From The American…
May 22, 2013
For Immediate Release
American Athletic Conference Strides Confidently Into The Future
PONTE VEDRA, Fla. — In its first full meeting as the American Athletic Conference, the league made important strategic decisions and addressed many pertinent issues as its membership moves forward together in the reinvented Conference.
The Conference’s Presidents, Athletic Directors, Senior Woman Administrators, Head Football Coaches and Head Men’s and Women’s Basketball Coaches participated in the meetings.
“I am pleased and proud to be a part of a group that is dedicated, optimistic and effective,” said Commissioner Michael Aresco. “We have accomplished a great deal and are moving ahead with great confidence. We have a strong new name that has been well-received. Our soon-to-be-released new logo will support our new name. The American is going to be a prominent force in college athletics.”
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Here’s an interview UConn Caoch Paul Pasqualoni did today with Jack Arute and Gino Torretta on SiriusXMs College Sports Nation Channel..
More from Q&A with American conference commissioner Mike Aresco
Q: Also Mike, for clarity’s sake, can you explain the route to the playoffs when that system kicks in next year? It’s been presented as though your conference will be frozen out of the mix. It will be more difficult sure but there is access.
A: We have every bit as much access to get into the playoffs. This is a tiered system. We have the four team playoff that’s going to determine the national champion. We have the ability to get into that just like anybody else. In fact, Cincinnati, was No.3 under Brian Kelly a few years ago, well, they would have been in it. We are going to compete. We have just as much of an opportunity as everybody else. The other opportunity if we don’t make the four-team playoff, is to potentially end up on New Year’s Day or New Year’s Eve in one of those important system bowls. One of those and three we could potentially be in are the Fiesta, the Cotton or the Chick-Fil-A and there our conference champion would need to be the highest ranked of the group of five conferences which includes Mountain West, Conference USA, Sun Belt and Mid-American. As you know, we’ve got our sights set on competing with the other five, the ACC, Big Ten, nobody is the SEC, but we want to compete with that group guys. We hope that our champion is the highest ranked of the other five then our champion on New Year’s Day or New Year’s Eve. If that champion doesn’t then we would also want a top-tier program but we have every bit of as much opportunity as anybody else. We have to do on the field. Strength of schedule is key. The makeup of the selection committee is going to be key here as well.
How does commissioner Mike Aresco and the American Atheltic Conference avoid that one?
“In tems of our conference we basically have to work to make it the best conference it can be and the chips fall where they may,” Aresco said “We want to make sure anyone in our conference feels that the conference is being well run, is maximizing their potential, which in UConn’s case is in both sports, it’s making sure the conference innovative, state of the art is well run that it’s a conference the members in it can be proud of and then there’s always issues, always currents about this and that, money. Well, let the chips fall where they may. We’re focused on the future and we’re focused on our conference. UConn has been a big part of that. Suasn [UConn president Herbst] has been very strong. She’s been a big part of what we’re trying to do. She’s been heavily involved in the name, the branding, all the decisions that we’ve made. And Warde [athletic director Warde Manuel] is one of our leading ADs. Warde is a strong AD. They and Cincinnati obviously the Big East name had been with them a long time. They like the new name. They’ve adapated to the new name. That’s important. We’re hopeful that the fan bases will understand that this is good football. We think this football conference has more potential then the old one has.
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Here’s my Q&A with American Athletic Conference Commssioner Mike Aresco and more on keeping poise with departing members when all heck was breaking loose.
“I told our staff that whatever happens, we’re going to keep our poise , we’re going to make sure we’re deliberate, we’re going to make whatever decisions we have to make and we’re not going to take it personally because people have reasons for doing what they do whether it’s for finanacial or this reason or that reason and in the end, the high road is always the best road. It just is, period,” Aresco said.
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SNY was on campus with the football team the final week of spring practice…
From UConn….
UConn Athletic Communications — May 15, 2013 – SNY To Debut “UConn Football All Access” Documentary
NEW YORK (May 25, 2013) – SNY will premiere an exclusive, one-hour documentary titled “UConn Spring Football All Access” on Thursday, May 16at 9:30 p.m. This in-depth show lifts the curtain on this UConn’s football program as SNY’s cameras followed the team and coaches on and off the field during the final weekend of spring practice – allowing viewers to get a glimpse of what it is like to be a part of the Huskies’ football program.
The show will also air on Friday, May 17 at 6:00 p.m., Monday, May 20 at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, May 25 at 6:00 p.m., Sunday, May 26 at 5:00 p.m. and Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day) at 3:00 p.m.
The documentary is produced in a similar fashion to SNY’s Huskies All-Access program – which followed the UConn women’s basketball team during the intense first week of practice as they prepared for their 2012-13 championship season.
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UConn lost a lot on defense we know.
Two starting corners in Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Dwayne Gratz; two starting linebackers in Sio Moore and Jory Johnson; a starting defensive end in Trevardo Williams and a defensive tackle in Ryan Wirth.
Right now UConn Coach Paul Pasqualoni is anxious to see who steps up – because several players need to really, on both sides of the ball but the D lost the most.
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What didn’t need to be said is that this is a big year for the program and third-year coach Paul Pasqualoni. No shock there coming of two 5-7 seasons and no bowl games following a BCS appearance. On the heels of all that the 2013 schedule is the toughest UConn has seen. Bottom line: the Huskies won’t go 5-7 again without major changes but any change in the pattern of how Pasqualoni handles it all personally could be an issue too – so don’t expect any changes in how he handles it all personally.
What’s your approach to 2013? Coming off a pair of 5-7s are you feeling it, personally?
“When you’re at this level of competition I think you’re a pretty competitive individual and that’s not just me I think that’s the nature of this game in it attracts very, very competitive people,” Pasqualoni said. “So you compete on a daily basis. You compete on a weekly basis and you’re working and preparing the team I think with every hour that you have, every ounce of energy that you have, trying to do the best job preparing and teaching and managing the program every single day. So I think there’s an approach that you have, a philosophy that you have; I think that you stick with what you believe in; that you work as hard as you can work at it and you try to manage the program, attract the best players, have the best players you can in your program and you work on getting the kids ready to play this tough schedule we have beginning with Towson State which is not going to be any box of chocolates.
(“You know I’m watching the LSU film and they’re giving LSU all they can handle at LSU…don’t you guys in the media be surprised when you see a good Towson State team come in here. Every player on their offensive line is a senior and played last year and are very good players. They’ve got a good program there, very good ). But you’re trying to compete, you’re trying to prepare, you’re trying to leave no stone unturned. That’s how you approach it and you do the absolute best you can do and you believe in what you’re doing. If you do those things everything else will take care of itself. You can’t worry about all that other stuff. You can’t. That’s always been my approach.”
DC
A little more from my interview this moreing with UConn Coach Paul Pasqualoni. Here he talks about, really what can’t happen in 2013 that has happened the past two seasons….
You have to win though, right, coming off a pair of 5-7 seasons and now facing the toughest schedule the program has ever had. Given all that what is the approach for 2013?
“Hopefully we can put the team together and everybody in the right position where with their skill set we can maximize what they can do for us and get this secondary, the corners, on defense, replace the linebackers the corners, replace Ryan Wirth up front,” Pasqualoni said. ”The offensive line has been together now. That unit is back. Jimmy Bennett is back. The approach is to put the thing together to maximize the talent we have and to move forward and play smart football, not turn the ball over and not give up big plays. At the end of the day, the goal is to score more points than they do. That’s what’s important. I like our approach to football. We’ve just got to get into these games and play smarter than we’ve played and when I say smarter we just can’t…we’ve got to have a high regard for the ball. We can’t turn the ball over and we can’t have dumb penalties and we can’t have lapses and inconsistent play on defense and give up a big play.”
DC
What’s goin on?
Final exams finished at UConn on Friday and the majority of the Huskies have gone home until June 1 when they will come back for summer school but also the always-important strength and conditioning workouts.
“It’s one of the great times of the year where you can focus on strength and speed,” UConn Coach Paul Pasqualoni said Tuesday morning. “I’ve always viewed that time as important for two reasons: 1) you can never be strong enough in this game and the second reason, and it is as important, is the durability factor because the stronger you are, the more flexible you are, the more you work through the full range of motion in exercise in the weight room, the more durable you become and the less likely you’re going to have one of these injuries that’s a shoulder or an elbow, a knee and those types of things. I’m hopeful as they’re home through May – and I saw kids who are still on campus yesterday lifting weights on their own voluntary time – I’m hopeful that they get something done even on their own the next three weeks.
With the understanding that you like to have recruits at your camps for deeper evaluations, still, is it concerning that with top targets committing, that you don’t have a player committed to the Class of 2014 yet? (Note: Pasqualoni, like any coach, NCAA coach is prohibited by that body to talk specifics of recruiting until the player(s) have signed a letter of intent which for football isn’t until the first Wednesday in February).
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