EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – Don’t be surprised if there’s a new head football coach at the University of Connecticut by the end of next week.
UConn athletic director Warde Manuel met with reporters before Saturday’s 45-10 victory over Memphis at Rentschler Field and said the search for Paul Pasqualoni’s successor would “ramp up” on Sunday. That’s not exactly earth-shattering news. It’s true to the words Manuel spoke on Sept. 30 when Pasqualoni was relieved of his duties and T.J. Weist was named interim head coach.
But Manuel spoke with tremendous energy Saturday and seemed enthused about the task ahead.
College football’s coaching carousel moves fast these days and Manuel knows that. He has done his research, has a list (he obviously did not share with reporters), and is ready to get down to the business at hand.
Manuel didn’t issue a timetable but the word around UConn is that a press conference to introduce the new coach could be held as soon as Friday. That’s assuming everything goes smoothly and Manuel finds the man he wants.
“The search will ramp up in earnest tomorrow,” Manuel said in his opening comments. “I’m at a point, having had probably hundreds of conversations with different people, emails, texts, I’m really tired of talking about what this search is going to be about and who’s out there and who are the candidates I should be looking at. I’m tired of watching game after game to see what people are doing and how their teaqms are doing, what they’re doing.
“I’m ready to talk to candidates and sit down with people and look at this by talking directly to candidates about the job.”
Those conversations will start Sunday. Manuel will meet with his top candidate – or candidates – here, there or wherever needed.
“You will hear from me again when I am introducing the next coach at the University of Connecticut,” said Manuel, who indicated he has “an impressive list of interested candidates.” Once again, he said he hasn’t talked to anyone yet and won’t discuss “who’s in the pool; who’s not in the pool.”
There are reports that the list includes Ball State coach Pete Lembo, Bowling Green coach Dave Clawson, Towson coach Rob Ambrose, and Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi. Jeff Quinn, hired by Manuel at Buffalo, may be on the list. And Weist might be better positioned in the pool after UConn put on a record-breaking offensive performance Saturday at The Rent.
After starting 0-9, the Huskies finished strong to win their last three. Saturday Casey Cochran played like UConn’s best quarterback since Dan Orlovsky. The Tigers (3-9, 1-7 American) don’t possess the most imposing defensive unit in college football but 461 passing yards is still 461 yards. That’s the school-record Cochran set, throwing primarily to Geremy Davis (school record 15 receptions for 207 yards) and Deshon Foxx (11 for 137). Cochran was 36 of 54, threw four touchdown passes and was not sacked.
“He had an unreal game,” guard Steve Greene said. “The receivers were playing well and we were able to protect up front. Everything just came into place for us.”
After the game Weist made it more than clear that he wants to stay on.
“How badly do I want to be the head coach?” Weist responded to a reporter’s question. “I couldn’t want it more than anything in my life besides my family. I think it’s an honor to coach here. I think it’s a very special team. It’s my profession. It’s what I want to do to.
“I want to be a head coach. I’m the head coach right now. It’s not my decision. I couldn’t want it any more. But that’s any coach. . . . Warde will make his decision based on his candidates and we’ll go from there.”
Most of the UConn players didn’t offer an opinion after the game, saying the decision was out of their hands. Cochran said he would like to see Weist stay on.
“We have no idea what’s going to happen,” Cochran said. “We have no idea who’s going to be coaching us next year. I hope Coach Weist can do it because we love playing for him and he’s a great coach. But no matter what happens, I feel confident the players on this team are going to be ready to work and be able to turn this around.”
Said Manuel: “I’ll tell you I’ve been very impressed with T.J. and what he has done. The qualities and the reason I selected him to be the interim coach are the ones you all have seen. He’s really gotten the team to buy into his lead, to buy the effort, to show the character they have, to keep fighting and to keep playing hard. I’ve been impressed with what T.J. has done, very impressed.”
One question around The Rent on Saturday was whether Manuel can move fast enough to land Lembo or Clawson. Both are targets of Wake Forest and athletic director Ron Wellman met with both in the last week.
“I’m so please with where we are in the pool of candidates that I have that if one or two are not available . . . it is what it is at this point.”
Here are some other thoughts from Manuel on some key issues:
Can UConn offer competitive pay?: “I’m going to be able to pay what I believe somebody’s worth as the head coach at the University of Connecticut. . . . This is not a Nick Saban situation. I don’t want you all writing, ‘Warde said there’s unlimited money.’ No there’s not. . . . We won’t, in my opinion, lose somebody because we’re out of balance with the marketplace.”
The task ahead: “This is not rebuilding. This is building on the great talent we have on this team. This is building on the championship success of this program. Three years ago – BCS game, championship performance. There are people across this country that understand that about us. Folks, I was [AD] at Buffalo. That’s rebuilding.”
Manuel has talked to about 25 former UConn players. What was their message to him?: “They said, ‘Find somebody who wins. The bottom line is the former players who have put their blood, sweat and tears on these fields at UConn want somebody who does it right, recruits kids with character, pays attention and really gets these kids to understand that academics is important – and they win. Those are the three things they’re looking for and, guess what, that’s the three things I’m looking for.”
Is the program in a better position than it was when the coaching change was made in September?: “I think we’re in a great place. I didn’t do it so I could feel more comfortable. Last time I had to do this [at Buffalo], we did it in a week. We found out Coach [Turner] Gill was leaving to go to Kansas on Saturday and the following Sunday, we made an announcement. Do I feel more prepared than I did there? Absolutely. I’m tired of reading; tired of taking to people. I’m ready to get down to business and start talking to candidates and figuring this out.”
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