UConn Football

Was Connecticut’s 2010 season a success or a failure? The answer isn’t particularly clear. The Huskies went to the Fiesta Bowl, but they were drubbed by Oklahoma in that game, and they finished with an 8-5 record in an extremely weak Big East conference. The team actually lost money by appearing in the Fiesta Bowl because they couldn’t sell their share of tickets to Huskies faithful. The 2010 season was definitely a strange one for UConn.

Randy Edsall is the guy who put this football program on the map, but after 12 years with the team, he decided to leave for the Maryland coaching job. Edsall’s departure opened the door for Paul Pasqualoni, the longtime Syracuse football coach, to step in as the new leader of the program.

The Big East is likely to be the weakest major conference again in 2011. Can UConn once again go to a BCS bowl? Nobody in the league returns more players than the Huskies, who return 17 starters from their 2010 squad. Despite that abundance of returning starters, there are plenty of question marks for the Huskies in 2011.

Coach

Pasqualoni must find a way to build on the progress that Edsall made in his 12 years at Connecticut. Regardless of what you think of the Huskies in the last year or two, Edsall took this program from obscurity to the top of the Big East. Pasqualoni certainly has the experience necessary to be successful in the Big East. He led Syracuse to an impressive 107-59-1 record in his 14 years with the school.

Pasqualoni is a hands-on type of coach and he has always been well-liked by his players. He emphasizes the importance of establishing a running game first, before opening up the passing attack.

Offense

The Huskies offense lost its best player when Jordan Todman left early for the NFL Draft. Robbie Frey and Meme Wylie were the primary backups last year, but both of them decided not to play in 2011. With Pasqualoni’s strategy of establishing the run first, the Huskies will need a new runner to step up in a big way if they are going to be successful this year. D.J. Shoemate, a transfer from USC, is likely to get the majority of the carries.

The quarterback spot is wide open going into this season. Michael Box, Johnny McEntee, Scott McCummings, and Michael Nebrich are all fighting for the job. Box is the only one who saw any playing time last year.

No matter who gets the starting nod, the Huskies are likely to continue to have inconsistent play from under center. On the positive side, the receivers are talented and they should take a little pressure off the inexperienced quarterback. Kashif Moore is the star of the receiving corps.

Defense

The Huskies defense finished around the middle of the pack last year, but they return eight starters in 2011. The secondary should be the strength of this defense, with the linebackers being the biggest question mark. Kendall Reyes can be a dominating force at the defensive tackle spot, and the Huskies will be counting on him clogging up the middle on a consistent basis.

This is a defense that should be solid as long as they get consistent play from their linebackers. The defensive line and secondary are both very good, and in the Big East they won’t go up against many dominating offenses.

2011 UConn Huskies Futures Odds

WagerWeb currently has Connecticut listed at +1,800 to win the Big East. 5Dimes has listed Connecticut at +30,000 to win the BCS Championship.

2011 Connecticut Huskies Football Schedule

The non-conference schedule is far from intimidating, but the trip to Vanderbilt could be difficult. Inside the conference, the Huskies toughest games will all be on the road. They travel to West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. In order to contend in the Big East this year, Connecticut will need to hold avoid any upset losses at home.

2011 UConn Huskies College Football Predictions

The Big East will be weak once again, but I’d be surprised if the Huskies are able to win it for a second straight year. This is a team that will likely take a step backward in 2011. It’s tough to see a team with no clear-cut quarterback or running back being too successful. At the same time, the low quality of their conference and their solid defense will win them some games. I expect a regular season record of 6-6 from the Huskies.

The UConn Huskies had their best season in football history this fall, finishing at 8-5 and earning a bid to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.  The game ended in a blowout, seeing Oklahoma win 48-20.  The difference in talent and ability of the Sooners in the game was clear.  The root of these differences all came from UConn's inability to recruit high-level prospects to a very weak Big East conference.

This trend hasn't changed this year, especially when doubt enshrouded the program when Edsall stunned the college world and left UCONN for his "dream job" in Maryland.  With the loss of UCONN's only head coach in program history, the program was put into shock.  Many recruits were dumbstruck with the departure of Edsall.  The Huskies didn't have anyone within the program who was qualified to coach and decided that it would have to go to an outside hire.  But the worst thing that could happen was that many of the recruits were worried about which direction the Huskies were going.  

Luckily the Huskies hired Paul Pasqualoni, the former Syracuse head coach who had success recruiting and winning in the Big East.  With a new head coach, every recruit confirmed their commitment and UConn had 16 new Huskies.

Prospects:

Jefferson Ashiru OLB

Marquise Vann OLB

Xavier Hemingway OG

Kenton Adeyemi DE

Sean McQuillan ATH

Michael Nebrich QB

David Stevenson CB

Julian Campenni DT

Kamal Abrams WR

Andrew Adams CB

Tyree Clark CB

Max DeLorenzo RB

Deshon Foxx RB

Wilbert Lee S

Paul Nwokeji OT

Dalton Gifford OG

The top five recruits in the class are Ashiru, Vann, Hemingway, Nebrich and David Stevenson.

Both Ashiru and Vann are very strong OLBs who might see playing time their very first year and specialize in run-stopping.  Ashiru is a leaner LB and can play coverage better than Vann, who might end up as a MLB.  

Hemingway (6-3, 260) is an OG who specializes in run blocking and should make his way onto the UConn depth chart in a couple of years.  He still has some room to grow and will be counted on as the only significant OL prospect added this year.  

Nebrich is a QB who should flourish in the Husky system, as he can run the ball as well as throw it.  He is very quick on his feet and has solid arm strength that could test CBs deep.  He has some issues with decision making and form, but a few years learning the ropes should cure him of any bad habits.   

Stevenson is an undersized corner at 5-9, but has excellent speed and agility and should develop into a shutdown corner in the next couple of years.  Had he been a couple inches taller, he would have been higher rated, but many colleges thought that his lack of size was too much of a downside.

The UConn prospects this year are very average, receiving the worst recruiting grade in the Big East from Rivals (2.5/5) and ESPN.  However, UConn has been able to get a lot out of their prospects in the past, such as Jordan Todman, the two-star CB recruit, so all may not be lost.

Before you read about the uncompromisable, amazing Johnny McEntee, do yourself a favor and witness the greatest highlight reel of all-time further down the page.

Did you watch it? If you didn't, now would be the time to do so.

So what did you think?

Baffled that this kid isn't on the Heisman ballot? Are you thinking to yourself, "Why isn't this kid on the cover of a Wheaties box?"

What is even more baffling than the video is the fact that McEntee hasn't seen daylight on the depth chart in his three seasons as a player on the Huskies.

McEntee's video is the greatest piece of media valor that has hit YouTube since the Numa Numa guy. Now that he has all of this popularity, he can use his new-found sex-appeal to do the opposite of Tim Tebow (that shouldn't need any explaining).

Why make it rain with one-dollar bills when you can do it with a football?

If a crime has been committed and a football was left behind, I can give you the name of the first suspect—and that is Johnny McEntee.

What is the difference between Mark Sanchez and Johnny Mac? You guessed it, McEntee doesn't throw like a 12-year-old girl.

On a scale of one-to-ridiculous, this video is a Johnny Max.

At least now, Carolina has a great quarterback to select at the first pick of the 2011 NFL Draft. Yeah Andrew Luck, that's right, Carolina doesn't need you or your diploma.

Both Jimmy Clausen and McEntee can throw footballs that defy the laws of physics; however, Clausen tends to do it in a really, really bad way.

If there is one thing that could break the hair fortress of Mel Kiper Jr., it is a ball thrown by McEntee.

McEntee traveled back in time to Nov. 9, 1989 to destroy the Berlin Wall with a single toss of the pigskin.

If you put McEntee in a giant cage with a half-dozen ravenous tigers and one football, he would tame those beasts into house-dwelling kittens.

Give it up for McEntee, the greatest being that ever was. 

The UConn Huskies are looking to build on their fiesta bowl appearence, their first BCS bowl appearence in school history.

Going into the year some thought UConn had a chance to win the Big East, but their season started out on the wrong foot, starting out with an 0-2 record in the Big East. Double digit losses came at the hands of Michigan, Temple and Louisville, and they were the only team in the conference to lose to Rutgers.  

To the Huskies' credit, they got back on track and won their final five games. All of a sudden, UConn went from an underachieving team that will lose the conference to overachieving team who many thought did not belong in the Fiesta Bowl.

For much of the season, the Huskies relied on Jordan Todman and their rushing attack and big plays from their special teams to lead the team to big wins.

Now, newly hired coach Paul Pasqualoni will prepare for the national signing day and continue to push this program in the right direction.

Here is a look at the top five UConn prosppects:

Jefferson Ashiru: Very good size for an outside line backer.

One of the Huskies' top two recruits, this man is a good athlete with the ability to make momentum changing plays.

Marquise Vann: The second best recruit for the Huskies.

He is strong enough to overpower most blockers, yet he is also fast enough to where he can avoid them with his quickness.

Xavier Hemingway: The potential is certainly there, he has great agility and is a good run blocker. However, if he wants to contribute he will need to bulk his frame up a little more.

Julian Campenni: Standing at 5'11 and weighing 255 pounds, Campenni is a bit undersized for a defensesive tackle.

One thing I will say is that this man plays with relentless energy. More than likely, size will be an issue for him.

David Stevenson: A quick corner who would be garnering more attention if he were three inches taller.

He has the speed to be a good cover corner, he just needs to improve his footwork.

Get the most UConn football and basketball news at BigEastmatchups.com

There is a way for UConn’s football program to resolve their differences with booster Robert Burton.

Robert Burton is mad at the way he was treated by UConn. He feels as if the school embarrassed him and his family, and now he wants the money he has donated to the athletic department back.

There is s solution to this problem, but we doubt Mr. Burton will want to sign up for this one, but if he is a man of honor at all, it is one he would go for.

UConn’s athletic department should give Mr. Burton every dime of his money back with only one condition. Here it is: Burton will give every cent of money back to any investor who believes he failed to deliver as the leader/owner of any company he has operated.

This seems fair enough. Burton thinks UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway did a poor job and that entitles him to get his money back… then Burton should step up and live by the same standard he believes appropriate for Hathaway.

Based on his letter to UConn, you should not hold your breath waiting for him to accept this solution.

In his ramblings that go on for several pages, a picture emerges of a man who is full of himself and his wealth. He is also very proud of his sons, their high school football careers and his own exploits.

Burton goes to great lengths to make mention that he is the number one donor to UConn athletics, that he has an incredible amount of wisdom and that he is good friends with Billy Graham. It seems that somewhere along the way Dr. Graham failed to teach Burton about concepts like humility, kindness, being gentle and charity.

One question does arise from Burton’s letter though. Was Cenveo (Burton is the CEO and Chairman of the Board for the company) money ever used to pay for the suite, tickets or game program ads he bought from UConn? If so, how did the shareholders in the company benefit from his generosity?

The best part of Burton’s letter is when he talks about how the university won’t have a chance to embarrass him again. No sir. We agree with Burton here. He has done a fine job of looking foolish without the assistance of anyone else.

"I want my money back" is basically what donor Robert Burton said to University of Connecticut officials after they selected Paul Pasqualoni as their new head football coach.

Maybe it was more like, "I didn't get my money's worth, so please give me back my three million dollars."

Or, "It's my football, so I'm leaving and taking it with me because I didn't get a say in hiring Pasqualoni."

Okay, I know that boosters are a main source of cash inflow to college sports and that they are often briefed when the major sports programs do a coaching search.

Burton's money was spent to build the Burton Football Complex at UConn. Now he's upset because AD Jeff Hathaway didn't come to him personally and consult with him. He now thinks that the athletic director isn't fit for the job and was the reason former head coach Randy Edsall left.

Wow, talk about an ego. Last time I saw an ego like that, the name attached was Al Davis of the Raiders, or maybe it was Jerry Jones. Nope, more like Dan Snyder of the Redskins.

I mean, this guy must think he's the owner of the Huskies team with statements like this:

"I know more football coaches than the majority of Athletic Directors in America. ... I am fully qualified to assess coaches and their ability to match up with the university's needs."

He also said:

"I just wanted to be kept in the loop and add value and comments on any prospective candidates. This is the same process that [former AD] Lew Perkins had with me when Randy Edsall was hired in December of 1998. You did not call me and ask for information on Pasqualoni or talk to my son, Joe, who started as an offensive lineman at Syracuse from 1997-2001. Instead you listened to others."

Another thing: Why would the university need or want to talk to Joe Burton? Are they going to talk to every former player that was coached by Pasqualoni? The answer is obviously a resounding no.

Here's a guy who played for Murray State back in 1962 and was drafted by the 49ers in the 19th round. Remember those days, when the NFL drafted just about every college player, all the way down to the guy at the end of the bench?

According to Mr. Burton, these are reasons he is eminently qualified to have a major say in determining who the university should have hired. 

But wait—what about the other donor who matched Mr. Burton's "gift" to the university, Mr. Mark Shenkman, a UConn alumnus, which Mr. Burton is not?

He's apparently happy with Paul Pasqualoni as head coach, or maybe he realizes it's not his place to have a say in who the university hires to run the football program.

Paul Pasqualoni has great credentials and is a quality football coach, so it is difficult to understand why Mr. Burton has such angst with his hiring.

Now, the University of Connecticut Foundation needs to evaluate whether or not they'll comply with Mr. Burton's demands. When asked, the foundation's communications director, Arthur Sorrentino, said that he was not aware of any situation where a donor had asked his gift be returned.

Sure, money buys you access, but it doesn't buy you control. Mr. Burton needs to remember that he gave a "gift" to the university, not a loan needing to be repaid. 

Personally, I think the university should tell Mr. Robert G. Burton, "Don't go away mad—just go away."

I usually despise the fact that we already feel the need to talk about college football even though we are only two weeks into the off-season.

But, every once in a while, a story comes along that is so upsetting and heart-wrenching that it deserves to get full attention, regardless of the time of year.

The University of Connecticut hired Paul Pasqualoni as their Head Football Coach last week to replace the recently departed Randy Edsall.

There were mixed emotions among UConn supporters but, if God is a fan of the Huskies, I can promise you he is not happy with Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway.

Wasn't it God who said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth?"

I don't know about you, but when I hear the word "meek," I immediately think of the lowly Samaritan, Robert G. Burton Sr.    

Unlike every other person I can think of who feels the need to have their middle initial included in their name, Burton is a meek man who stays to himself and leaves others to live their own lives. He keeps his opinions private unless he is forced to defend his family name against extreme and unjust provocation.

But then the Huskies brazenly and disrespectfully spat on his image by forgetting to clear the hiring of Pasqualoni with him before they made the announcement.

Understandably, the downtrodden, but somehow still selfless, Burton refused to bow to the sinister forces that run UConn athletics and bravely offered his timid take on the situation of the program and the hiring of Pasqualoni.

Burton shyly asked for the return of a $3 million donation that paid for the new Burton Family Athletic Complex and mentioned that he would no longer be donating any money to the athletic department. 

He "informed UConn Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway of his intentions via a six-page letter dated Jan.19."

A sad day for Burton and his family, but a proud day for all of us in this world who stand for things that are right.

Burton is not some silver-spoon-fed, pushy, pompous blowhard who regularly attempts to wield power through his money, writing threatening letters of this sort on a whim. This is a unique circumstance. For example, he has certainly never sent a letter to Cenveo Inc. that prompted them to respond with:

"While we disagree with virtually all of the assertions made in your letter, we agree that the stock of Cenveo has been significantly undervalued by the market at large. The Board of Cenveo has not been "dismissive" of any proposal made to it."

The letter, whatever it may have said, that prompted that response was sent by Burton Capital Management, LLC to Cenveo Inc. The innocent by-stander, Mr. Burton, as a result, was accidentally made Chairman and CEO of Cenveo Inc.

There is no way he could have orchestrated such an unforeseen outcome since he is only the "Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and sole Managing Member since January 2003" of Burton Capital Management. It is surely just a coincidence.

There's absolutely no reason to believe that he had any hand in the drafting of the letter that eventually handed him the top paid position at Cenveo Inc.

I mean, so what if he had a title like "sole Managing Member?" In this day and age where anybody can get on LegalZoom.com and give themselves whatever title they choose, he might as well have been called the sole "Mop Handle Locator of the First Through Third Floors of Building C-A in Complex Nine." And that's certainly not a decision-making position in the firm.

Burton Capital Management, which is a hedge-fund, was able to reach a settlement with Cenveo and get their "eight nominees to the Board." Those nominees, in turn, were the ones who placed Burton at the helm of the newly-acquired company.

So you see, he was chosen by chance, as if his name was merely drawn from a hat.

If I was Burton Capital, I would probably see nothing wrong with taking those same principles and using them against a publicly-funded university.   

Mr. Burton also made a "bid to wrest control of Creo Inc. from Amos Michelson and the current board of directors" earlier that year (2005) but it's not like he has an unquenchable appetite and obsession to control any and everything he can get his hands on.

He probably just needs the money.

He was only compensated $4,203,940 in 2009 from Cenveo Inc., the company he stole...er... bought. And he only has three other jobs and five other board positions.  

I could bore you with more salaries, stock portfolios, hedge-fund acquisitions and similar random acts of kindness, but this is not an educational piece on how to live your life in God's image.

This is a call to arms!

One of our brethren has fallen upon hard times and we cannot allow him to make this stand on his own. The evil empire of UConn football and their blue-hoodie-wearing mob of hooligans have besieged a good, honest man who only wants what is right.

Well, maybe he only wants what is right-wing. But that's close enough.

What is this world coming to when a multi-million dollar donation doesn't buy you a university?! If you ask me, it should have come complete with the school, full credit for the women's basketball winning streak, Geno Auriemma's hair, a book deal for Khalid El Amin's diet secrets, a renaming of the city from Storrs to something with a middle initial and four happy endings from at least two different Asian co-eds.

If it was me, I would have also asked for the number three million to be retired so that no player could wear that number for as long as UConn has sports teams. But I'm not meek.

Mr. Robert G. Burton, Sr. is.