Jim Mora’s new staff coming together…

[Blades]

Can we separate 2 thoughts

1. We need to be a resource for CTHS programs. They should have access to us so they can grow their programs and be a resource for players who can play 1A.
2. Let’s keep a few kids home and focus on recruiting players across country. CT is not a deep well and some kids simply want to go away. It’s ok.

Now, let’s not overthink the CT HS recruiting angle and can we please get this back to the thread theme.

Well put and glad to see Mora today at my CT HS ( Windsor), since we've put about 6 kids in the NFL in the last decade or so, only 1 that went to Uconn.

 

[Kolumbo]

New high school football coach in town. Next stop: Shelton

First-year Shelton football coach Mike DeFelice pleased with summer, talks of future

DeFelice stepped in from his assistant post after Jeff Roy resigned following the 2019...

www.ctpost.com

 

[Buffett10]

Just a thought: Coach Mora has hired Marinelli, which should help with recruiting in Fairfield County. Now that Jay Rose has used up his eligibility, I wonder if HCJM would offer him a graduate assistant position to help with recruiting the Central Ct.-Greater Hartford area where he was a high school star. I have no insight as to Jay's future plans, but it seems like a seamless fit.

I have a feeling the DC will have ties to Ct.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I have a feeling the DC will have ties to Ct.

I hope not.

 

[Blades]

I have a feeling the DC will have ties to Ct.

I didn't know Eric Mangini was ready to get back into coaching...

 

[Buffett10]

I didn't know Eric Mangini was ready to get back into coaching...

Not him but another NfL coach

 

[Chin Diesel]

Not him but another NfL coach

I know there was a recent coaching change at UF and they have a person with strong ties to CT and has been a coach in NFL for years. Could help shore up in-state recruiting if HS coaches find him acceptable.

 

[Buffett10]

I know there was a recent coaching change at UF and they have a person with strong ties to CT and has been a coach in NFL for years. Could help shore up in-state recruiting if HS coaches find him acceptable.

Not him

 

[Hogoff]

I can't wait for the day where I don't need to see RE, PP or GD's name or initials on this board ever again! If we really want to move on we need to stop invoking their names (aka stupidity).

Who?

 

[Banta55]

Not him but another NfL coach

Not him

Spencer from Giants?

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

Anyone heard any legit rumors on DC??

 

[Chin Diesel]

Not him

Who's not him?

 

[huskysupporter]

To identify the keys to our future recruiting success is to look back to where we were during our peak right before HCRE1.0 bailed in the dark of night. Here is a rough starting lineup from our 2010 BE Championship team roster for reference:

QB	Zach Frazer	PA		DE	Trevardo Williams	CT
RB	Jordan Todman	MA		DT	Kendall Reyes	NH
FB	Anthony Sherman	MA		DT	Shamar Stephen	NY
WR	Geremy Davis	GA		DE	Greg Lloyd	FL
WR	Kashif Moore	NJ		LB	Scott Lutrus	CT
TE	Ryan Griffin	NH		LB	Sio Moore	NC
LT	Mike Ryan	PA		LB	Lawrence Wilson	AL
LG	Steve Greene	PA		S	Jerome Junior	MD
C	Moe Petrus	Can		S	Byron Jones	CT
RG	Zach Hurd	CT		CB	Dwayne Gratz	NJ
RT	Jimmy Bennett	VA		CB	Blidi Wreh-Wilson	PA
				K	Dave Teggart	MA
				P	Cole Wagner	PA
				KR	Nick Williams	NJ

At that time we were a Program that was Top 20-30. That is a very solid roster as many went on to NFL careers. Here is a rough breakdown of that lineup (and probably pretty representative of what our recruiting profile should look like going forward):

Connecticut - 4
Rest of New England - 5
NY/NJ - 4
PA - 5
MD/VA - 2
South - 4
Canada - 1

The other thing that makes that 2010 roster so successful and got us to the Fiesta Bowl was our coaches. Our OC was Joe Moorhead and our DC was Todd Orlando. The impact of having those young coaches as stud Coordinators cannot be overlooked.

Recruiting back to that level should get us back to a Program in the Top 30-50 range. Want to get back to the Top 25? That would entail getting enhanced National and Northeast recruiting from the Mora cache and contacts. Or heck, even just getting a few more CT recruits could get us there (especially with the recent rise of New England private school football).

For reference, here is a quick list of just some of the 3-4 star recruits from CT during the time that would have been on that 2010 roster (along with their CT high school and eventual school choice):

Andre Jones	Avon Old Farms	CB	BC
Willie Harriott	Hyde New Haven	CB	Penn St
Aairon Savage	Westover Middlebury	CB	Auburn
Asaph Schwapp	Weaver	FB	Notre Dame
Matt Shaugnessy	NFA	DE	Wisconsin
Dan Cascone	Newtown	DT	Wisconsin
Chris Baker	Windsor	DT	Penn St
Bruce Campbell	Hyde New Haven	OT	Maryland
Damik Scafe	Windsor	DT	BC
John Moffitt	Notre Dame WH	OG	Wisconsin
Amari Spievey	Xavier	CB	Iowa
Nate Collins	King & Low Stamford	DE	Virginia
Aaron Hernandez	Bristol Central	TE	Florida
Dan Mulrooney	Holy Cross Wby	S	Boston College
Torrey Mack	Stratford	RB	Virginia
Masengo Kabongo	Fairfield Prep	DT	Maryland
Michael Cox	Avon Old Farms	RB	Michigan
Mike Golic Jr	NW Catholic	OC	Notre Dame
Marcus Cooper	Bloomfield	WR	Rutgers
Jordan Reed	New London	TE	Florida
Joshua Adams	Cheshire Academy	WR	UNC
Andre Lawrence	Hartford Publix	LB	BC
Mark Harison	Bunnell Stratford	WR	Rutgers
Kevin Royal	Brunswick Greenwich	WR	Virginia

We get an additional 2-3 kids from that list each year, we can get to that potential Top 25 season.

Just taking a quick look at when we were successful will show us how we build this thing back on the recruiting front. Combine that with the right coaching, we have our path to resurrection.

Thank you sir - this post should be pinned somehow. Our program was once solid, it is now in the gutter. We need to get back to what made us solid - recruiting the fertile recruiting grounds around here. Pour every resource into building relationships and scouting players in the Connecticut, Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. All of the northeast. Canada. Focus on the prep schools as well as the high schools.

 

[Pudge]

ahhh ... you touching a lot of bases in that post.

Like? The raw nerve that the Aaron Hernandez recruitment was ... and remains. That static look is understating how important Florida has been for UCONN. We had more PA ... and that seems to lessened during Diaco HCRE 2.0. Some smatterings of Texas arrived. NH produced two incredible kids; and that is just a real wonderment.

It will be interesting going forward. NOTE: Prep schools was not a big deal 12 years ago.

 

[gioff2323]

Well, since rumor is we got Gus Bradleys kid to transfer here and play qb; let’s go with Gus Bus as DC rumor!

 

[SonsOfNutmeg]

Thank you sir - this post should be pinned somehow. Our program was once solid, it is now in the gutter. We need to get back to what made us solid - recruiting the fertile recruiting grounds around here. Pour every resource into building relationships and scouting players in the Connecticut, Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. All of the northeast. Canada. Focus on the prep schools as well as the high schools.

What’s nuts is like that 2010 roster almost all of those kids had shots in the NFL/tryouts/CFL, etc too.

 

[huskysupporter]

What’s nuts is like that 2010 roster almost all of those kids had shots in the NFL/tryouts/CFL, etc too.

It’s crazy. There are a lot of very good three stars in the areas mentioned - that’s where the staff need to be vigilant, can build a solid program that way.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Just caught up on this. I'm impressed that Mora is moving so quickly. He's a man that seems to have a plan and is executing it aggressively, with the help of AD DB. No reports about getting reqs out in the state system, no hang-ups. This is all going so smoothly for UConn football, that seems unusual.

 

[JMick]

Well, since rumor is we got Gus Bradleys kid to transfer here and play qb; let’s go with Gus Bus as DC rumor!

lol this is not a rumor that he's coming here. I just noticed that he was transferring and that he held a UConn offer out of HS

 

[DoctorWho85]

Just caught up on this. I'm impressed that Mora is moving so quickly. He's a man that seems to have a plan and is executing it aggressively, with the help of AD DB. No reports about getting reqs out in the state system, no hang-ups. This is all going so smoothly for UConn football, that seems unusual.

I think a lot of this was hashed out with DB with that multiple day interview they had in Idaho. But it definitely shows Mora has attention to detail and plan moving forward. I don't remember a coach doing the things he has done so far, ever.

 

[Pudge]

We are all older and lacking memory capacity

But HCRE came in with Lashlee + Crocker ... and his standard Entourage. Kids were from his prior UCONN connection (incl his kid) + Terry Richardson then Perkins. The recruits were winding them up ... from old relationships.

The MODERN CFB world is changing with the Portal ... and the fact that WE have no time to pussyfoot. Mora - like he had to at UCLA - has to be decisive and tough. UCLA has a reputation as a soft nepotism laden Team. And maybe we can thread that through the last 3 coaching regimes. Mora is about throwing the tables against walls and starting from the concrete up.

 

[F101Voodoo]

Just caught up on this. I'm impressed that Mora is moving so quickly. He's a man that seems to have a plan and is executing it aggressively, with the help of AD DB. No reports about getting reqs out in the state system, no hang-ups. This is all going so smoothly for UConn football, that seems unusual.

Yep, we in Connecticut almost panic when things go too smoothly.

 

[Kolumbo]

I'd like to know the level of fan interest and social media engagement during this process as opposed to prior changes. It seems there is far more interest and engagement now than in prior years. The Boneyard may be able to provide some stats and it just feels like casual fans are far more engaged. Coach Mora certainly brings a high level of interest in name and actions.

 

[huskymedic]

I'd like to know the level of fan interest and social media engagement during this process as opposed to prior changes. It seems there is far more interest and engagement now than in prior years. The Boneyard may be able to provide some stats and it just feels like casual fans are far more engaged. Coach Mora certainly brings a high level of interest in name and actions.

Happens every coaching change (obviously social media is more prevelent than the Edsall>PP hire)…

 

[kris1]

It’s already working….
Cam Edwards (RB/S/OLB, Norwalk HS)