Auriemma weighs in on selection of new coach

STORRS >> Geno Auriemma is kind of busy trying to lead the UConn women’s basketball team to an unprecedented fifth straight national title and he is leaving the task of selecting the university’s new football coach to those with a little more experience in that department.

David Benedict wasn’t even 10 months into his tenure as UConn’s director of athletics when he made the decision to remove Bob Diaco as the Huskies’ football coach effective on Jan. 2.

Unlike past football coach searches at UConn, no search committee will be hired to aid in consulting UConn officials as well as shielding them if the hire doesn’t not turn out well.

“When I heard that there wasn’t going to be a search firm, I smiled and I was pretty excited about that,” Auriemma said.

That is a testament to how quickly Benedict has earned Auriemma’s trust and Auriemma believes having the decision made by Benedict with help from the UConn athletic department’s Chief Operating Officer Beth Goetz and Deputy Athletic Director Vic Cegles will hire the right person for the job after pre-

vious regimes swung and missed on the hires of Paul Pasqualoni and Bob Diaco who lasted 28 and 37 games respectively before being fired.

“I wasn’t privy to any of the conversations leading up to the decision that was made but ever since Dave has been here, all of my conversations with him have been incredibly enlightening for me in that he has a real good handle on what this is about, what we are trying to do, the challenges that are ahead of us,” Auriemma said. “I think when you think about taking the job at Connecticut the last couple of years, you are thinking it is mostly upside, you win a bunch of games, we continue to win championships, the football team keeps moving forward, things happening around the country. All of a sudden you are here and you are faced with a lot of challenges. Being around him, the team that he has assembled is really good. He is not afraid to surround himself with people that are really good at what they do. He allows them to be really good at what they do. He, Beth and Vic certainly have a wealth of knowledge and experience in the football world so I don’t expect my phone to be ringing (looking for) any suggestions.”

Benedict was hired in February after stints at Arizona State, Minnesota and Auburn among other stops. Goetz and Cegles have held prestigious jobs at athletic departments as well.

Auriemma has had same group of assistant coaches for the last eight seasons so in his recent history, dealing with job applicants isn’t something Auriemma has that much experience with. He did have a talk with his team about how quickly things can change.

After leading UConn to its first bowl appearance since the 2011 Fiesta Bowl a season ago, Diaco figured to be more likely to be lured away by another school than be fired. Yet, Benedict pulled the trigger on the move on Monday.

“It is part of life,” Auriemma said. “I was trying to explain that to our players. Obviously they are pretty good friends with a lot of guys on the team and I don’t get into that part of it but that is the real world. Sometimes when you are playing college sports, you are in this bubble and in this fantasy land. You get up in the morning and get everything you want every single day. Then something like that, I tried to explain that to them that is a reminder that when they leave here and get into the real world, they are being evaluated on their performance and that is what happens. The sooner they learn that, the sooner they understand that, I think that helps them and it helps everybody. College athletics is some ways is not that much different from the real world anymore.”

There was an initial buzz when Pasqualoni and Diaco were hired but they did not have enough success in the long run to keep their jobs.

“You are always rolling the dice,” Auriemma said. “You never know. When you recommend somebody for a job, when you hired somebody for a job, it is what they tell you about the stock market - past performance is no indication of future success. You just don’t know, you just have to cross your fingers and hope you get it right. Unfortunately we are judged on whether we get it right. How do you know if we got it right? Well, we’ll know in a couple of years.”