January 21 at 4:00 p.m. with coverage on the NFL Network. The game will be played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. Longtime coaching veterans Brad Childress (West) and Bobby Ross (East) will serve as the head coaches for the game.

Offensive tackle Mike Ryan (Tamaqua, Pa.) will play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on Sat., January 21 at 6:00 p.m. with coverage on the NBC Sports Network. The game will be played at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles. Ryan will play for the National Team that is being coached by former NFL coach Dick Vermeil.

Defensive tackle Kendall Reyes (Nashua, N.H.) will play in the Senior Bowl on Sat., January 28 at 4:00 p.m. with coverage on the NFL Network. The game is played at Ladd-Pebbles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. Mike Shanahan and the Washington Redskins staff will coach the South team while Leslie Frazier and the Minnesota Vikings staff will work with the North team.

Senior kicker Dave Teggart (Northborough, Mass.) will play in the Players All-Star Classic on Sat., February 4 at 3:00 p.m. with coverage on Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast and Cox Sports Television. The game is being played at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Ariz. Kurt Schottenheimer and Martin Bayless will serve as the head coaches in that game.

Reyes was a First Team All-BIG EAST Conference pick for the second time in a row this season and also earned All-ECAC honors. He started 41 games during his UConn career and was third on the UConn team with 13.5 tackles for loss while making 46 total tackles in 2011. For his career, he had 32.5 tackles for a loss – tenth in school history.

Ryan was a First Team All-BIG EAST Conference pick in 2010 and as second team pick in 2011. He started all 12 games for the Huskies in 2011 and started 33 games for UConn over his career. He saw action as both a guard and a tackle during his time with the Huskies.

Petrus was a a mainstay on the Husky offense line during his career as he made 52-straight career starts and 39 at center. During his career, he blocked for five individual 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

Teggart was also a First Team All-BIG EAST pick and All-ECAC selection. Teggart was a four-year standout and holds the UConn career records for field goals (74), extra points (128) and points (350). Teggart kicked a field goal in 22 of his final 25 collegiate games and had multiple field goals in eight games this year and had 11 career games with three or more field goals.

The Huskies took the unusual tact of announcing a walk-on,  Bristol native Drew Ghio. Ghio’s name has been rumored, but as a walk-on they must think highly of him to include him in the spring.

Huskies are targeting depth on the o-line, and have brought in several players. It’s clear this is a point of emphasis.

Here is the UConn release.

UConn Athletic Communications – January 17, 2012 – Football Enrollees

 

STORRS, Conn. (Jan. 17, 2012) – Five student-athletes have enrolled at the University of Connecticut for the spring 2012 semester and have become members of the University of Connecticut football program.

The six are: center Kyle Bockeloh (Houston, Texas, 6-2, 286), quarterback Casey Cochran (Monroe, Conn., 6-0, 216), offensive guard Drew Ghio (Bristol, Conn., 6-1, 297), quarterback Chandler Whitmer (Newnan, Ga., 6-1, 188) and tailback Joseph Williams (Allentown, Pa., 5-11, 197).

Bockeloh played at Cypress Creek High School in Houston and graduated in the spring of 2011. He delayed his enrollment to college until this semester. He earned Greater Houston Academic All-State honors and also participated in track and field.

Cochran has been the Gatorade Player of the Year in Connecticut for each of the past two seasons at Masuk High School in Monroe, Conn. He holds the Connecticut high school career records for passing yards and completions. He played his final two years of high school at Masuk and led the team to the Connecticut Class L title in 2010. He started his scholastic career at New London HS and led the team to the state class SS title in 2008.

Ghio comes to UConn as a walk-on member of the team. He is a graduate of Bristol Eastern High School and spent the fall 2011 semester at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn. A team captain at Bristol Central, he earned team MVP honors and was an all-city and first team all-conference pick. Ghio was an honor roll student at both Bristol Eastern and Loomis. He played for the Connecticut team in the 2010 Governors’ Cup All-Star Game. He also participated in track and basketball.

Whitmer originally enrolled at Illinois in the fall of 2010 and was a redshirt.  He was named to The Champaign News-Gazette’s All-State team following his senior year of high school at Downers Grove (Ill.) South. He earned all state and all-area honors. Whitmer, who will have three years of eligibility at Connecticut, spent the 2011 fall semester at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas. Whitmer was 180 for 316 in the air for 3,022 yards this past season with 25 TDs and 14 interceptions. Butler was the second-ranked junior college team nationally this past season.

Williams spent the fall 2011 semester at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy after graduating from Emmaus High School in the spring of 2011. At Emmaus, he rushed for 1,243 yards as a senior and was a second team all-area pick. He was a first team All-Lehigh Valley Conference selection. Williams was a track standout as he won the LVC outdoor track titles in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash.

University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst announced on Wednesday that the school will begin a search for a permanent athletic director immediately. Parker Executive Search, Inc. of Atlanta will assist the university in this national search, supporting the committee and the President in the selection process.

The search will be completed with a new athletic director named within next three months.

This is a major move for the university and the athletic departments future. Pendergast has done a nice job as interim and he was able to cultivate some donors and restore a line of communication between athletics, media and the rest of the university. President Susan Herbst, when Hathaway “retired” strongly indicated she didn’t want athletics as its own separate entity.

Now, going forward, this is even a bigger hire than the next football or basketball coach. There are a lot of things to negotiate as far as UConn and a lot of things in flux. The basketball facility has to be built, the season ticket and game experience for football (which fell flat this year) have to be improved. Eventually, there will be a new men’s basketball coach though after watching UConn-Seton Hall last night there is sentiment, at least here, to keep Jim Calhoun here for another decade.

Mostly, conference realignment is still very much in flux. the Huskies didn’t have a full-time AD on the job when the ACC raid happened and a new president and an interim AD is incredibly unstable. The Huskies are right now in the Big East, but they have to position the school proactively for a move if one should arise.

That starts at the AD level, and getting a long-term person in the job will go a long way towards helping cement UConn’s place in athletics and bring some stability to the athletic department.

Am I surprised Pendergast withdrew his name? Not really. Interim’s rarely get the job at this level. Pendergast has proven to be competent, but the Huskies could sorely use a different perspective and less Connecticut centric work experience.

He committed the second week of December after spending a year at Butler Community College after leaving Illinois.He threw for 25 touchdowns this past season and was an honorable mention All-American at Butler.

Whitmer was offered by Stanford and Arizona coming out of high school, but was an early commit to Illinois. Whitmer is an accurate passer and was highly -recruited out of high school and wanted to get into a pro-style offense, which the Huskies run.

Whitmer is a pro-syle quarterback and will come in and compete for the starting job right away with incumbent Johnny McEntee, Wildcat QB Scott McCummings and Michale Nebrich. The Huskies also have a commitment from Masuk-Monroe quarterback Casey Cochran, who is slated to arrive on campus for the spring semester.

That would bring 5 quarterbacks into the mix this spring for the Huskies and it’s something that UConn sorely needs — competition.

“We are turning the page,” UConn offensive coordinator George DeLeone said. “The best way is to start over. We have a clean slate right now. We are going to have competion for positions on this football team. Quarterback is no different.

“What’s on film is on film. We are not going to hold that against anyone. We have to have a clean slate this spring and have competition for all positions.”

McEntee had an up and down year as a starter and threw for 2,110 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was sacked an inordinate amount of times and didn’t always make his reads and deliver the ball as needed. He had some moments this past season, but he also made mistakes that put UConn in too big of a hole.

DeLeone did like McCummings’ production as the Wildcat quarterback and that’s an element that the Huskies are going to work into the gameplan regardless of who wins the job, which is going to go in even at this point.