UConn Football Has Leadership Council; Not Captains

UConn Huskies football head coach Randy Edsall does not handle captains like other teams do. Most teams have three to four assigned leaders that go out for the coin toss every game and wear the patch on their jersey to signify that they are a leader.

Instead, Edsall and the Huskies will have a leadership council, a collection of one player from each position group, except for one, that will serve, essentially, as a larger group of captains. The council has 10 members, with six on offense and four on defense.

“I didn’t have the quarterbacks vote,” Edsall said. “That position is a leadership position to begin with and I didn’t want to put more on anyone else’s plate.”

Instead of having one or two guys lead the whole defense and the whole offense, Edsall breaks it down further to position groups, so that a lineman isn’t in charge of making sure a wide receiver is doing the right things, or vice versa.

“They’re going to make sure that the guys in their position are giving the kind of effort on and off the field that is expected,” Edsall said.

The leadership council will meet with Edsall once per week for him to run things by them and for the council to suggest improvements and give opinions on how things are working.

“It’s a way for me to connect more with our team,” Edsall said.

As for game captains, Edsall said it could be one of the members of the council or it could be someone who impressed at practice that week.