At one point this season with the UConn Huskies struggling at 3-4, you probably wouldn’t think that head coach Randy Edsall’s name would come up for any openings in college football. If anything, he could have found himself on the proverbial hot seat if the season didn’t turn around.
Well of course, Edsall turned the program around by leading them to five straight wins and the school’s first-ever BCS berth in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day against the Oklahoma Sooners. And before the final game against South Florida, his name came up in the Minnesota Golden Gophers opening.
But that was just a rumor just like this one.
According to a Miami Herald report, the Miami Hurricanes have spoken with Edsall about their head coach opening.
Miami athletic director Kirby Hocutt returned Wednesday after two days in New York discussing the vacant UM coaching job with prospective candidates.
Among the coaches who have spoken to UM about the job are Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, Connecticut coach Randy Edsall and Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville.
It is The “U” and it is in the ACC so this wouldn’t be seen as a lateral move by Edsall. But the question remains, why would he want to leave Storrs.
One thing we’re used to with the Huskies is how long the coaches stay at the school.
Geno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun have been at the helm of the women’s and men’s basketball programs for over 20 years. Edsall has been in Storrs for the past 12 years and has built this program from the groundup.
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He took over in 1999 and led the transition to I-A football in 2001. He’s gone from rinky dink facilities to a state of the art practice facility which rates as one of the nation’s best. He’s now led the Huskies to two Big East titles and to five bowl games since 2004 including four straight now.
He’s well paid by UConn making around $1.5 million this year.
So why would he want to go?
The prestige of coaching at The “U” maybe, money perhaps or just a better opportunity. Who knows. But his name is out there.
Our friends at The UConn Blog think it’s time for Edsall to go and they don’t mean it in a bad way. Personally, I’m of the mindset that he should stay.
He’s done a great job at building this program. Sure there’s been some ups and downs along the way but look what he’s done. They started transitioning over to I-A in 2001 and now in 2010, the program has reached the ultimate pinnacle in a BCS berth.
At one point or another, I did think that Edsall would leave after this season because of the whole Jasper Howard situation. But since this would have been the final season Jazz would have played, he wouldn’t have that to worry about. Given what he did with the team last year during that whole ordeal, you can see why he’s in demand from other schools.
But why would Edsall want to go before UConn will play in a BCS game? Because that would more than likely be the case if he left for Miami or possibly another destination.
Edsall leaving before UConn plays in the Fiesta Bowl would be like a builder leaving just before he finished a big job. It’s not complete.
For this to be complete, Edsall should coach in this game. It would be the right thing to do in my opinion.
Photo credits: Hartford Courant
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