Freshman Swann has earned trust of Edsall

Will handle UConn’s return duties against Holy Cross in opener

Storrs — Freshman Jordan Swann has a lofty goal for his UConn football debut on Thursday night.

"My goal is actually to bring one back and score," Swann said. "That would be a great opportunity for me. Other than that, I just want to contribute to the team any way I can."

A special teams touchdown against Holy Cross (Rentschler Field, 7:30 p.m., SNY) would be an attention-grabbing accomplishment for several reasons.

The Huskies haven't scored in their return game since September 2014 when Deshon Foxx fielded a punt and raced 72 yards for a touchdown against Stony Brook.

You have to go back to the Fiesta Bowl in 2011 for the last time they scored on a kickoff. Robbie Frey went 95 yards against Oklahoma. Since then, UConn has gone 231 kickoff returns without a touchdown. Now that's a drought. Just the fact that UConn is planning to run back punts this year is noteworthy because last season former coach Bob Diaco basically didn't believe in it. The Huskies belonged to the Fair Catch Club, finishing with an NCAA low three punt returns for 21 yards in 12 games.

Swann learned about the program's drought during a scrimmage at Rentschler Field earlier this month.

"I actually returned a kick at our scrimmage at the Rent," Swann said. "Jamar (Summers) was like, 'we haven't seen a kick return scored here since my freshman year .... ' Hope I can bring more this year."

Not too many true freshman earn a regular role at the Division I level.

From day one, coach Randy Ed-

sall stressed competition for playing time is open to all players, including newcomers. He backed that up by putting six freshmen and 11 redshirt freshmen on the 53-player depth chart for the Holy Cross. Three of those underclassmen — guard Cam DeGeorge, wide receiver Quayvon Skanes, defensive back Tyler Coyle — are listed as starters on offense or defense.

"We all had equal opportunity and I felt like I worked hard," Swann said. "I've still got a lot to improve but I'm just going to keep working on it."

Swann believes he's ready for the challenge. Last season at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, he worked with former Baltimore Ravens return specialist Jermaine Lewis, who taught Swann a few tricks of the trade.

"He helped me a lot," Swann said. "He got my confidence up. We were catching one-handed balls and everything my senior year, so I'm real comfortable back there catching balls and trying to make a play."

Swann actually committed to UConn last December, the week before Diaco was fired. He also considered Rutgers, Illinois and Temple.

His coaches at St. Francis had a good relationship with Edsall, who was at Maryland at the time. Once he arrived at UConn, Edsall reached out to Swann and convinced him to follow through on his choice.

"The day he got hired, he called me," Swann said. "He just told he wanted me to stick it out here and to trust him."

Edsall was impressed enough with Swann during preseason to trust the freshman in the important role. Swann's speed helped give him an edge for the starting job. Skanes, a redshirt freshman, also will see action as a returner.

Edsall took a good, long hard look at all the options on special teams before selecting Swann.

"I probably did more live situations in the kicking game this preseason than I had probably in any preseason that I've been coaching because I wanted to find out some things," Edsall said. "I see a guy that has a lot of confidence in his ability, a guy that has the ability to be able make some plays. Somebody that the job is not too big for him.

"... He's proven in practices and scrimmages that he's the best guy that we have. We do have some other guys that can do things back there as well, but I really liked the way he's performed."

Swann, who ranked second in the state of Maryland in interceptions with 10 last season, also is second on the depth chart at defensive back behind redshirt senior Tre Bell, a transfer from Vanderbilt.

He's looking forward to fielding his first kick.

"The older guys said I might be a little nervous, which I don't know," Swann said. "I just want to make plays for the team, that's all I'm worried about."

News and notes

• Senior linebacker Luke Carrezola on helping the young players handle the opening game: "We have to let them know they just have to do their job every play." ... Edsall may wait until game day to name a starting punter. He hinted that both freshman Luke Magliozzi and redshirt freshman Brett Graham could see action. "As of right now, it just really hasn't worked itself out to where I can say one guy is over the other,” Edsall said. “There's things I like right now. We just have to be a little bit more consistent." ... There's a possibility that linebacker Vontae Diggs, who injured his knee during the preseason, could be ready to play for the second game of the season against South Florida on Sept. 9, according to Edsall.