UConn's Edsall staying put after meeting with Georgia Tech

12/2/2007 5:56 PM

By PAT EATON-ROBB
Associated Press Writer

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -Connecticut coach Randy Edsall is staying with the Huskies.

Edsall traveled to Atlanta earlier this week to talk to Georgia Tech officials about their coaching vacancy. But the coach informed his team at its annual banquet Sunday that he had withdrawn his name from consideration for that job.

Edsall told reporters Sunday that his decision was based on consideration for the ``Husky Family'' and his own family. He has a daughter and a son who are both in high school.

``I'll stay here as long as they would like me to stay,'' Edsall said. ``There is still quite a bit of work to be done and I want to continue to do that.''

Edsall said his agent is talking to UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway about a new contract. Edsall is in the third year of a six-year deal that calls for him to make $920,000 this academic year, with a $23,000 bonus for making a bowl game.

Edsall's announcement came hours after the Huskies earned a share of the Big East championship in just their sixth season in college football's top division.

When Pittsburgh stunned West Virginia on Saturday, that knocked the Mountaineers (10-2, 5-2 Big East) into a tie with UConn (9-3, 5-2) atop the conference standings.

Edsall said his players were calling him right after the game asking if the upset meant the team would be getting a trophy and championship rings. It does.

West Virginia had already secured the Big East's automatic Bowl Championship Series berth because of its 66-21 win over the Huskies on Nov. 24.

The co-championship comes in UConn's fourth year in the conference and its sixth season since moving up from what was then called Division I-AA.

The title is the latest in a series of milestones reached by the Huskies this season. UConn earned its first national ranking in October, won its first game over a ranked opponent that month, and went undefeated at home (7-0) for the first time in school history.

``When you take a look back at what this team has accomplished this year, I don't think it's anything short of amazing,'' Edsall said.

The Huskies are heading to the Meineke Car Care Bowl on Dec. 29 in Charlotte, N.C, where they will play Wake Forest.

``We know that we've got to go down and play them kind of in their backyard,'' Edsall said. ``It's going to be a tough environment and a tough game, but we're looking forward to playing a class outfit and a very good football team.''

It will be UConn's second trip to a bowl. The 2004 team won the Motor City Bowl.