The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Edsall stands by his players, coaches
STORRS — UConn football coach Randy Edsall came to the defense of his assistant coaches and players a day after he walked out of a press conference when Hearst Connecticut Media attempted to ask him a question about mid-season firings and potential changes on his own staff.
Edsall typically doesn’t address the media on Wednesdays, a day when offensive coordinator John Dunn, defensive coordinator Bill Crocker, special teams coordinator Eddie Allen and quarterback David Pindell are made available to the media. However, videos of Edsall abruptly ending Tuesday’s press conference went viral so before his coordinators emerged from the Shenkman Training Center he had a few points he wanted to address.
“As far as our situation goes, if anybody wants to write anything, it is not the assistant coaches, it is not players. I am the head coach. I am the head coach. I am the guy responsible and if things aren’t going the right way then fire my ass, it is as simple as that,” Edsall said. “I am the leader and that is just the way I feel. Our coaches, our players are doing everything that they want to do. I am making the decisions based on what I think it best for this program and if things don’t measure up then fire me. I accept that responsibility as a head coach. I have been doing that now for many, many years and I am not going to stop doing things the way I think is right. I am going to do it the
way I want, I have the people in place and it is very simple.
“If you want to write stuff, if you want to question stuff, question me, don’t question my players, don’t question my coaches because I am the guy in charge, I am the leader. It starts at the top and it is all with me. I have no issues with any of my players, my coaches or anybody and I don’t have any issues with how we are doing things here. If people don’t like it, tough (expletive), it is as simple as that.”
Wake Forest recently fired its defensive coordinator after giving up 97 points in its last two games. Edsall has no plans of making a change like that.
“I don’t know anybody else’s situation but it is just very evident to me that college athletics isn’t what it used to be, we are more like the NFL now where we want to let people go in the middle of the season,” Edsall said. “It is disappointing to see where college athletics is heading. It is just a big business and it is pretty evident when you see certain things. It is not about the student-athlete as much as it used to be.”
UConn ranks last among 130 Football Bowl Subdivision programs this season in scoring defense (54.5 points per game), total defense (664.0), passing efficiency defense (197.59), yards per play allowed (9.22), first downs allowed (30.8) as well as scrimmage plays allowed of 10 yards (95), 20 yards (38) and 30 yards (18).
No UConn player has started every game on defense and no FBS team has started more players on defense than UConn’s 22. That group includes nine true freshmen, 11 overall freshman and 11 players who hadn’t played a snap for the Huskies before the season started.
“There is nothing else you can do, you go to work every day the same way you went to work on day 1 and focus on just getting better,” Crocker said. “It is not about me, it is about these kids. It is about getting them better, seeing them grow as football players and as young men. Football is great and that is why they are here but that is a small part of what the big thing is going to be with these guys.”
It doesn’t get much easier with undefeated Cincinnati coming to town on Saturday followed by the American Athletic Conference road opener against 3-1 Memphis on Oct. 6.
GAME ON
The Board of Trustees agreed a proposal that would have UConn play at Tennessee in 2026 according to a report in the Hartford Courant. UConn will be paid $1.8 million for the game.
The schools signed a home and home contract for games to be played in 2015 and 2016 but Tennessee asked UConn to suspend the series so it could fit two neutral-site games on the 2015 and 2016 schedules. Earlier this year word came out that Tennessee was looking to get out of the signed contract. The two universities, who recently agreed to restart the series between the women’s basketball programs, came to this compromise so the Huskies will get to play its first road game against an SEC team since a 2015 loss at Missouri.