University of Connecticut Athletics
Randy Edsall Named New England Coach of the Year
1/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Photo by Ned Cully, GIB STORRS, CONN. (Jan. 10, 2008) – University of Connecticut head football coach Randy Edsall will be recognized tonight as the 2007 Bowl/Championship Divisions Head Coach of the Year in New England by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston. Edsall will receive his award this evening at the Marriott Hotel in Burlington, Mass. He is the first Husky to be so honored since the award was started in 1999.
Founded in 1932, the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston promotes the game of football at all levels and nurtures the ideals of citizenship, sportsmanship, leadership, and athletic and academic achievement. Through its annual dinners and golf tournament, the club carries on its tradition of honoring exemplary players, coaches and officials at all levels of the sport, and supporting worthy charitable causes, especially those that assist children.
Edsall helped the 2007 Huskies to a 9-4 overall record and a share of the school's first BIG EAST Championship with a 5-2 league mark. UConn earned a spot in the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl, the second bowl berth in school history. The nine wins tie for the most in the regular season in UConn's 109-year football history. Over the course of this past season the Huskies defeated three teams which were ranked in the top 10 at some point during the year (Louisville, USF and Rutgers).
UConn made its debut in all of the national rankings during its historic 2007 campaign. UConn's first-ever AP Poll appearance was at No. 16 on Oct. 28 and marked the highest AP Poll debut of any school since Florida State debuted at No. 10 on Oct. 12, 1964. It came after five years and 10 weeks of FBS (Division I-A) play for the Huskies. Only Marshall has ever moved up from the former Division I-AA and earned a national ranking faster. Helping UConn to this lofty accomplishment was a 7-0 record at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. The 2007 Huskies were only the second team in BIG EAST history to post a 7-0 home record, joining the 1993 West Virginia Mountaineers.
Under Edsall, the Huskies are an impressive 41-31 in their first six seasons playing at the Division I-A (FBS) level after moving up from Division I-AA in time for the 2002 season. With an even 50 career wins overall, Edsall is one of just three Husky mentors to ever reach that milestone, joining J.O. Christian (66) and Tom Jackson (62).
