Choking on all that Notre Dame smoke

My gosh, the Randy Edsall to Notre Dame rumors are starting to overwhelm. But, nothing tangible. All we get is "we are hearing."

As tends to happen at the school that's losing a coach, there is no word on the veracity of the rumors out of Storrs. Why would there be? Edsall isn't going to tell anyone at UConn he is entertaining jobs but he hasn't refuted a single rumor.

Anyhow, Brian Kelly is meeting in New York with ND and Jim Harbaugh may have already. Now, rumors are of Edsall on the short list. This is double secret probation kind of rumors, but that's enough in the internet age. Is it true? Or is Edsall's name just leverage for someone else?  

Kelly No. 1 and Edsall in the hole?

Let me plug Edsall here. He is suffering some poor PR by people who don't really pay attention.

1. His record: It's 65-65 in 11 years. So is he a .500 coach? Not exactly. Since the move up to the FBS the Huskies are 56-41 with four bowl appearances and a Big East co-title. In the last three years the Huskies have had six players drafted into the NFL and two others make it as UDFA. Are we really going to count the loss to Hofstra in 1998 in his first game when UConn was I-AA? Secondly, this is Connecticut. No natural recruiting base, new team in a conference that was decimated, and did I mention they are essentially an college football expansion team? Would Knute Rocke do any better at UConn?  Edsall's resume isn't top heavy and very flashy with awards, it's not sexy.  But their is depth if you choose to look at it. What's more impressive, a 3-year run by Brian Kelly, or the construction of a football program from the ground up? That's food for thought.

2. Can't recruit: As a writer, you are only as good as your material. It's hard to bring football players to Storrs. I would assume at a better job he would get a better recruit. To think he would have to recruit the same player to Notre Dame that he does UConn, well, that's just silly. Besides, Notre Dame wants to win with a certain player academically. Edsall has shown he can win with that type of player because he doesn't recruit a ton of academic risks to UConn. In fact, whenever he has it's backfired such as the Jarrell Miller episode showed.

3. Not exciting: I think this is actually a strength. Notre Dame's coach shouldn't be blustery like Weis was. While some see the lack of affability as a negative, I would view it as a strength. He won't make a single wave for anything. He may be the most boring guy in Connecticut. Nice, genteel, but not flashy.

Now to the "concerns":

1. Scrutiny: Edsall has a nice thing going at UConn and there isn't nearly the level of scrutiny that there will be in Chicago. Sometimes he can't handle us and the message boards are tame here and the team is off the radar most of the time with little national expectations. That allows Edsall to control the message and program. That Tyler Lorenzen gambit two years ago at Syracuse wouldn't fly in South Bend (unless the Irish won). And, the Huskies have consistently been hampered by their refusal to boast. Donald Brown should not have only been the Doak Walker winner, he should have garnered some Heisman votes. He wasn't even mentioned by these teams. It seems foolish now, but some wondered if Brown was just a product of the system. Once the NFL scouts talked, there was revisionist history. Publicity is an important part of college football. I think sometimes Edsall down plays expectations (or has in the past) it actually has deflated the fan base. Edsall doesn't like expectations. There has to be a happy medium between UConn and Rutgers.

2. Still hasn't won the big one: One win against a ranked team in his career I think UConn is 1-16 all-time. This is mostly a question of talent, not coaching, but you would have liked to seen an upset in there somewhere. All his resume is missing is a single 10-2 season and a run to the BCS. That's it, and a pretty big hole.

3. Does he really want the job?: Of course every coach "wants to the Notre Dame job" but, let's weigh the expectations, pressure and toll it takes on your family. Jimmy Claussen and Golden Tate are gone. It's going to be a bad Irish team next year and in need of rebuilding. Did you see Weis' comments on what losing and the job did to his family? There is a chance of failure here, and would you want to take yourself out of the confines of cozy Connecticut and a job for life, for a shot at college football immortality? Certainly, any coach would, but would you subject your family to that jeopardy. What has happened to the career of Ty Willingham, Bob Davie  and now Charlie Weis since? It's Edsall's last gig for better or worse, make sure you can enjoy it.

Anyhow, just throwing  some stuff against the wall. I don't have a feeling either way and there is a lot of smoke coming out nationally. Nothing that I would say is firm. Edsall did meet recruits on Sunday and wasn't able to watch game film and is out on the recruiting trail this week. If all of that is true, perhaps his name is being floated to put pressure on others.

One thing I do know is that this can't persist. The continued floating of your coach leaving harms recruiting and brings about instability. That's bad and I would expect UConn's administration to not let Edsall get a free ride here. There is a fine line to walk here, and Edsall is still on the line. This can't go on for another 2 weeks however. Through exams, once the team gets back to practice for the bowl this has to be settled. I would expect it to be.