At his regular news conference to discuss Saturday’s game against Buffalo (6 p.m. – SNY/WTIC 1080), head football coach Paul Pasqualoni was asked how he was doing after a 1-2 start to the season, having seen the athletic director who hired him depart and this weekend’s news that Pittsburgh and Syracuse, his former team, would be leaving the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“Great!” he said, as reporters burst into laughter. “As long as we’ve got a game to play and I can coach, I’m in good shape.”
In his first extended comments on the latest eruption in the Bowl Championship Series landscape, which has a number of BCS teams looking to realign, Pasqualoni said that unlike in years past, universities are looking beyond loyalty to conference affiliations and to what is best for their future.
“In this day and age, people are going to absolutely do what they feel is the best thing for them to do,” he said. “They’re going to take care of themselves first. This idea of an issue of loyalty to conference, region – it’s not what it was years back. It’s all driven by the TV deals … and the money. That’s the way it is. We now have to do what we have to do that is the best for the University of Connecticut. Those decisions are going to be made by the President of the University and people in the organization that are higher up than I am. I know our institution will do what we feel is the absolute best for the University of Connecticut. “
Pasqualoni’s comments were similar to a statement released over the weekend by UConn President Susan Herbst, who said that in the face of potential further changes in the realm of athletic conferences, she would be “actively involved in discussions with our counterparts from around the country to ensure the successful long-term future of our University’s athletic program.”
In discussing past conference realignments and changes in major college football, Pasqualoni recalled his own time as a student-athlete at Penn State, which established regional rivalries against Pittsburgh and Syracuse in the northeast.
“We had tremendous pride in Eastern football and we had all these rivalries. The Penn State- Pitt game was a big game and the Penn State-Syracuse game was a head-knocker,” he recalled. “The games I was involved in as a player when Penn State played Pitt, the coaches at Penn State couldn’t even see straight that week. That’s how deep that rivalry went.”
Pasqualoni said that no matter what the future holds for UConn football, he believes that establishing regional rivalries against strong teams will be important.
“Personally, I would like the opportunity to build some kind of geographic rivalries that make sense, that the fans in the northeast can get excited about,” he said. “I’d like to have a northeast flavor to it. I think it would be exciting, good for football, for our state, and the East.”
Asked whether the uncertainty of the future of BCS conferences might have an impact on recruiting student-athletes to UConn, Pasqualoni said he did not think recruiting would be affected, and that the Huskies would be “in a good place” whatever might happen.
“Our recruiting is the institution, the program, the academic environment, and the people on campus, and the ability to come in here and be the best football player you can be,” he said. “We’re going to coach hard no matter what conference we’re in. All that is very positive, and we’re in good shape as far as recruiting.
“What we can do to help our situation the most is win games. Regardless of all the other things that are going on, the number one thing we have to do is get better as a football team and get this season on track. That’s where the fun lies, and for me where the challenge is. That’s what we look forward to every day.”
