Connecticut Huskies football

Connecticut Huskies
2016 Connecticut Huskies football team
First season	1896; 119 years ago
Athletic director	David Benedict
Head coach	Bob Diaco 3rd year, 11–26 (.297)
Other staff	Frank Verducci (OC) Anthony Poindexter (DC)
Stadium	Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field
Year built	2003
Seating capacity	42,704
Field surface	Grass
Location	East Hartford, Connecticut
NCAA division	Division I
Conference	The American
Division	East
Past conferences	Big East Conference (2004–12) Independent (2000–03) Atlantic 10 Conference (1997–99) Yankee Conference (1947–96) New England Conference (1923–46) Athletic League of New England State Colleges (1897–1922)
All-time record	502–541–38 (.482)
Bowl record	3–3 (.500)
Conference titles	26
Colors	National Flag Blue and White[1]
Fight song	UConn Husky
Mascot	Jonathan
Marching band	The Pride of Connecticut
Rivals	Temple Owls UMass Minutemen Rutgers Scarlet Knights Syracuse Orange
Website	UConnHuskies.com

The Connecticut Huskies football team is a college football team that represents the University of Connecticut in the sport of American football. The team competes in NCAA Division I FBS in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Connecticut first fielded a team in 1896, and participated in Division I-AA until 1999. The Huskies began their two-year Division I-A transition period in 2000, and became a full-fledged Division I-A team in 2002. From 2000 to 2003 the team played as an independent. The schools football team then joined the conference of its other sport teams, the Big East (later named the American Athletic Conference in 2013), starting in 2004.

History

Early years

The University of Connecticut began playing football in 1896 when the school was known as Storrs Agricultural College, and the team was known as the "Aggies." It teamed up with the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Rhode Island to form the Athletic League of New England State Colleges for the purpose of scheduling football matchups between the schools. The first year was spent playing against local high schools and YMCA clubs. The following year provided their first competition against future rivals Rhode Island, an opponent that would be played over 100 times, and Massachusetts. Other early rivals included the Ivy League and the "Little Ivies", particularly Yale University starting in 1948, who have played the Huskies for 50 years.

Tragedy struck the team on September 27, 1919 when Gardner Dow died from brain injuries related to a flying tackle that he delivered in a game against New Hampshire.^[2] The college would honor Dow by naming the athletic fields after him. These fields would become the home for most of the school's athletic teams for the next three decades.

In 1924, the Aggies celebrated their first undefeated season when they finished with six wins, no losses and two ties. The defense was the strength of the team, as they allowed a meager thirteen points to be scored against them over the entire season, including a total of three points over the final seven games.^[3] The team was proclaimed by the New York Times to be among the best in the country, and was led by the school's first All-America candidate in captain, Martin "Red" O'Neill.^[4]

The UConn Club memorializes O'Neill with a yearly award given to a former student-athlete who has had a successful professional career.

Red O'Neill went on to become one of Connecticut's first players to play in the NFL. He played for the Hartford Blues in 1926, their only year in the NFL.^[5] Another player is Art "Pop" Williams, winning a championship with the Providence Steam Roller in 1928 and also has the record for the most rushing career touchdowns in Providence's franchise history.^[6] The Steam Roller are New England's first NFL champion.

The renamed Huskies went on to become long-time members of the Yankee Conference, winning 15 conference championships.

In 2012, Bill Belichick stated in an interview on WEEI that in 1983 he applied for the Huskies' head coaching position but was eventually turned down in favor of an internal hire, Tom Jackson.

Transition to Division I-A

Connecticut hired Lew Perkins as its athletic director in 1990. One of Perkins' first projects was to gather facts for a possible upgrade of the football program to Division I-A.^[7] Perkins feared that if the university didn't upgrade the football program, that it ran the risk of falling behind other institutions that fielded both football and basketball teams at the highest level. However, UConn was in the middle of a budget deficit and many faculty feared that an upgrade of the football program would result in a loosening of academic standards.^[7]

In 1997, the Big East Conference gave the University of Connecticut and Villanova University a December 31 deadline to decide if they were going to upgrade their respective football programs and join the Big East football conference.^[8] Villanova, a private institution, declined the invitation. However, in October 1997, the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees overwhelmingly endorsed, by a vote of sixteen to one, the football team's plan to upgrade the program to Division I-A status.^[9] Part of the plan would be to build a new stadium, as the current stadium, Memorial Stadium, fell well below the minimum occupancy level of 30,000, as set by the NCAA. Originally, the new stadium was to be built on campus.

However, the enthusiasm toward the new stadium quickly faded as the estimated expenses rose, the idea of an on-campus stadium was tabled, and the upgrade of the program was put on hold by the Connecticut state legislature.^[10] A year later, the stadium issue was rehashed during an attempt to bring the New England Patriots to Hartford, Connecticut. A proposed 70,000 seat, open-air stadium in downtown Hartford would also serve as the home of the Huskies football team.^[11] The plans for this stadium also fell through and the Patriots announced that they would remain in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Eventually, a new site emerged across the Connecticut River in East Hartford, when Pratt and Whitney donated their land on the old Rentschler Airfield to the state for purposes of building an off-campus football stadium which is 20 miles away from the main campus. Randy Edsall was named the 27th head football coach at the University of Connecticut on December 21, 1998 and led the Huskies from Division I-AA into Division I-A. UConn officially began the upgrade process in January, 1999 by applying to join the Big East football conference.^[12] They would receive a special waiver from the NCAA in order to play in Memorial Stadium while Rentschler Field was under construction.^[13]

UConn would become the first school to ever move from the FCS to the Bowl Championship Series as a member of the Big East after 3 years as an independent. The Huskies would spend the 2000 and 2001 as a transitional Division I-A program as they built their scholarship base to the maximum of 85. They recorded their first win over a Division I-A opponent on September 16, 2000, when they defeated Buffalo, 24–21. They would finish the 2000 season with a final record of 3–8. The 2001 season brought their first win over a BCS rival with a victory over Rutgers on September 29, by a score of 20–19. The growing pains continued, as they finished the season at 2–9.

The breakthrough came during the Huskies first year as a full-fledged member of Division I-A in 2002. Led by sophomore quarterback, Dan Orlovsky, they showed vast improvement over the previous two seasons, despite starting the season losing six of the first eight games. They closed Memorial Stadium in fashion by routing the last two opponents, Florida Atlantic and Kent State, by a combined score of 124–35. The 63 points scored against Kent State in the Memorial Stadium finale, was the most the Huskies ever scored in the 50 years of playing in the stadium. They concluded a successful season by defeating Navy, 38–0, and Iowa State, 37–20. The victory over Iowa State was the Huskies first win over a bowl-bound team.

The success continued in 2003, when Connecticut began play in Rentschler Field. They would finish the season with an overall record of 9–3. They opened the season with their first victory vs. a Big Ten team ( 34–10 over Indiana) and the final game of the season provided their first victory over an ACC opponent, when they defeated Wake Forest, 51–17. It was only the third time that a non-conference team had scored over 50 points in an ACC stadium. Despite the stellar record, the Huskies were not invited to play in a bowl game, largely due to their lack of conference affiliation.

The Big East / American Athletic Conference

Connecticut was originally scheduled to join the Big East as a football member in 2005. However, following the departure of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College, the Huskies' entrance into the Big East was expedited by one year.^[14]

The Huskies played their first Big East conference game on September 17, 2004 when they dropped a 27–7 decision at Boston College. Their first Big East conference win came only 13 days later, when they defeated Pittsburgh 29–17. They completed their first season in the conference in 5th place with a record of 3–3. That year's overall record of 8–4 was enough to garner an invitation to the 2004 Motor City Bowl, the first bowl invitation in the school's history. The attendance of 52,552 was, at the time, a record crowd for the Bowl.

The Huskies were hit hard by graduation and injuries in the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The program opened one of the best and newest college football facilities in 2006 with the completion of the $57.9 million (165,000 sq. ft.) Burton Family Football Complex & Mark R. Shenkman Training Center.^[15] The 2007 season saw a quick turnaround with the Huskies first ever Big East Conference football title, which they shared with West Virginia, and an invitation to the Meineke Car Care Bowl. That was followed up with consecutive 8–5 seasons in 2008 and 2009 with wins in both of their bowl games (over Buffalo and the SEC's South Carolina).

The team was hit hard in 2009 with the on-campus murder of junior cornerback Jasper Howard after being stabbed by a non-student outside a dance following their homecoming game. UConn struggled following his death, dropping their next three games and falling to 1–4 in-conference, but got a major win to break the streak at Notre Dame, a victory quoted by Coach Randy Edsall as being the program's "Best Win".^[16] The game ball from that victory was sent to Howard's mother in Miami, one of many tributes throughout the year for the fallen player.

The team honored Howard prior to every game through the 2010 season, which would have been his senior year. They capped off the season with a game ending field goal by Dave Teggart and a 19–16 win over USF for their 2nd Big East Championship in 4 years and a trip to the 2011 Fiesta Bowl. After a loss in the Fiesta Bowl, Edsall did not fly home with or tell his players that he was leaving the UConn football program. He instead took a separate flight to Maryland to become their new head coach. It had also been noted in the media that Edsall's relationship with then-athletic director Jeff Hathaway had been strained for several years.

Two weeks after Edsall left for the University of Maryland and after nearly seven years away from college football, Connecticut native Paul Pasqualoni was hired away as defensive coordinator from the Dallas Cowboys to lead the UConn football program, by the soon to be dismissed AD Hathaway. Following two seasons of mediocrity and a struggling offense, Pasqualoni was forced to replace his lifelong colleague George DeLeone as the offensive coordinator, just as he did prior to them both being fired at Syracuse. Pasqualoni named T. J. Weist as his OC for 2013. But Pasqualoni and Deleone (now his OL coach) were both fired after starting 0–4 with UConn's first ever and only loss as full D-I member to an FCS team (Towson 33–18) and following a humiliating defeat to Buffalo (41–12), which UConn had never lost to (8–0) as an FBS team. Weist was named the interim head coach and finished the season strong on a 3-game winning streak after starting out 0–5 and totally revamping the offense free of Pasqualoni's control.

Though Weist was considered for the head coaching job, UConn AD Warde Manuel announced Notre Dame defensive coordinator and Broyles Award winner Bob Diaco as the new UConn head coach for the 2014 season. After a complete tear down of the program in 2014, which would lead to Diaco finishing the year with only around 60 scholarship players available and needing to use a dozen true freshman, the team finished 2–10. The 2015 season resulted in a revitalization for the program as they finished 6–6 and became bowl eligible for the first time since the Edsall regime and the Fiesta Bowl in 2011.

The conference's name changed in 2013 to the American Athletic Conference as a result of the non-FBS split that took place as part of the conference's three-way realignment between 2010–2013. Three members moved to the ACC as full members, Notre Dame went the ACC as a partial and West Virginia to the Big 12. With the seven non-FBS basketball schools buying the Big East conference name for their own newly formed conference. Three teams departing to the ACC, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame, left the Big East with losing records against the Huskies in football.

UConn Football Academics

In addition to playing NCAA Division I football, the Huskies show pride in academics. In 2010 they had sixteen players named to the Big East All-Academic Football Team,^[17] an honor which requires a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of at least a 3.0 in a minimum of two semesters. And several times UConn was ranked as one of the top bowl teams in the country per the annual Graduation Gap Bowl report ^[18] --.^[19] In 2015 the team was honored by AF Coaches Assoc. for academic achievement and the 990 single year APR score in 2014–15 under head coach Diaco was also the highest in school history.

Record vs. Big East teams

Official record against all former Big East teams (2004–12):^[20]

Opponent Won Lost Percentage All Time Streak First Last Boston College 0 1 .000 0–11–2 Lost 11 1908 2016 Cincinnati 2 6 .250 3–10 Won 1 2001 2016 Louisville 4 4 .500 4–6 Lost 1 2000 2013 Pittsburgh 5 4 .556 5–4 Won 1 2004 2012 Rutgers 3 6 .333 11–22 Won 1 1940 2013 South Florida 5 3 .625 6–8 Lost 5 2000 2016 Syracuse 6 3 .667 6–4 Lost 2 2004 2016 Temple 0 1 .000 5–12 Lost 3 1963 2016 West Virginia 1 7 .125 1–7 Lost 1 2004 2011 Totals 26 35 .426

Record vs. AAC teams

Official record against all AAC opponents (2013–present):^[21]

Opponent Won Lost Percentage All Time Streak First Last Cincinnati 1 3 .250 3–10 Won 1 2001 2016 East Carolina 1 2 .333 1–2 Lost 1 2014 2016 Houston 1 1 .500 1–1 Lost 1 2015 2016 Louisville 0 1 .000 4–6 Lost 1 2000 2013 Memphis 1 1 .500 1–1 Lost 1 2013 2014 Navy 0 2 .000 1–8 Lost 3 1975 2016 Rutgers 1 0 1.000 11–22 Won 1 1940 2013 SMU 0 2 .000 0–3 Lost 3 1989 2014 South Florida 0 4 .000 6–8 Lost 5 2000 2016 Temple 1 3 .250 5–12 Lost 3 1963 2016 Tulane 1 2 .333 1–2 Lost 1 2014 2016 Tulsa 0 0 – – – – – UCF 2 2 .500 2–2 Lost 1 2013 2016 Totals 9 23 .281

Postseason appearances

Division I-AA playoffs

Date	Opponent	Result
November 28, 1998	Hampton	W 42–34
December 5, 1998	Georgia Southern	L 52–30

Bowl games

Conference championships and records

Connecticut has won a total of 26 conference championships, which includes possibly 11 outright titles.

Conference affiliations:

• 1897–1922: Athletic League of New England State Colleges
• 1923–1946: New England Conference
• 1947–1996: Yankee Conference
• 1997–1999: Atlantic 10 Conference
• 2000–2003: Division I-A Independent
• 2004–2013: Big East Conference
• 2014–present: American Athletic Conference

Note: The Huskies moved to the AAC after the Big East realigned to drop football schools after tensions were revealed between football and non-football schools in the Big East Conference.

Year	Conference	Overall Record	Conf. Record
1901	Athletic League of New England State Colleges	8–2	1–0
1924	New England Conference	6–0–2	4–0
1926	New England Conference	7–1	3–1
1928	New England Conference	4–2–3	2–0–2
1936	New England Conference	7–2	2–0
1937	New England Conference	6–2–1	2–0
1942	New England Conference	6–2	3–0
1945	New England Conference	7–1	2–0
1949†	Yankee Conference	4–4–1	2–0
1952†	Yankee Conference	5–3	3–1
1956	Yankee Conference	6–2–1	3–0–1
1957†	Yankee Conference	5–4–1	3–0–1
1958	Yankee Conference	7–3	4–0
1959	Yankee Conference	6–3	4–0
1960†	Yankee Conference	5–4	3–1
1968†	Yankee Conference	4–6	4–1
1970	Yankee Conference	4–4–2	4–0–1
1971†	Yankee Conference	5–3–1	4–1–1
1973	Yankee Conference	8–2–1	5–0–1
1982†	Yankee Conference	5–6	3–2
1983†	Yankee Conference	5–6	4–1
1986†	Yankee Conference	8–3	5–2
1989†	Yankee Conference	8–3	6–2
1998§	Atlantic 10	10–3	6–2
2007†	Big East	9–4	5–2
2010†	Big East	8–5	5–2
† Denotes co-champions, § Denotes Atlantic 10 New England Division champions

Facilities

Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field

The Huskies play their home football games at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut, an off-campus facility located 20 miles (32 km) to the west of the main campus and only 3 miles east of the new Downtown Hartford-Uconn campus. The inaugural game took place on August 30, 2003 when Connecticut defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 34–10. Since the opening, Connecticut has enjoyed a decided home field advantage, posting a 50–30 record when playing at Rentschler. In 2007, the Huskies completed their home season winning each of their seven home games, becoming only the second Big East team to compile a 7–0 home record. The stadium played to an average of 97% near capacity crowds for eight years (2003–2010), prior to Paul Pasqualoni's arrival and during the Big East.

Sellouts

Note: Attendance goes back to the 2007 Season.

Date	Opponent	Result	Seats	Stadium
October 19, 2007	Louisville	W 21-17	40,000	Rentschler Field
November 3, 2007	Rutgers	W 38-19	40,000	Rentschler Field
November 17, 2007	Syracuse	W 30-7	40,000	Rentschler Field
September 13, 2008	Virginia	W 45-10	40,000	Rentschler Field
October 25, 2008	Cincinnati	W 40-16	40,000	Rentschler Field
November 1, 2008	West Virginia	L 35-13	40,000	Rentschler Field
October 17, 2009	Louisville	W 38-25	40,000	Rentschler Field
November 28, 2009	Syracuse	W 56-31	40,000	Rentschler Field
October 2, 2010	Vanderbilt	W 40-21	40,000	Rentschler Field
October 29, 2010	West Virginia	W 16-13	40,000	Rentschler Field
November 27, 2010	Cincinnati	W 38-17	40,000	Rentschler Field
September 21, 2013	Michigan	L 24-21	42,704	Rentschler Field

Burton Family Football Complex

The Huskies on-campus home is at the Burton Family Football Complex on Stadium Road in Storrs, Connecticut. It contains the coaches offices, team meeting rooms, video facilities, dining hall and student-athlete lounge. Construction began in the fall of 2004 and it officially opened in July 2006. The facilities are considered to be among the best in the country. The building is named after Robert Burton, who in 2002 made a donation of USD 2.5 million to the University of Connecticut. The original location of the building was to be where Memorial Stadium currently stands.^[22] However, it was later decided to construct the building across the street.

Mark R. Shenkman Training Center

Alongside the Burton Family Football Complex is the 85,000-square-foot (7,900 m²) Mark R. Shenkman Training Center. The indoor training center includes a full-length football field and an 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m²) strength and conditioning center.^[23] The training center was made possible by a USD 2.5 million gift from Connecticut businessman and UConn alum, Mark Shenkman.^[24] Construction of the Mark R. Shenkman Training Center and the Burton Family Football Complex were handled in tandem by HOK Sport + Venue + Event and JCJ Architecture. Upon completion in the summer of 2006, both buildings were granted a LEED silver designation. They are the first buildings on the University of Connecticut campus, and the first football facilities in the nation to be certified as a "green building."^[25]

Coaching history

Years	Coach	Games	W	L	T	Pct.
1896–97	No Coach	15	10	5	0	.667
1898	E.S. Mansfield	3	0	3	0	.000
1899–1901	T.D. Knowles[26]	26	18	7	1	.712
1902–05	E.O. Smith	28	14	13	1	.538
1906–07	George H. Lamson	13	4	9	0	.308
1908	W.F. Madden	8	4	3	1	.562
1909	S.F.G. McLean	8	3	5	0	.375
1910	M.F. Claffey	7	1	5	1	.215
1911	Leo Hafford	5	0	5	0	.000
1912	A.J. Sharadin	6	3	3	0	.500
1913	P.T. Brady	8	5	3	0	.625
1914	Dave Warner	3	3	0	0	1.000
1915–16	John F. Donahue	16	2	14	0	.125
1919	Roy J. Guyer	8	2	6	0	.250
1920	Ross Swartz	8	1	6	1	.187
1921–22	J. Wilder Tasker	17	5	8	4	.412
1923–33	Sumner A. Dole	89	36	39	14	.483
1934–49	J.O. Christian	121	66	51	4	.562
1950–51	Arthur L. Valpey	16	7	9	0	.438
1952–63	D. Robert Ingalls	106	49	54	3	.477
1964–65	Richard E. Forzano	18	7	10	1	.417
1966–70	John L. Toner	47	20	24	3	.458
1971–72	Robert F. Casciola	18	9	8	1	.531
1973–76	Larry L. Naviaux	43	18	24	1	.430
1977–82	Walt Nadzak	65	24	39	2	.385
1983–93	Tom Jackson	119	62	57	0	.521
1994–98	Skip Holtz	57	34	23	0	.596
1999–2010[27]	Randy Edsall (record)	144	74	70	0	.514
2011–2013[28]	Paul Pasqualoni	28	10	18	0	.357
2013	T. J. Weist	8	3	5	0	.375
2014–	Bob Diaco	37	11	26	0	.297
1896–present	Totals	1059	494	526	39	.485

Rivalries

Massachusetts

The Yankee Conference rivalry dates back to 1897. The rivalry became dormant in 1999 as UConn moved up to the FBS and UMass remained at the FCS level. UMass finally moved up to FBS and the teams played one game in 2012 a UConn (37-0) win. The rivalry is set to be revived with a 4-game agreement from the 2018 to the 2021 seasons. 2 games will be played at Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Connecticut and 2 games at the home of the New England Patriots, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts., which is 15 miles closer to the UConn campus in Storrs, Connecticut than it is to the Umass campus in Amherst, Massachusetts

Rhode Island

The football rivalry dates back to 1897 and was centered around the Ramnapping Trophy after UConn students stole the URI mascot in 1934. The teams played nearly every year until the end of the Yankee Conference. Once UConn moved up to the FBS, the teams seldom play as Rhode Island remains an FCS program. Since 2000, there have been only 2 meetings; a UConn (52-7) win in 2006 and a UConn (52-10) win in 2009. They are scheduled to play again in 2018.

Notable alumni and personnel

Current NFL players^[29]

Player	Position	Team	First Year	Draft Round
William Beatty	offensive tackle	Free Agent	2009	2
Tyvon Branch	safety	Arizona Cardinals	2008	4
Donald Brown	running back	Free Agent	2009	1
Darius Butler	cornerback	Indianapolis Colts	2009	2
Geremy Davis	wide receiver	New York Giants	2015	6
Marcus Easley	wide receiver	Buffalo Bills	2010	4
Dwayne Gratz	cornerback	Jacksonville Jaguars	2013	3
Ryan Griffin	tight end	Houston Texans	2013	6
Byron Jones	cornerback	Dallas Cowboys	2015	1
Danny Lansanah	linebacker	Free Agent	2008	n/a
Robert McClain	cornerback	Carolina Panthers	2010	7
Sio Moore	linebacker	Indianapolis Colts	2013	3
Dan Orlovsky	quarterback	Detroit Lions	2005	5
Kendall Reyes	defensive end	Washington Redskins	2012	2
Anthony Sherman	fullback	Kansas City Chiefs	2011	5
Yawin Smallwood	linebacker	Free Agent	2014	7
Shamar Stephen	defensive tackle	Minnesota Vikings	2014	7
Donald Thomas	guard	Free Agent	2008	6
Jordan Todman	running back	Indianapolis Colts	2011	6
Nick Williams	wide receiver	Atlanta Falcons	2013	n/a
Trevardo Williams	linebacker	Free Agent	2013	4
Lawrence Wilson	linebacker	Free Agent	2011	6
Blidi Wreh-Wilson	cornerback	Tennessee Titans	2013	3

Former NFL players^[30][31]

Player	Position	1st Year	Draft Round	Teams
Alfred Fincher	linebacker	2005	3	New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins
Art "Pop" Williams [32]	running back	1928	n/a	Providence Steam Roller
Bill Cooke	defensive end	1975		Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, and Seattle Seahawks
Bob Leahy	quarterback	1971		Pittsburgh Steelers
Booth Lusteg	kicker	1966		Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers
Brian Herosian	defensive back	1973		Baltimore Colts
Brian Kozlowski	tight end	1993		New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins
Cody Brown	linebacker	2009		Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets
Darrell Wilson	defensive back	1981		New England Patriots
Deon Anderson	fullback	2007		Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins
Eric Naposki	linebacker	1988		New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts
Eric Torkelson	running back	1974	11	Green Bay Packers
Glen Antrum [33]	wide receiver	1989		New England Patriots
Greg Lloyd, Jr.	linebacker	2011		Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills
James "Ching" Hammill[34]	quarterback	1925	n/a	Providence Steam Roller
John Contoulis[35]	defensive tackle	1963	4	New York Giants
Mark Didio	wide receiver	1992		Pittsburgh Steelers
Matt Lawrence	running back	2008		Baltimore Ravens
Nick Giaquinto	running back	1980		Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins
Michael Smith wide receiver 2013 Houston Texans	Pete Rostosky	tackle	1984		Pittsburgh Steelers
Scott Lutrus	linebacker	2011		Indianapolis Colts
Tyler Lorenzen	tight end	2009		New Orleans Saints
Vic Radzievitch [36]	back	1926		Hartford Blues
Vince Clements [37]	running back	1972		New York Giants

Former personnel

• Edwin O. Smith – head coach; member of the Connecticut House of Representatives between 1933–1960
• Leo Hafford – head coach; pitched for the 1906 Cincinnati Reds
• Arthur Valpey – head coach; assistant coach for the 1947 national champions, the Michigan Wolverines
• D. Robert Ingalls – head coach; center for the 1942 Green Bay Packers
• Sam Rutigliano – assistant coach; head coach for the Cleveland Browns between 1978–1984
• Rick Forzano – head coach; head coach for the Detroit Lions between 1974–1976
• John Toner – head coach; president of the NCAA between 1983–1985
• Robert Casciola – head coach; vice president and chief operating officer of the New Jersey Nets between 1987–1991
• Lou Holtz – Hall of Fame coach; assistant coach; national champion as head coach at Notre Dame in 1988.
• Skip Holtz – head coach and also former head coach at the University of South Florida; current head coach at Louisiana Tech University
• Paul Pasqualoni – head coach and also former head coach at Syracuse University; winningest coach in Big East history

Brian Kozlowski Award

The Brian Kozlowski Award was first awarded in 1998. It honors the former UConn Husky and former New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, & Washington Redskins tight end, Brian Kozlowski, who through hard work, effort and dedication has been able to have a lengthy NFL career.

Year	Winner
1998	Dennis Callaghan
1999	Mike Burton
2000	Stephen Darby
2001	Jamie Lenkaitis
2002	Wes Timko
2003	Sean Mulcahy
2004	Ryan Krug
2005	Taurien Sowell
2006	Matt Applebaum/Matt Nuzie
2009	Robert McClain

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of December 10, 2015

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
vs Holy Cross	at Boise State	vs Illinois	at Illinois	at UMass	at Boston College	vs Boston College
at Virginia	vs UMass	at Indiana	vs Indiana		at NC State	vs NC State
vs Boston College	vs Rhode Island	at UMass	vs UMass
vs Missouri	at Syracuse	vs Wagner

^[38]

References

External links

• Official website