UConn head coach Randy Edsall storms out of presser after being asked about Wake Forest firing their DC

It hasn’t been a good season for the UConn Huskies, off to a 1-3 start. Their lone win was a narrow 56-49 one against FCS team Rhode Island, and they’ve lost 56-17 to UCF, 62-7 to Boise State, and 51-21 to Syracuse last week, plus they’ve suffered a ton of key injuries. With the team averaging over 50 points allowed per game, you might expect some questions about their defense and perhaps the job status of defensive coordinator Bill Crocker; firing coordinators early in the season is uncommon, but not unheard of, and Wake Forest axed DC Jay Sawvel Sunday, a day after giving up 56 points and 566 yards to Notre Dame in a 56-27 loss.

A reporter at UConn head coach Randy Edsall’s press conference Tuesday tried to use the Sawvel news to ask about Edsall’s philosophy on midseason coordinator changes, and Edsall stormed out:

Q: “Wake Forest just fired their defensive coordinator. Just curious your philosophy on that.” “What does that have to do with us?” Randy Edsall interjected. “I’m done. I can see where this is going. I’m done. “ Walks away from podium.

— Jeff Jacobs (@jeffjacobs123) September 25, 2018

Here’s video of that:

https://twitter.com/UConnSN/status/1044630027508350984

That is quite the exit. It’s a bit understandable from both sides, though; yes, UConn doesn’t play Wake Forest, so the Demon Deacons’ move doesn’t directly have anything to do with them, and if Edsall doesn’t want to talk about his philosophy on midseason coordinator changes, fair enough. But that’s not a bad way to ask about Crocker’s job security (if maybe a little indirect), and asking about the job status of the guy overseeing a defense that’s been disastrous so far also seems fair.

For what it’s worth, Crocker is in his second year as UConn’s DC (before that, he’d served as DC at FCS school Villanova for the past five years), and the Huskies allowed 39.5 points per game last year, 124th out of 130 FBS teams. That’s of course not all on the coordinator, but it is pretty dismal. And with the defense playing the way they are in 2018, there may be more questions about Crocker’s job security to come. We’ll see if that also leads to more short press conferences.

[UConnSN on Twitter]