It was sometime between a morning walk along the oceanside cliffs and a sunset clambake on Monday that Randy Edsall was told his UConn football team had been voted by a media panel to finish last in the American Athletic Conference‘s East Division.
It certainly didn’t disrupt his day.
“I’ve read that chapter before,” said Edsall, who joined three players representing the Huskies at The American’s “Summer Kickoff and Media Days,” which concluded Tuesday with the release of the preseason poll and a series of press conferences. “That’s nothing new. Hey, you’ve still got to go play the games and that’s what we’re going to do. When I heard about it, I just said that’s probably Chapter 20 in the book, being there with that. I think you have incentive every year, but when you see that it probably adds a little more to it because you’ve got more to prove.”
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that UConn enters 2017 surrounded by such low expectations. With Edsall back in charge — his teams consistently overachieved as a member of the Big East during his first stint in Storrs — UConn feels rejuvenated.
But the football world has watched the Huskies fizzle over the past six years, five in the AAC, and the feeling that the program could be on the upswing has yet to win over many outsiders. Or, at least, no one believes there’s enough of a quick fix for the Huskies to make much noise in the upcoming season, which begins Aug. 31 against Holy Cross at Rentschler Field.
UConn was 3-9 last year, 1-7 in the conference, and ended the season on a particularly ugly six-game losing streak that cost Bob Diaco his job. So, recent struggles were appropriately represented in the poll, built on votes by a 30-person media panel.
“It’s motivation, but you can’t blame anyone but ourselves,” linebacker Junior Joseph said. “To get respect, you’ve got to win. That’s what we’ve got to do — win to get respect. If we would have won last year, we wouldn’t be predicted to be at the bottom.”
South Florida, which UConn hosts in Game 2 on Sept. 9, took all 30 first-place votes as the East Division favorite (180 points), followed by Central Florida (126), Temple (119), Cincinnati (100), East Carolina (63) and UConn (42).
“I think it’s fuel for the fire,” defensive end Luke Carrezola said. “Nobody ever wants to be picked last. I feel we have a lot of guys who have been overlooked since high school. It’s nothing new to us and we’ve got to play with that chip on our shoulder.”
Memphis was named the West Division favorite, with 22 first-place votes and 169 points, followed by Houston (six, 137), Navy (one, 128), Tulsa (one, 102), SMU (64) and Tulane (30).
With 26 of the 30 votes, South Florida was predicted to win the conference championship game. Houston received two votes, and Memphis and Navy one apiece.
UConn was voted seventh out of 10 in 2013 and finished tied for sixth. In 2014, the Huskies were voted tied for ninth out of 11, and finished tied for last. In 2015, the Huskies were voted last in the East and finished tied for third. Last season, UConn was voted to fourth in the East and finished last.
Players report July 27 and begin practice July 29. The two-deep will be finalized, and a quarterback named, sometime in the weeks that follow.
“I’ve been pleased with how [players] have worked and the attitude they’ve brought,” Edsall said. “We’re still probably not going to be as deep as I’d like at certain positions, but we’ve tried to do everything we can to enhance our opportunities to be as good as we can. I think this team is going to really come together — from what I’ve seen, a group that’s pretty tight. You always have a couple knuckleheads, but they’ll be OK.”
Big East media days were also held in Newport.
“It’s good to get back here because now, a day like this, we’re that much closer to getting started,” Edsall said. “It’s here. It’s time to get going.”
Most of UConn’s question marks are on offense, with an open competition for as many as four players at quarterback, a long-struggling offensive line and a lot of youth at skill positions, receiver in particular. But with a wealth of experience on defense, the goal is for UConn to resemble teams of the program’s past, from Edsall’s first run in 1999-2010.
The best UConn teams, post-Dan Orlovsky, have typically been built on a powerful running attack and strong defense. The Huskies have been ranked in the top-10 in the nation in total defense three times as an FBS program – seventh in 2005, sixth in 2008 and ninth in 2012 (under Paul Pasqualoni).
That unit, for the most part, was solid in the years after Edsall’s departure. The recent struggles have been built on disastrous offensive output. UConn has been ranked 108th or worse in total offense every season since 2011. In three years under Diaco, the Huskies were ranked 123rd, 123rd and 122nd, and they were the lowest scoring team in the nation last season. Now the book is closed on that era and the pages of offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee’s no-huddle playbook are being explored.
“I’m anxious to get started and incorporate the freshman and all the other newcomers who are going to be part of it,” Edsall said.