UConn football is reportedly on the hunt for a new head coach. The last four times this happened, it was under sup-optimal conditions, to say the least.
When Jim Mora took over for Randy Edsall, the Huskies
had just wrapped up a brutal run that included an outbound transfer exodus, gutting the roster as if it had been sanctioned, and lost to Holy Cross in 2021 after taking a scare from the local FCS program in the debut of Edsall’s return, with lots of horror in between. Many people felt UConn should shutter or downgrade the program.
When Edsall took over for Bob Diaco, the team had just finished a 3-9 season, and life in the AAC was draining energy by the week. UConn absorbed a big, at the time, for the school, buyout too as Diaco had just signed a contract extension the previous offseason.
When Diaco was hired, optimism was high for the future, but the program had been demoted to the AAC and Paul Pasqualoni’s further tenure its growth. Edsall left after UConn played in the Fiesta Bowl, choosing not to take the flight back from Arizona with the team.
The Pasqualoni hire was met with immediate ridicule, and rightfully so; it was a cowardly hire by a cowardly athletic director.
With the Mora hire, UConn athletic director David Benedict was working under serious financial constraints after firing two failed coaches, and lots of skepticism about the idea of investing in Husky football. It was not a great fit, since Mora had not coached in college since he was fired at UCLA in 2017, but he offered an impressive background as the former head coach of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks.
This time, UConn is not paying a buyout and is looking for a new leader under much better circumstances. Independence has allowed the schedule to include more relevant opponents compared to the AAC schedule, like Syracuse, Boston College, Maryland, Duke, and even Delaware. Institutional support is improved, fan support has been revived, and the narrative around the program is in a good place.
Not everything is perfect. The success of the last two seasons begs the question of what happens when UConn football hits its ceiling as an independent, which is basically 10-ish wins and a Liberty Bowl or going undefeated and begging to be considered for the CFP. With no conference or bowl ties, the team lacks top-line goals and a path to the playoff. Losing Mora to Colorado State is a blow to morale. This departure also shows the value of conference membership, even if Mora’s desire to be closer to home was a factor.
In the revenue-share era, the follow-up structure to the “wild west” NIL-era early years, UConn football also has to contend with an athletic department salary cap that must also consider its heavily vested interests in men’s and women’s basketball. This is a question that will be on every coaching candidate’s mind, along with the question on the future plan for joining a conference.
Some names to consider for the opening:
Tony Reno – head coach at Yale
Reno has been massively successful in New Haven. A Massachusetts native, he was an assistant from 2003-2011 before becoming Yale’s head coach and has won five conference championships since 2017. This year, his team will make history as the first Ivy League squad to participate in the FCS playoffs after the Bulldogs’ upset over Harvard on Saturday.
Joe Moorhead – head coach at Akron
A former UConn OC, Moorhead hasn’t done great at Akron, but it’s a tough situation in one of the MAC’s least supported programs. In the decade before he took over the Zips in 2022, he was a rising star in the profession and surely still has a lot to prove at 52 years old.
He was at UConn from 2009-2011 before leading FCS Fordham from 2012-2015, and since then has been the OC at Penn State, head coach at Mississippi State, and OC at Oregon before Akron. This is a great representative slate of experience for UConn’s needs and definitely a step up for Moorhead. Maybe there’s a fit.
Brian Kelly – unemployed, former LSU, Notre Dame, Cincinnati
He was fired at LSU and is not a good person, but this guy has won a lot of football games everywhere he’s been. He’ll have to accept a less prestigious job than his old one, so UConn could work.
Jon Gruden – Barstool Sports, former NFL head coach
He’s been named for open jobs, probably would want something higher profile, but who knows?
Jeff Monken – head coach at Army
Thriving at a service academy, Monken may want to try his hand at an FBS school in the same region without severe restrictions and with the ability to use the transfer portal. He was the head coach at Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern, two other triple-option schools.
This offense can be adapted for modern times — look at someone like Jamey Chadwell — and Monken has been successful at Army, winning 12 games last year with five other 8+ win campaigns from 2016 to 2021. He could be even more successful without the constraints he’s currently coaching under.
Frank Reich – interim head coach at Stanford
If Benedict wants to return down the path of a candidate with the best possible football experience and NFL ties, Reich could be an interesting option. Reich is a former Buffalo Bills QB; he was Jim Kelly’s backup and architect of the greatest comeback in NFL playoff history as well as one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA history at Maryland.
Reich was the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers, and won the 2017 Super Bowl as the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive coordinator before that. He’s currently in his first collegiate coaching job but maybe this level has appealed to him. He may not be getting another shot in the NFL.
Ryan Carty – head coach at Delaware
Carty played at Delaware and started his coaching career at New Hampshire in 2007, where he was on Chip Kelly’s staff for a year before Kelly left for Oregon. Carty stayed at New Hampshire until 2018, when he joined the staff of K.C. Keeler, the current Temple head coach and Carty’s former college coach at Delaware, at Sam Houston State as offensive coordinator.
Now in his fourth season, Delaware has had a strong start in its inaugural FBS season. Carty won eight, nine, and nine games in the last three years during the program’s transition period. He probably wants to see things out at his alma mater for a bit longer, and UConn may want someone more proven, but maybe this could work.
K.C. Keeler – head coach at Temple
Would love this, but don’t think it will be possible since he’s wrapping up his first season at Temple right now, but maybe. Keeler won two FCS national championships at Delaware before he was fired in 2012. He was hired to lead Sam Houston State in 2014, leaving for Temple after going 9-3 in 2024 with six FCS playoff appearances and one championship in his tenure.
Bobby Petrino – Arkansas interim HC
Like Kelly, Petrino is a “not good” guy but has a damn good record as a football coach. There are worse options out there who are likely to get a call. After getting fired at Louisville, Petrino was OC at Arkansas and was named interim after Sam Pittman was fired midseason.
Ricky Rahne – head coach at Old Dominion
Rahne is a former Penn State assistant who played QB at Cornell. He was a GA at Kansas State in 2006, leaving as TE coach in 2010 to be QB coach at Vanderbilt until 2012, when he joined the Penn State staff under James Franklin, leaving in 2020 for Old Dominion.
In his fourth season at ODU, Rahne has won eight games at the relatively new FBS program. His regional and FBS experience would be valuable for the UConn job and perhaps the school’s leadership can convince him that this will be an upgrade.
Chip Kelly – unemployed, former UCLA
Before his legend was built at Oregon, Kelly was re-inventing offense at the University of New Hampshire, in his home state. Kelly was previously head coach at UCLA and reportedly did not enjoy the wide range of responsibilities that college coaches face, having most recently served as an OC for the Oakland Raiders and Ohio State.
In much the same way that Mora didn’t have the regional ties for the UConn job and it still worked out, maybe Kelly could be supported in a way that minimizes his lack of interest in executive duties. A GM can remove recruiting from the plate, and a strong staff can help with public appearances, donor relations, etc.
The next UConn head coach is probably not on this list, but thank you for reading.
