SOUTHINGTON, Conn. — As conference realignment chatter continues to churn, UConn football coach Jim Mora was contemplating what it could all mean for the program he resuscitated last year.
“I walk carefully, because I don’t want to upset the hardcore basketball fans who are so emotionally connected to the Big East,” Mora said Tuesday before the UConn Coaches Road Show panel discussion at the Kinsmen Brewing Company.
“I always see it through the lens of a football coach, and for the overall athletic department and I know, for football, having a chance to be in a Power Five conference would be amazing. It would be an amazing opportunity for us to compete against the best, to have an opportunity to win championships, it would certainly help our recruiting.”
The pull of Power 5 money, particularly through a lucrative, football-driven TV deal, would make an invitation from the Big 12 very difficult for UConn to turn down, but the school’s basketball successes as part of the original and now the new Big East, not to mention the comparatively miserable experience in between, the seven years in the American Athletic Conference, is naturally top of mind for fans who are reluctant.
The Big 12 is looking to add schools and Commissioner Brett Yormark has been taking a close look at UConn, the reigning national champ in men’s basketball. In Baylor and Kansas, the conference already has the 2021 and 2022 champs. In women’s basketball, UConn brings a perennial championship contender to a conference that already has at least one in Baylor.
A move to the Big 12, if offered, could bring an increase in revenue of more than $30 million per year.
“For the overall athletic department, I imagine it would be profound,” Mora said.
But football drives the bus, you may have heard a time or two. UConn football, after a long stretch of one-, two- or three-win seasons, went 6-7 last season under Mora, reaching the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Playing in a power conference would be a major step up in class, but the transfer portal makes it more feasible to upgrade talent quickly.
“We’d do the same things we do,” Mora said. “We’d have a chance for a higher-caliber recruit. What goes on a lot right now, especially with the portal, is we’ll be in it with a kid. They come to campus, love the campus, love our facilities, love the people, love our players. We have everything going for us, and then a Power 5 team walks in and, they’ve always had this dream of playing for a Power 5 team, and so we lose them at the last minute. That variable would go away, because we can win in recruiting with what we have on campus.”
Things have been quiet on the conference front. The Big 12 is waiting on other schools, such as Colorado, to make decisions. Something could pop soon, or not for another year. In the meantime Mora continues to work to build on his encouraging first year.
“You’ll notice it, a bigger, more physical football team, a better looking football team just ‘on the hoof,’ as we say,” Mora said. “From a scheme standpoint, offensively, people will be excited about our tight ends and our wideouts and the way we’re able to throw the ball, which was tough for us last year. A more diverse offense is what people will be excited to see.”
The quarterback competition is wide open, with last year’s starter, Zion Turner, pushed by Joe Fagnano and Ta’Quan Roberson.
“No matter which of those men earn the job, they’ll earn it,” Mora said. “And we know we’ll have good quality backups.”
Mora can’t comment on recruits until letters of intent have been signed, but he has had a successful week of commitments, including quarterback Cole Welliver from Texas, the highest-rated recruit his staff has landed. Welliver said the Big 12 talk was addressed when he was on campus.
Even if a something were to happen soon, it would obviously be two or three years before it would take effect.
“I can’t spend a lot of time worrying about it,” Mora said. “I have to worry about what’s right in front of us, and that’s NC State (on Aug. 31) and this season. The decision-makers will do what’s best for this university if given the opportunity.”
Mora spent most of the day at Geno Auriemma’s charity golf outing. At the Road Show he joined Dan Hurley, Chris Dailey and track and field/cross country director Beth Alford-Sullivan and women’s hockey coach Chris MacKenzie. Various trophies, including the 2023 men’s national championship trophy and several Big East trophies, were set up for photo opportunities.
“I do understand this emotional connection to the Big East,” Mora said. “Obviously it’s a basketball school. We’ve got 16 national championships, I’m aware of all that. But for football, I’d love it to happen.”
