A day after the Syracuse head coaching position officially became available, Connecticut head coach Randy Edsall did his best to distance himself from the opening.Speaking to The Day (Conn.), Edsall said he was not interested in the opening.

‘There has been speculation in various media outlets that I am a candidate for the job,’ Edsall told the newspaper. ‘But with all due respect to my alma mater and the people at Syracuse, I am not interested in being a candidate.

‘I just want to continue to coach at the University of Connecticut and prepare my team for this week’s game against South Florida and the rest of our 2008 schedule. I don’t want this to become a distraction to my players or coaching staff as we move forward.’

Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson was fired Sunday, ending weeks of conjecture about when the axe would fall on the embattled coach. Robinson, who will finish out the final two games of the season, owns a 9-36 record at Syracuse, including a 3-24 mark in Big East play.

Edsall was considered by many a logical choice to replace Robinson. He was a backup quarterback at Syracuse before serving on the SU coaching staff for 11 years, from 1980 to 1990.

Edsall, now in his 10th season with Connecticut, guided the Huskies during their transition from Division I-AA Division I-A in 2000. Edsall has since built UConn into a Big East contender. The Huskies were co-Big East champions last year, and own a 7-3 record (3-2 Big East) this year. Connecticut routed Syracuse on Saturday, 39-14, in Robinson’s home finale.

In October, The New York Times reported Syracuse had hired coaching consultant Chuck Neinas to start searching for a new football coach, and that Neinas had reached out to Edsall to measure his interest.

Edsall denied the report to various media outlets. So did the Syracuse athletic department. But asked Sunday if he would contact Edsall during the coaching search, Director of Athletics Daryl Gross didn’t say no.

‘I think Randy Edsall is a fine coach,’ Gross said. ‘He obviously demonstrated that again last night. He’s done a terrific job. And there’s some other wonderful people out there as well.’

But at least for the moment, it appears Edsall has taken his name out of the running. When asked about the situation at Syracuse during Monday’s Big East coaches’ teleconference, Edsall once again avoided the topic.

‘I’m just concerned with the University of Connecticut and this weekend and what we can do to make our program better each and every day,’ Edsall said.

jsclayto@syr.edu

Published on November 17, 2008 at 12:00 pm