New QB Mike Beaudry: Joining UConn an ‘Easy’ Decision; Women a No. 2 Seed?

Incoming QB Beaudry: ‘I Want to Be Here’

The Story: Twenty players will join the football team before the start of next season and one of the most intriguing is quarterback Mike Beaudry, a graduate transfer from West Florida.

UWF started its program in 2015 and Beaudry led the Argonauts to the Division II title game in 2017, but he also missed nearly two full seasons with injuries and will enroll at UConn in the fall, likely with two years of eligibility remaining.

Beaudry spoke with The UConn Daily about his move from Canada to the United States when he was 10, his decision to transfer from UWF and what he wants to accomplish while at UConn.

The UConn Daily: You’ve been at West Florida now for four years and were looking to transfer somewhere for grad school and to continue playing, so why UConn?

Mike Beaudry: Coach [John] Dunn, who I first started talking to, and he seemed like a really good guy. He expressed some interest and stuff, and I actually saw him briefly in Orlando. Then, I guess, a couple days later, they offered me to come up on an official visit. I went on the visit and met a lot of people — coaches, players, people in the community — and it just seemed like a good fit. It seemed like they had a lot of support from around the area and stuff and everyone was very welcoming and nice, and it just felt like a very welcoming place. That helped make the decision pretty easy.

UD: So when did this all come together? I mean, I would imagine you knew that you were looking to leave during the season.

MB: I guess I talked to Coach Dunn for probably a month, or a little bit more than that, kind of on and off. We were just staying in touch, and then he was actually in Florida for something — I’m not sure what he was doing — but he was in my area and said, ‘Hey, let’s meet up. Let’s meet each other.’ That came about, and then from there, I talked to Coach [Randy] Edsall and everything, and probably about a week after that, he called me and asked if I’d like to visit and stuff. That was really it. It all happened pretty quick.”

UD: Was anyone else recruiting you, or was this a pretty narrow process?

MB: Yeah, I mean, there were some other schools, some other FBS schools, that were looking at me and [trying to arrange] a visit, but UConn just kind of jumped on me right away. You know, they just kind of showed me that they wanted me there and all of those kinds of things, so that was really important — that they believed in me and would give me a spot and get me up for a visit right away, so that was huge. I told Coach Edsall, “I want to be somewhere quick. I’m not trying to play games and weigh my offers. If you want me, I want to be here.”

UD: That sounds pretty simple.

MB: Yeah, that was it.

UD: What doesn’t seem so simple is how someone moves from Saskatchewan to Florida. Can you take us through that?

MB: Yeah, so, I was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. I lived there until I was probably 10. I was fairly young. We moved to Orlando and I’ve pretty much lived there ever since. My dad had a business up in Canada, and it was like his life goal to move to Florida, so eventually, we did. I grew up in the Orlando area, went to a couple of different high schools, and my senior year, I ended up at Hagerty High School in Oviedo. It’s just outside of Orlando, practically right next to UCF. I went to school there, played my senior year [there]. It was really one of my only years of film. I didn’t really play quarterback until my junior year of high school, so I was fairly new [to the position].

UD: Then what did you play otherwise?

MB: I played tight end. I was a tight end my freshman and sophomore years, and I was kind of starting to get introduced to playing quarterback, but it was more about just playing football where I was at. Then I ended up at UWF out of high school, spent my four years here and now I’ll be a graduate transfer.

UD: So given that you moved to Florida at 10, did you grow up with football?

MB: Well, we had the CFL, and I really like — I knew the CFL a lot, and then when you come to [the United States], especially Florida, college football is so huge. I mean, I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t have a team. People always would ask me, ‘What’s your college team?’ and I was like, ‘Uh, well, I don’t have one.’ My family never went to school in Florida or anything and we don’t have any ties, so it was kind of weird.

UD: You know, UConn has quite a few ties with Canadian players over the years.

MB: Yeah, actually, I didn’t really know that until the visit. They had a lot of dudes from Canada. I thought that was actually pretty cool. You know, they give a lot of those guys chances, which is awesome, because I think that a lot of people who play football in Canada, especially people playing high school football, don’t get the same recognition as people do in the United States, you know? I guess it’s a little different — the rules are a bit different — but at the end of the day, football is football, so I think it’s really special that they give them a chance, and obviously, they’ve found themselves some pretty dang good players, too.

UD: You’ve got a future teammate in quarterback Jack Zergiotis, too, who is from Montreal. Have you two had a chance to connect?

MB: No, I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to him yet, but I did know he was from Montreal. And I was actually on a visit with Kevens [Clercius], and he’s from Montreal as well, too.

UD: And you’re leaving West Florida at kind of an interesting time, as it seems that you kind of left by surprise, if the reports we saw are true. Would you say that’s accurate?

MB: You know, I guess I would say it’s accurate. I guess I didn’t — I wouldn’t go around telling people that I was leaving until it was a thing. There’s no point in doing that, and I guess that’s why it would take people by surprise a little bit because I kept it really quiet. I mean, it’s a personal thing. There’s no reason to tell anyone until it’s official, so I mean, I guess, yeah, it was by surprise, but I think … once I kind of knew — I did my research on it, and it wasn’t an impulse decision — people have been supportive of it. Everyone’s been great. I haven’t had a bit of negative [feedback]. Everybody’s been happy for me. In fact, I just saw some of the guys today and you know, they had only good things to say, so I’ve been pretty fortunate that way.

UD: So could you take me through your career there, then? You’ve had a couple of big injuries that mean things probably didn’t go to plan there.

MB: Yeah. I guess it was the first season we played, I was hurt. So, we had a year that we didn’t play anybody. We just practiced [and everybody redshirted]. That was fall of 2015. So, fall of 2015 was just a practice year. We didn’t play anybody. Spring of 2016, I played. Fall of 2016, I was hurt. I had a broken fibula, so I was out that year, and ’17 was my year playing, and that was our national championship run. Then this past year, like, 10 plays into the first game, I ended up breaking my foot, so I was out.

UD: Oh man.

MB: Yeah, that was kind of unfortunate. Things didn’t work out.

UD: Especially with the momentum that you all would have probably had the year before…

MB: Yeah, it sucked, but you know, things work out.

UD: So, the sixth year of eligibility, that’s something that UConn will arrange for you?

MB: I believe so, yeah. It’s kind of on me to have paperwork, and I have the paperwork and everything because I kind of keep that stuff anyway, so you just kind of have it, and then it goes through the school. I’m not too [sure] but once we get to that point, [we’ll figure it out].

UD: And you’re banking on being eligible for two years?

MB: Yeah, I’m playing. I’m very confident that I’ll get the extra year.

UD: Now, you’re on track to graduate in May. What are you studying now, and what’s your plan for a graduate degree?

MB: I’m graduating with a psychology degree, so I’m just about finished with that, and I’m applying for a graduate program in cognitive instruction and learning technologies, which I believe is what it’s called. It’s a good program. It should be pretty cool.

UD: And what do you envision your career to be?

MB: Coaching.

UD: Really?

MB: Yeah, for sure. I’m going to try to play professional and take it as far as I can, and as soon as my playing career is over, I’m going to get into coaching.

UD: You’ll come into a pretty trying situation with the year that UConn had last season. Some people might be scared by that, but how do you see it?

MB: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s an opportunity. I mean, every team goes through their struggles and stuff, and they had a lot of young players playing and a lot of good players. I think, you know, you take away the positives from that, I think they got a lot of experience, a lot of people coming back, and it just makes you work that much harder when you have a down year. Obviously, I’m not with them right now, but I’m sure they’re grinding hard and busting their butts every single day. It’s how you take it, and if I know anything about these coaches so far, it’s that no one feels sorry for themselves and it’s all, “We’ve got to grind and work extra hard to make next year better.”

UD: And when you mention knowing the coaches, we were talking about Coach Dunn earlier. What did you make of the news from the weekend that he left to join the New York Jets?

MB: It’s great for him. I really liked him, and I thought he would be a fun coach to work with, but that’s awesome for him to take an opportunity with the Jets. I mean, as a coach, that’s what your goal is, and you want to keep on moving up and stuff. That’s awesome for him. It sucks that I won’t be able to work with him, but it doesn’t change my position on wanting to come or anything like that.

UD: So when you look to the fall and look forward, what do you want to accomplish at UConn?

MB: I mean, you want to come in and play, but I just want to be able to bring some leadership and some experience. I just want to make people around me better. That’s one good quality that I have — I think I’m a very hard worker and I’m a grinder, and I’m always going to put in the extra work and stuff, so I think no matter who does that, if you’re a starter or fourth string, you should make everyone around you better. I think if you bring in a little bit of leadership and hard work, you make everyone else around you better, so I think hopefully, at the end of the day, I’ll make the team better. We want to be able to win some games and get to a bowl game and all that good stuff.

UD: Oh, and help settle a debate: You are 6-foot-4, and you weigh…

MB: About 250. I’m trying to drop a little bit.

UD: That’s such an incredible size for a quarterback!

MB: Yeah, well, I can always say I’ve been a big guy [laughs]. I’ve never been a small kind of dude.

UD: Anything else you want people to know about you?

MB: Oh, I don’t know. I’m just excited. Storrs is a great place. Everyone when I was there was awesome and extremely welcoming, and you know, I really just can’t wait to get up there.

Will Huskies Find a No. 2 to Tango?

The Story: The women’s basketball team may end its run of 12 consecutive seasons as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament if the projections revealed by the selection committee on Monday night end up holding true.

KNOCKED DOWN A PEG: The Huskies have gotten used to not being atop the national rankings this season, but not being on the top line of a regional come March would be a bit unbecoming. They have lost only two games all season, falling at Baylor and Louisville — currently the top two teams in the AP poll — and even though they defeated Notre Dame on the road, the committee said Oregon and Mississippi State would be the other two top seeds if the tournament started today.

(And, because the projections were revealed during the Huskies’ victory over South Carolina, that result wasn’t taken into account by the committe. There’s a chance that the 97-79 win was good enough to put UConn back on the top line.)

WHY DOES IT MATTER? In all likelihood, it’s a moot point. The difference between a No. 1 seed and a No. 2 seed won’t practically manifest itself until the Sweet 16, and even then, the Huskies have had plenty of romps at that stage as well.

What’s different this year, though, is the remarkable level of parity that has been seen throughout women’s basketball this season. UConn, Notre Dame and Baylor have been the No. 1 team in the rankings — the most since three teams were No. 1 in the 2012-13 season — and 39 teams have appeared in the poll through 15 weeks, the same number that were ranked all of last season.

Consider Baylor’s situation. Should the field have been set on Monday, the Bears would be in a region with No. 2 seed Notre Dame, No. 3 seed Maryland and No. 4 seed South Carolina. That’s a difficult region and one that could conceivably see Baylor, the top overall seed, losing to the Gamecocks in the Sweet 16.

Remember: This is not the men’s tournament, where a No. 1 seed is no guarantee of anything. A No. 1 seed has reached the men’s Final Four 14 times over the past 10 years. In the women’s tournament, a No. 1 has made it that far 25 times.

FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH… The Huskies are still projected to be a No. 1 seed, according to ESPN, alongside Baylor, Louisville and Oregon. They’ll have to work hard to maintain it, though, and hope for some luck, considering UCF, who they play on Sunday, is the only other team in the top 100 of the RPI remaining on their schedule.

WHAT DID GENO SAY? “All we can do is try to win as many games as we can, and wherever they put us, that is where they put us. You know how many years people would look at the bracket and say, ‘I hope I’m not in Connecticut’s bracket?’ So what am I going to do, complain about what bracket we’re in? Whatever bracket we’re in, we’re in. Whoever we have to play, we have to play. I’m not going to spend a lot of time between now and then worrying about it.”

Morning Reads

MORE NEEDED FROM THE OTHER ADAMS: Brendan Adams is a freshman, but with injuries decimating the backcourt, the combo guard has to produce. (Journal Inquirer)

SERIES SCHEDULED: The men’s basketball team has finalized a home-and-home series with Florida that will begin next season. (UConnHuskies.com)

INJECTION OF YOUTH: If Christyn Williams can continue to play well down the stretch, the Huskies’ hopes of another national title grow remarkably stronger. (Hartford Courant)

GENO RECRUITING OVERSEAS: With only one player in the incoming recruiting class, Geno Auriemma has his eyes on Anna Makurat, a 6-foot guard from Poland, and Nika Muhl, a 5-foot-10 guard from Croatia. (Journal Inquirer)

MOSTLY HARMLESS: Even though UConn and South Carolina have been among the best women’s basketball programs in the country the last five years, are they truly rivals, considering the Huskies’ 8-0 record all-time? (The UConn Blog)

MATTER OF ACCOUNTING: The athletic department may be running a $41 million deficit, but in the eyes of accountants and economists, the finances aren’t as ugly as they may seem. (Hartford Courant)

SAFE AT HOME: Freshman catcher Patrick Winkel, a New York Yankees draft pick from Woodbridge, will be behind the plate when the baseball team opens its season Friday against Louisville in Florida. (Hartford Courant)

MORE UP NORTH: Former UConn goalkeeper Emily Armstrong will join Liana Hinds, a former teammate, in Sweden as she has also signed to play for Sundsvalls next season. (Emily Armstrong on Twitter)