Edsall Explains QB Pick, Lack of Depth Chart
The Story: Randy Edsall held his first in-season press conference yesterday morning, explaining his reasoning for choosing Mike Beaudry as his starting quarterback and explaining why he won’t release a depth chart or speak about injuries this season.
FIRST, THE QUARTERBACK: Edsall said choosing Beaudry, a junior transfer from West Florida, over Steven Krajewski, a redshirt freshman, was “a really tough decision.” He didn’t offer specifics, but he said throughout fall camp, Beaudry was “doing more things that we wanted to see than Steven.”
“I mean, he’s experienced playing before, but that’s one of the factors that you consider, but there’s a lot of other factors that go into it as well — stuff people don’t see,” Edsall said. “How do they command the huddle? How do they command the operation of the offense? It’s not just completion percentage. It’s not just a number of interceptions thrown or how many sacks they might take. Different things. It was a lot of things, a lot of elements that went into making the decision.”
Beaudry, of course, was pleased with the decision. “Awesome, man. Unreal, actually. It’s really an honor, it really is. It’s a blessing. It’s a lot of hard work that’s gone into it. I’m really thankful that they believe in me enough to make me the starter.”
THEN, THE BACKUPS: Forget trying to figure out who is expected to play in a given week and who won’t. For the first time in Edsall’s tenure, and in what is a rarity around college football, Edsall won’t make a depth chart public. Instead, he will divide the team into a “participation squad” and a “developmental squad,” with this week’s participation squad made up of a mostly-alphabetical list of 67 players.
look, i can accept that the team's probably gonna be bad this year, but can we just be normal bad instead of Bad But Also Weird (also known as "the diaco zone") https://t.co/ByDdVeU7tU
— No Escalators (@NoEscalators) August 25, 2019
Edsall tried to defend the developmental squad as his “waiver wire,” as if he hasn’t always had at least 85 players to choose from each week, then said it was part of a motivational technique for some of the fringe players. But he also explained that with the Huskies utilizing a number of looks on offense and defense, it’s hard to include players on a proper depth chart if they’re not playing a traditional position — and that explanation, which makes sense, should have been what he went with first.
“I know this — it might not make sense to anybody else, but it makes sense to me,” Edsall said, laughing like a supervillain.
In the grand scheme, it’s a bit kooky, but it doesn’t matter: Watching each game each week will show who is playing where and when.
AND NO INJURIES: Edsall said he won’t share whether a player is injured unless it’s a season-ending injury and curiously cited sports betting as the reason why.
“We got a thing from the AFCA and it was a big thing that (the NCAA) were thinking about trying to put out an injury report every week, but as coaches, they were against doing that because of the ramifications with legalized gambling and betting and all that stuff,” he said.
Strangely, it is because of sports betting that the NFL decided decades ago to adopt an injury report, but what do we know? From the depth chart to injuries, and even not speaking about players who signed in December until February, whatever it takes to justify a bizarre decision, eh?
SO, WHO IS WHERE? The only position not in alphabetical order is quarterback, with Beaudry, Krajewski and true freshman Jack Zergiotis listed in that order. Quarterback Micah Leon, who transferred from N.C. State and missed time during fall camp, isn’t listed, and Zavier Scott, who moved from running back to wide receiver in fall camp, is not listed at either position. Edsall said Clay Harris or Noah Iden will be the kicker, with Iden handling kickoffs; Sean Young, the graduate transfer kicker from FIU, is also not on the participation squad.
Notre Dame Remains No. 1 Rival
The Story: The women’s basketball team will keep its rivalry with Notre Dame going through 2024 as the schools agreed to extend their series for four more games.
IMPORTANT FOR THE SPORT: This is, hands down, the best rivalry in women’s basketball. This has eclipsed UConn and Tennessee and there is a long history between Geno Auriemma and Muffet McGraw. There is a competitive dislike on both sides and we love when UConn is challenged. Notre Dame has knocked off UConn in two straight Final Fours.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “We’re looking forward to having Notre Dame on the schedule for four more seasons. I think it’s a game that a lot of college basketball fans have circled on their calendars. This has become one of the top matchups in women’s basketball, and I think it’s a great opportunity for our fans and future teams to be a part of it.”
UCONN OWNS SERIES: UConn is 37-13 overall against Notre Dame, which is probably UConn’s worst record against a team it has played every year in the last 30 years. This year’s game will take place on Dec. 8 in Gampel Pavilion.
Morning Reads
WOMEN’S SOCCER PICKS UP WIN: Kess Elmore and Vivien Beil, who both missed last season recovering from a torn ACL, scored goals as UConn beat Fairfield 3-0 last night. (UConnHuskies.com)
MEN’S SOCCER WINS EXHIBITION: The men’s soccer team beat Boston University 3-1 on Saturday in his second of two exhibition games. (UConnHuskies.com)
UCONN-BC A THING: UConn signed a home-and-home deal to play Boston College in football starting in 2022. (The UConn Blog)
