Conference Big East Conference | 2010 record 8–5 (5–2 Big East) | |
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Head coach Randy Edsall (12th year) Offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead (2nd year) Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando (6th as DC; 12th overall year) Home stadium Rentschler Field
(Capacity: 40,000) | ||
The 2010 Connecticut Huskies football team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a member of the Big East Conference. The team was coached by Randy Edsall and played its home games at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. The Huskies finished 8–5, 5–2 in Big East play to share the conference title with Pittsburgh and West Virginia. Due to victories over both schools, the Huskies earned the Big East's automatic bid to a BCS game, and were invited to the Fiesta Bowl where they were defeated by Big 12 champion Oklahoma 48–20. It was the first major-bowl appearance in the program's 115-year history.
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Previous season
The 2009 team finished with a record of 8–5, 3–4 in Big East play and won the PapaJohns.com Bowl 20–7 against South Carolina.
Coaching changes
Connecticut lost two assistant coaches in January, when the tight ends coach, Dave McMichael left to accept the same position at West Virginia, and defensive backs coach, Scott Lakatos, left for the same position at Georgia.
On February 4, UConn announced that Jon Wholley would return to the coaching staff as the tight ends coach, and Darrell Perkins would assume the defensive backs coaching position.
Roster changes
The Huskies lost eight starters from the 2009 team to graduation. Among them, Marcus Easley and Robert McClain were drafted into the NFL. In addition to the graduation losses, quarterback Casey Turner, and offensive linemen Scott Schultz and Zac Zielinski, all backups, transferred out of UConn. On July 1, Randy Edsall announced that safety, Marcus Aiken had been dismissed from the University for academic reasons, and that wide receiver, Malik Generett was ineligible for the 2010 season, also for academic reasons. Generett remained enrolled at the university and could practice with the team, but is not able to play in games.
On July 9, former USC fullback, D.J. Shoemate announced that he was transferring to UConn from the scandal-plagued Trojan program, which earned a two-year postseason ban. Due to an NCAA ruling that states any USC junior or senior can transfer without sitting out for a year, Shoemate will be eligible to play in 2010.
Recruiting
On February 3, 2010, Randy Edsall announced that 20 student-athletes had signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Connecticut. Four; Jonathan Louis, Greg McKee, Andrew Opoku and Gilbert St. Louis; entered school in January to participate in spring practice. In addition to the 20 high school student athletes, two members from the 2009 recruiting class; Leon Kinnard and Michael Osiecki, also enrolled in school in January.
Awards watchlists
The players listed below have been named to the following preseason award watch lists.
After the season
Shortly after the completion of the Fiesta Bowl, Jordan Todman announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft.
On January 2, reports surfaced that head coach Randy Edsall did not accompany the team on the chartered flight from Phoenix back to Hartford, instead flying to Baltimore to interview for the vacant Maryland head coaching position. Later that day, Maryland issued a press release stating that they had hired Edsall to replace Ralph Friedgen as head coach.