Less than a year after joining Randy Edsall to help revitalize the UConn football program, former Auburn offensive coordinator and Gus Malzahn protégé, Rhett Lashlee, is leaving Connecticut, as the school announced on Thursday. Lashlee was rumored to be considered a candidate at a number of P5 schools looking for a leader for their respective offenses. Programs from the SEC like South Carolina, Arkansas and even Missouri were mentioned during the offseason and there was enough smoke at times in early December that I reached out to UConn for direct comment on Lashlee’s future at the school. The response raised more questions than answers.

“We have no information or update on anything at this time related to the staff,” a UConn spokesman replied on December 6th.

With signing day approaching in two weeks, keeping the staff in place was clearly critical to hanging on to a number of higher profile offensive recruits that had given their verbal commitment to the Huskies. Georgia QB Steven Krajewski is one of those, choosing UConn in large part because of Lashlee’s presence on the UConn staff, although that was not the only reason he stated when we discussed his commitment to UConn the night before signing day.

Concern about Lashlee’s future dropped a few days after UConn’s response, as the Huskies hosted the first of back-to-back official visit weekends. As part of the weekend on December 9th, the program brought the recruits, the majority of whom were commits, to the men’s basketball game at Gampel against Coppin State. There sat Lashlee in the stands, answering any question on if he was still with the program at the time.

Fast forward two weeks’ and head coach Randy Edsall held his year-end debrief with a few members of the media on December 21st. Asked about the staff and the future at the time, Edsall made a joke asking if we wanted to fire anyone?

“Everyone’s contract that was on a one-year deal was renewed,” he then said. “As far as I know, everyone is coming back. Now if someone is offered something, I can’t predict that.”

Despite the words, the confidence Edsall had in the response seemed to quell any suspicions that Lashlee, who was about to enter the second of a three-year deal, was looking elsewhere. Then a report came out listing Lashlee’s name as a top-two candidate at Rutgers to replace Jerry Kill, who announced his retirement on December 19th. At that point, it seemed not a matter of if Lashlee would leave, but when.

On Thursday, we got the answer and it came as a surprise that the destination was SMU for a number of reasons, not only because it was a lateral move within the conference. On an initial look, Lashlee is a perfect fit. Earlier this year I documented how Lashlee runs the same offense as then-SMU head coach Chad Morris, how the two had shared ideas in previous roles in their careers while both served as OC’s at Auburn and Clemson respectively. Lashlee’s arrival in Dallas would mean a smooth transition from Morris to Lashlee and would allow the existing roster to continue to grow in the same approach offensively.

However, taking a look at the move in more detail, Lashlee will now work under head coach Sonny Dykes, who made his debut in the embarrassing 51-10 Frisco Bowl loss to LaTech. Dykes was groomed throughout his career by Mike Leach and has run the ‘Air Raid’ offense throughout his coaching career, certainly a different approach from a more run-oriented offense with Lashlee. While both move fast, the dynamic between Dykes and Lashlee’s styles will be interesting to watch as it will reveal who is really in control of the offense just by how things unfold on the field.

When Lashlee arrived in Storrs a year ago, many across the country asked why? The story quickly became Lashlee took a quarter-million dollar pay cut to come to Storrs from the SEC, where he made $600K per year, played in a sold-out stadium at Jordan-Hare and regularly competed for the conference championship. Looking at this objectively, no one would make such a move unless they had to. Sources from the coaching ranks confirmed shortly after the hire that this was indeed the case. Lashlee’s time on the Plains in Auburn had worn thin, despite a close relationship with Malzahn and knowing David Benedict, made the move to Connecticut.

No matter how he got here, Lashlee brought life to the UConn offense as the units’ performance speaks for itself. The Huskies got better, drastically better from the previous season. QB Bryant Shirreffs thrived in the system, finishing 13th in the nation in passing efficiency, behind only guys like Heisman-Trophy Winner Baker Mayfield (OU), McKenzie Milton (UCF), Mason Rudolph (OK State), Jake Fromm (Georgia), Drew Lock (Mizzou), Will Grier (WVU), Riley Ferguson (Memphis), J.T. Barrett (Ohio State), Jalen Hurts (Alabama) and Trace McSorley (Penn State).

Shirreffs abilities fit perfectly with what Lashlee wanted to run and the true measure of a coach is how he is able to get the most out of his players, by putting them in positions that allow them to thrive and do what they do well. That’s what Lashlee did here. His departure is a loss for the program, one that is looking for stability. The hiring of his replacement is critical to maintaining the progress made this season and it’s key, just like Edsall says about his recruits, that they get this right.

WHO WILL THE HUSKIES HIRE

One thing to note is this evening, UConn promoted Chris White to Special Teams Coordinator. With Lashlee’s departure, White becomes the 9th member of the coaching staff, one shy of the limit of 10 full-time assistants allowed by the new NCAA rules passed in April. Why is this important? Lashlee held the title of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, so the new hire, should the remainder of the staff remain intact, would likely hold both positions as well.

Dan Orlovsky (UConn QB 2001-04): There are a lot of rumors out there about former UConn quarterback Dan Orlovsky. He is not a candidate for the offensive coordinator position a source confirmed on Friday evening, so those looking to speculate will need to look elsewhere. As UConn is looking for a dual OC/QB coach, this could eliminate Orlovsky from joining the staff as a full-time assistant in 2018, due to the Huskies already having nine others on staff. Looking at Edsall’s past, there is one name that could be a fit:

NOTE: The remainder of this article is pure speculation.

Norries Wilson (UConn OC 2002-05): Wilson came to Storrs when Edsall was hired at UConn in 1999, first serving as offensive line coach through the 2001 season. He was then promoted to offensive coordinator in 2002, just as Dan Orlovsky was coming into his own. Wilson oversaw the offense that helped Orlovsky excel, including the run to the Motor City Bowl in 2004, that capped the career of the most successful quarterback in Huskies history. Wilson remained in the role through the 2005 season, before he was named head coach at Columbia, where he remained through 2011. He remained in the northeast, joining the staff at Rutgers, coaching running backs from 2012-15 and was named interim head coach of the Scarlet Knights after Kyle Flood was suspended by the school for improperly contacting a faculty member. Wilson has been out of coaching for two full seasons, so would an opportunity to work with a familiar coach at a familiar place be enough to draw him back in?

Brian Wright (Toledo OC 2017): Wright was a 2017 Broyles Award nominee after Toledo finished 14th in the nation with 484 yards per game (280 passing/204 rushing). The Rockets also finished 16th in the nation with 36.4 points per game. Having 11 years of experience as an offensive coordinator, Wright has had success at each stop (Youngstown State, Montana State, Florida Atlantic).

MATT SCHONVISKY / SITE CREATOR