Staying In Touch With Alumni The UConn football alumni are the roots of the excellence of the Husky program. UConn football alumni are more active and involved in the program than ever. For the past six seasons, former UConn head coaches and alumni have served as honorary coaches for the Blue-White Spring Football Game. In an effort to help members of UConn’s football team enhance their prospects for employment following college, the UConn football program sponsors a Career Information Fair twice a year. Football alumni are also invited to the field before home games to form a tunnel as the current Huskies come running out – a gesture that bonds generations of Husky players.
Strength and Conditioning Intent signees. Several current Huskies attend that event and sign autographs during a reception. UConn players meet fans for autographs following the Blue-White Spring Football Game and after an open practice that is held each preseason.
Facilities The State of Connecticut and the University of Connecticut have committed the finest facilities in the nation to the Husky program. UConn plays its home games in the ultra-modern Rentschler Field, which opened in 2003 and remains one of the newest stadiums used by a team in Bowl Championship Series Conference. The team also enjoys the modern amenities of The Burton Family Football Complex and the Mark R. Shenkman Training Center in Storrs. Both of these facilities opened in 2006 and provide Husky football players with a campus home that provides for all their needs.
National Leaders Running back Donald Brown became UConn’s first NCAA Statistical Leader in 2009 as he led the country in rushing yards. In 2010, current Husky Nick Williams led the country kickoff returns and last season, current Husky Trevardo Wiliams was second in the country in sacks. The Huskies became eligible for the FBS Statistics in 2002 and have finished in the top 20 for total offense twice (2003 and ’04) and three times on defense (2002, ’05 and ’08).
Professional Football Former UConn players are in the National Football League in numbers that are unprecedented in school history. UConn had 11 players on active NFL rosters in 2009 – the most ever in school history – and ten in 2011. In the 2009 NFL Draft, UConn had four selections in the first two rounds – including the Huskies’ first-ever First Round Draft Pick in Donald Brown, who went to the Indianapolis Colts and then played in the Super Bowl in his rookie campaign. UConn has had 11 players drafted in the past four years with numerous free agent signees and Canadian Football League performers.
The Rentschler Field Advantage The UConn football team takes great pride in its winning percentage at Rentschler Field. Since the stadium opened, UConn has won over threequarters of the games played there and has posted victories over teams from the BIG EAST, SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big XII at Rentschler Field. Husky fans have responded with a 96 percent capacity mark since the stadium opened. UConn has posted undefeated records at Rentschler Field in two seasons – both of them in years that the Huskies won BIG EAST Championships, 2007 and 2010.
The strength and conditioning program for UConn football players is among the most innovative in the nation and is coordinated by Jerry Martin – the school’s Strength and Conditioning Coordinator. Martin was the National Strength Coach of the Year in both 1994 and 2001. Husky players use the two-level, 18,000-square foot Polo Family Strength Center in the Mark R. Shenkman Training Center.
The Schedule Connecticut plays in the highly-competitive BIG EAST Conference, whose champion receives an automatic BCS berth at the end of the year. The BIG EAST will grow into the country’s only four-time zone conference over the next several seasons as teams ranging from national powerhouse Boise State to tradition-filled Navy joined the league. UConn schedules a competitive slate of non-conference games each season against a variety of opponents. UConn traveled to Notre Dame in 2009 and posted a double-overtime win at Notre Dame Stadium. The Huskies opened the 2010 season at Michigan Stadium against the Wolverines before 113,090 fans – the largest crowd in the history of modern college football at the time of the game. The Wolverines return the trip to Rentschler Field in 2013. The Huskies will play a home-and-home series with Tennessee beginning in 2015 with the Volunteers coming to Rentschler Field with a return trip to Knoxville in 2016. Other upcoming non-conference opponents coming to Rentschler Field include North Carolina State (2012), Maryland (2014) and Virginia (2016).