UConn defense to be coached by committee while Spanos is taking leave of absence

Aug. 24—STORRS — Shortly after being named head coach of the UConn football team, Jim Mora hunkered down in the team facility with director of football operations Pat Collins and began scouring the country for assistant coaches to hire.

The pair discussed hundreds of candidates, staying at the facility until "all hours of the night," searching for the men who would best fit their vision for the program both on and off the field. As the search continued and the list of prospective coaches dwindled, Collins and Mora called friends in the industry to further evaluate candidates.

The end result was a staff full of young, up-and-coming coaches, not necessarily their intention, but the way the process worked out.

"We were just going with who we thought would best fit what we want to be here," Mora said after practice Tuesday at the Shenkman Center. "I believe that between us and the way we work together, we got it right. These are really, really good coaches on both sides of the ball."

All but two of the team's position coaches and coordinators are under 40 years old. One of the staff members over 40 is defensive coordinator Lou Spanos, who is currently taking a leave of absence.

Dalton Hilliard (defensive backs), Siriki Diabate (linebackers) and Kenny McClendon (defensive line) will be working with Mora and the team's analysts to fill Spanos' shoes while he is off the sidelines.

All three earned Bachelor's degrees from their respective universities in 2013. Diabate was a linebacker at Syracuse from 2011-13 and helped lead the Orange to the 2012 BIG EAST title. McClendon played defensive line at Central Michigan and recorded 37 tackles, 7 tackles for loss and five forced fumbles in 47 games. Hilliard played safety at UCLA for Mora and tallied 114 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles in 41 games. He later returned to the program as a defensive graduate assistant under his former coach.

Not too far removed from their own respective careers as student-athletes, Hilliard, Diabate and McClendon have related well to the UConn players. All three took turns calling the defensive plays in the unscripted portions of Tuesday's practice. Mora will make the defensive decisions in-game, but he will first consult each of them over the headphones.

"It's just been unbelievable the way they've stepped up, I am so impressed with them," Mora said. "I'm very fortunate that they're on our staff. They are really good men. Really good men." The group is still deciding how they will handle play-calling in game, but Mora said he will be the one to blame for a bad call.

"It's been an amazing work environment," Mora said. "I have so much faith, so much confidence, so much trust in Siriki, Dalton and Kenny McClendon. They are three outstanding coaches and they're young. They have a lot to learn, but they learn fast."

The Huskies offense is also being led by a group of young coaches.

Offensive coordinator Nick Charlton was promoted from offensive coordinator and receivers coach to head coach at the University of Maine two days after his 30th birthday, becoming the youngest head coach in Division I at the time.

Mora and the players have been impressed by Charlton's handling of the four-man quarterback competition that began in the summer and continued through fall camp. He has created an environment where the four candidates feel comfortable pushing and supporting each other while they battle for the top spot on the depth chart.

"Coach Nick Charlton is a great guy," receiver Keelan Marion said. "To this offense, he's a genius. Plays are definitely smooth and more efficient."

Southington native Jacob Flynn awarded scholarship

Southington native Jacob Flynn will undoubtedly remember the events of Aug. 20, 2022 for the rest of his life.

At the end of UConn's walk-through Saturday, Mora gathered the team around him and called out the names of walk-ons Flynn and John Bechtle.

Flynn, a redshirt sophomore from Southington High, made his way through his teammates to the center of the huddle.

When Flynn and Bechtle reached Mora, the coach looked around and said, "Y'all know what's about to happen." Their teammates burst into celebration, screaming and jumping up and down as they mobbed the team's two newest scholarship players.

"(Flynn) came in with me," linebacker Jackson Mitchell said, "in my class, and even as a freshman he was really good. It was surprising he wasn't on scholarship, but he's the same guy every day. He's going to come in, he's not going to talk too much, he's going to work in the weight room and on he field and to see that work pay off is really exciting."

Seconds after the announcement, the players lifted Flynn and Bechtle up other shoulders. When he returned to the ground, Flynn borrowed a coach's phone and called his mother, Ann, to say, "I got put on scholarship."

"You're playing with me," Ann responded.

"No, it's me Jacob."

"Are you serious?" His mother said, voice rising. "Oh my God, are you serious?"

Flynn buried his face in his hands, overcome with emotion.

"When you talk about walk-ons standing out, it's not just about their play on the field," Mora said. "It's about the way the other players react to them. That video just showed the raw joy our players had when they were awarded scholarships. That speaks to the players and the respect they earned from their teammates."

Penn State transfer Roberson on inside track for starting UConn QB job

Mora has seen immense growth from quarterback Ta'Quan Roberson since he arrived in Storrs in January.

"I've seen his deep ball, which I always thought was really a good deep ball, become a little more accurate," Mora said. "I've seen him be able to adjust, taking some mustard off the throw and putting it on when he needs to. Really just his overall command of the offense, and that's to be expected as he works."

Roberson, a 5-foot-11 redshirt sophomore from Orange, New Jersey, played in four games for Penn State in 2021, completing 11 of 28 passes for 85 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and also running 12 times for 24 yards.

Roberson didn't know much about UConn when he entered the transfer portal, but he was sold on joining the Huskies after talking to Mora and hearing the coach's plan to rebuild the program.

Roberson took the majority of the first-team reps under center in Tuesday's practice and appears to be the front runner in the Huskies' four-way competition for the starting job.

"I've seen him grow a lot," Marion said. "He actually came in with the mindset (where) he was jumping on guys, correcting guys when we were doing something wrong in summer workouts. ... I feel like he's grown a lot. If he feels like we did something wrong in our routes he comes to the sideline and lets you know ASAP. He says it in a positive way, he keeps positive energy, he's a great guy."

For daily updates on high school sports in JI's coverage area, follow Kyle Maher on Twitter: @KyleBMaher, Facebook: Kyle Maher, and Instagram: @KyleBMaher.