Newcomers stand out as UConn football concludes spring practice with Fan Fest Sunday

STORRS – UConn football showed off some shiny new pieces as it took to the on-campus Morrone Stadium for its Spring Fan Fest on Sunday, where it hosted an open practice for fans, parents and a handful of recruits.

The Huskies, with new assistants supporting head coach Jim Mora in his third season, expect to have a bit of a different look as they seek improvement from a 3-9 record in the fall. The offseason, after Mora’s worst record in his 12th year as a head coach, was challenging “in a good way,” he said.

“You’ve got to attack every single day because there’s a lot that we have to get accomplished,” he said. “For me it’s kind of invigorating, the challenge, I like challenges. It’s been very, very positive, especially coming off what was a disappointing year record-wise for us, we’ve been able to build on the positives and kind of flush the negatives and hopefully grow from those. I’m excited about where we are, I really am… We’ve got a million things that we’ve got to do better – a million things we’ve got to do better – but I’m encouraged by the direction we’re headed.”

Mora and staff brought in a number of high-level transfers to supplement the wave of departures that hit after the season. They’ll continue shopping until the window closes on April 30, looking to continue adding depth and potentially a few starters.

The early-arriving newcomers, specifically on the offensive side of the ball, stood out on Sunday.

Freshman Cole Welliver, a 6-foot-6 gunslinger straight out of Liberty Christian High in Texas, where he played for Dallas Cowboys legend Jason Witten, quarterbacked the third-stringers and had the play of the day near the end of the 11-on-11 drill.

Firing a perfect spiral about 40 yards down the left sideline, Welliver connected with receiver Jackson Harper, from Simsbury, who did enough toe-tapping and foot-dragging for the catch to be called complete on the field. The offense simulated what would’ve happened in a real game, getting to the line before anyone could call for a challenge, and fumbled the rushed snap.

It was a glimpse at what the team hopes is a bright future. Welliver will likely start his career behind the older Joe Fagnano and Ta’Quan Roberson, who are again competing for the starting job, which Fagnano earned after last year’s camp. He started two games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury against Georgia State.

Elsewhere on offense it was running backs Jayden “Mel” Brown and Durell Robinson who stood out alongside former Wisconsin receiver Skyler Bell.

Brown, described by new offensive coordinator and former offensive line coach Gordon Sammis as a “jitterbug,” played in a similar offensive system over his two seasons at Gardner-Webb and is an influx of speed and shiftiness in the backfield. Robinson, from Charlotte, brings more power like returner Cam Edwards, who missed Sunday’s practice with turf toe. With Rosa, feeling faster and ready to develop as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, Mora feels that the running back room is one of the team’s strongest areas.

Bell, who had 30-plus catches in each of the last two seasons at Wisconsin, joins the receiver room where Brett Buckman, a second-year Husky from Delaware, is prepared to step into the lead role.

The Huskies will hit the portal looking for more depth in that area and on the offensive line, where they lost Christian Haynes, a potential NFL draft pick, and center Noel Ofori-Nyadu (transferred to Colorado).

“I think we’ve done a good job of implementing ourselves as leaders and continuing to grow our room and not only our room, but the entire team,” said right tackle Chase Lundt, readying for his fifth season with the Huskies. “Because we instill such a great mentality within our O-line that we’ve just tried to implement across the entire team.”

Defensively, with a new scheme under coordinator Matt Brock, UConn returns a Big Three on the line in Dal’mont Gourdine, Jelani Stafford and Pryce Yates despite losing Eric Watts. At linebacker, without Jackson Mitchell, returners Tui Faumina-Brown, Donovan Branch and Amir Renwick appeared to be with the first team Sunday along with returning defensive backs Malcolm Bell, D’mon Brinson, Malik Dixon and Durante Jones.

“I feel really good about the guys we have returning on defense,” Mora said. “There’s a pretty good nucleus up the middle that helps us and those guys are all really good players, they’re all really good people, they’re all really good leaders, so there’s some comfort there but we’ve got to keep adding talent, we’ve got to keep developing talent. I feel relatively good about our defense.”

The team will return to campus for summer workouts on May 28 before beginning its season at Maryland on August 31. UConn will play six consecutive home games from Sept. 21 until Nov. 2, beginning with Florida Atlantic.